This is a sponsored post written on behalf of DiaResQ®. Even though I’m receiving compensation for participating in their campaign, all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.
Most families I know absolutely dread the thought of road trips with their kids. There are the disrupted sleep schedules, inevitable tantrums, and constant demands of our favorite tiny people that can turn a family vacation into a stressful nightmare. In our home, we have to push through it because we spend roughly 75% of our time traveling. Over the last few years, I’ve learned there are some absolute MUSTS when traveling with little kids. These tips will save your sanity on your next road trip or family vacation!
Pack way too many underwear, diapers, and socks. There’s no such thing as too many!
Plan for the car ride, but also for the hotel time, nighttime, and any potential downtime (read: boredom busters!).
Prepare for the unexpected!
Car Distractions
We aren’t completely opposed to screen time by any means, but I don’t love the idea of a computer or TV raising my kids either.
We did our research and invested in cheap tablets for each of our boys. When I tell you this made my life 200% easier on these road trips, I’m not exaggerating.
Because we only let them have their “computers” when we’re on long road trips, they’re still enamored with them a year later. Works like a charm.
We also invested in cheap DVD players to make car rides easier. We usually put on a movie for them when we can tell they’re in desperate need of naps. They’ll pass out pretty quickly if we put a movie on.
Potty Training?
Our 4 year old is completely potty trained while our 2 year old is still working on it.
We take a potty with us everywhere we go. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve passed a rest area on the highway and heard “mommy, I have to pee!” from the backseat two seconds later.
Now, I just keep a small potty in the car, and we’re set.
Oddly enough, we almost never have to use the potty when we have it. It’s when I forget it at home that we seem to have a million “emergencies.”
Speaking of things I never leave home without…
Plan for the Unexpected
Traveling all the time, through sometimes remote parts of the country, means not always having the healthiest meals and snacks on hand for our kids.
No matter how hard we try to plan ahead to avoid this, the stress and dietary changes in traveling often lead to tummy trouble for our tiniest travelers.
After we started potty training, I quickly learned I didn’t want to deal with diarrhea on road trips ever again – and I DEFINITELY didn’t want to experience cleaning it up more than once.
Our oldest is 4 and our youngest is just 1 year old. There aren’t a lot of anti-diarrhea support options I feel comfortable even trying with our kids.
When I heard about DiaResQ, I was anxious to give it a try. After a recent trip to the beach when our son came down with diarrhea, I started doing my research about safe diarrhea support for little ones.
DiaResQ works with your body instead of against it. By taking care of the underlying causes of diarrhea without disrupting your body’s natural processes, it helps relieve diarrhea WITHOUT side effects.
That’s always the most important thing to me. I prefer natural remedies to harsh medications or chemicals any day.
Plus, it’s made without drugs or antibiotics and instead uses safe, naturally-derived ingredients.
It doesn’t back you up like some other diarrhea remedies, and instead restores natural function.
Most importantly? It’s safe for adults and children as young as 1 year! So…everyone in my traveling minivan!
- Quickly restores normal function
- Works with your body so it doesn’t constipate you or your littles
- Safe for adults & children as young as 1 year (a HUGE deal in our house!)
- Drug & antibiotic free: made of safe, naturally-derived ingredients
- Available at Walmart, CVS, Amazon and other retailers nationwide
I decided to just keep some in my car because diarrhea always strikes at the worst possible times. Running out to a store in the middle of the night, or worse, not having a store for miles and miles when you need it, isn’t the smartest option. Ask me how I know.
The handy little packs make it so easy to keep in my car at all times, so now I really have no excuse.
Before your next trip, pick up some DiaResQ to have on hand, just in case. You’ll be so happy you have it if the need arises!
Prep for Nighttime
Especially if you’re staying in a hotel and have to worry about disturbing other travelers, prepare for nighttime now so you don’t regret it later.
We always bring comforting items from home. For us, this looks like a blue teddy bear and 3 stuffed sea turtles.
You can also bring along a favorite pillow or blanket. Anything that smells like home.
Making your hotel feel like home away from home is key to a good night’s rest.
Another thing I’ve had luck with is diffusing the same scent for a few weeks before travel.
At nighttime, lavender is a good option.
Then, just pack a small diffuser with you and diffuse the same scent in your hotel room. The familiar scent can help your little ones drift off to sleep with minimal fuss.
Toys
Because we travel so much, we have a suitcase just dedicated to toys. It probably seems ridiculous, but when we leave home, we never know when we’ll be back. It might be a week or a month.
We pack magnet tiles on every single trip we take.
They’re compact, allow for easy clean up, and all of our kids are able to play with them to some degree.
The same is also true for foam blocks. These even double as bath toys for us. Plus, they’re lightweight which makes packing them into and back out of hotel rooms a breeze.
The last thing we always make sure to have on hand is arts and craft supplies. Choose paint with water options for the easiest clean up!
Quick Travel Tips for Moms
- Always bring a mesh laundry bag. You don’t realize until dirty laundry starts to pile up that you should have thought of a place to put it first!
- Bring some sort of stain treatment. Stain removal pens or wipes are great, compact options.
- Make a list of every single thing you pack, then bring it with you and check each item off again when loading the car.
- Get small backpacks for the kids and let them carry their own luggage. Our kids tote their own toys for the most part. This minimizes the amount of extra toys they want to bring with us on these trips.
- As soon as you enter a hotel room, unplug the phone, hide the phone book, hide the bible. This way, the kids can’t call the front desk on accident (there’s usually a handy button) and they can’t destroy any books in the room. I complete these tasks within 5 seconds of entering a hotel room.
Sweepstakes
Whether you’re jetting off on an international adventure or just traveling for business, there are some things you should never leave home without. To help make your next trip a breeze, DiaResQ is giving away 5 Travel Essentials kits, including an Away carry-on suitcase, a Que collapsible water bottle, an Aeris travel pillow and eye mask and loads of other travel must haves! Plus, one lucky winner will win a $1,000 gift card to Southwest Airlines! The sweepstakes is open now through May 15th and the lucky winners will be announced on May 17th! Entry is simple – just visit DiaResQ, enter your email address, and cross your fingers!
Do you have upcoming travel plans? What are your secrets to surviving long road trips with young kids? Let me know in the comments!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of DiaResQ®.
