Traveling with a Toddler

Hello, we're back from a great vacation to Myrtle Beach and this weeks posts will be focused on vacationing with a toddler.  Our journey to Myrtle Beach began in our home state of Ohio.  For those of you who don't know how far that is from Myrtle Beach, it's approximately 600 miles, 11 hours and 5 states away.  So traveling with a 16 month old toddler was seriously stressing me out.  I knew we needed to plan this trip out as much as possible to make her as comfortable during the journey as we could.  So here's my list of things to consider when traveling with a toddler.

1.  Drive when your toddler is sleeping.  We left Saturday morning at 3am.  My expectations were that she would make it to 6am before she woke up for the day.  She did better and woke at 8am!

2.  Make stops if needed.  Even if the stop is only 10 minutes it can help when your toddler is having a meltdown after being strapped into a carseat for 5 hours.  When you stop, try to find a place with grass that your kids can run and explore.

3.  Bring distractions.  We know Addie loves her books so I brought about 7 of her favorites but also introduced a few new books/flashcards for her.  We also brought My Pal Violet to soothe her in the car.  One of the best distractions for her was the portable DVD player and a couple new DVDs.  New to her was the Bee Movie and Nemo.  We also brought her Veggie Tales which is oddly a favorite of hers.

4.  Bring snacks.  I stuffed my bag full of puffs, yogurt melts, and fruit pouches.  She ate nearly an entire container of puffs on the way.

5.  Be flexible.  As I mentioned before, if you child needs a break, take one.  Trust me, it's not worth pushing them to the point of full on meltdown.  Be willing to sing, dance, play peek-a-boo, show youtube videos, etc.  Whatever you need to do to get there safely with as few meltdowns as possible.

-stephanie