Essentials for Tolerable Car Travel with Kids

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Playtex Baby. All opinions are authentic and my own. Please see my disclosure policy.

Car Travel with Kids Can Be Tricky!

We’re not frequent flyers, but we are frequent “car-trippers.” With two kids who travel 3 hours each way to see their dad every other weekend, I feel like I’m a kids’ car-trip expert by now. I know everything that we need. (Whether I remember it each time is another matter altogether…) At any rate, here are my essentials for safe and fun car travel with kids…

10 Essentials for Awesome Tolerable Car Travel with Kids

Leak-proof Sippy or Straw Cups – Make sure you have time-tested leak-proof sippy or straw cups for the kids. We have great luck with Playtex cups. But here’s the catch: DO NOT GIVE THEM TO THE KIDS until they really need them. Too many times I have made the mistake of having them handy for the kids from the beginning of the trip. A half hour in we’ve got empty cups and kids who have to stop to pee already.
A Cooler and/or Bottle Tote – Use the clever Playtex SmartCool Bottle Tote to keep the milk in those cups fresh. Or pack an entire cooler in the trunk full of goodies for longer trips.
Healthy Snacks – If your kids are picky eaters like mine, this can be tricky. But try to make sure you have some healthy snacks that will keep the kids’ tummies satisfied and blood sugar stable throughout the trip. Think nuts, healthy granola bars, apples, string cheese. Use that cooler mentioned above when necessary.
Lollipops! – Yes, I know I just mentioned healthy snacks. But we live in REAL LIFE here, mamas. And a strategically-given lollipop has gotten me out of more than one unruly situation. An added benefit in the car: the kids can’t talk as much with lollipops in their mouths! Sometimes the quiet is so worth it. (Don’t judge!)
Extra Clothes – This is the one I inevitable forget. I’ve been the one drying my kids’ pants under the McDonald’s restroom air dryer while she stands next to me naked after peeing in the playspace. Learn from my mama mistakes, and ALWAYS have a change of clothes for everyone when you travel with kids.
A Small Bin or Bucket – For catching bodily fluids. Just in case.
Plastic Grocery Bags – For when you forgot the bucket, or for garbage or wet pee clothes (see above).
Wipes – Not only for the baby’s bum. For cleaning sticky lollipop hands (see above), leaking sippy cups (see above), etc…
A Toy Bag – Fill a tote bag with little fidget toys that are ONLY AVAILABLE in the car. Let the kids pick one at a time out of the Toy Bag when they get bored.
Silly Music & Audiobooks – Yes, the kids’ music gets annoying, but I’d rather listen to my kids singing to The Wiggles than squabbling with one another. We sing A LOT of Wiggles! But now that my kids have gotten older, they also love audiobooks. You wouldn’t believe how quiet they get to listen to a story.