How To: Road Trip with Children!

While driving straight from Washington, D.C. to Miami I felt inspired to blog about road tripping.  Even though, I did not have children with me I couldn’t help to think, how do people do it? Thus, a blog was born!

My boyfriend and I did not plan a thing, we decided we were going to stop when we got tired, probably somewhere near Jacksonville.  Jacksonville, came and went, we felt like rock stars! Let’s fast forward two hours, we were miserable sloths! With four hours left to go in the drive, there was no point in stopping, and somehow we made it back to Miami in one straight drive!

With that said, when I was not driving (which was most of the time) I had a lot of time on my hands.  I do not write for crazy twenty-somethings, I write for parents and babysitters. So I wrote up a little something called How To: Road Trip with Children.

First and foremost, you must consider calling The Babysitting Company up and reserving a babysitter for your trip.  From the drive, to the stay, to the drive back up, everything will run smoother and be more fun with an extra set of hands, this I’m sure of.

Unlike without children, much more planning will go into the trip.  This all begins with the packing: make sure you have a change of clothes, diapers, wipes, hand sanitizer, food, and every other necessity available to grab at any given moment.  Now that we got your packing list out of the way, let’s focus on the kids (ha, I crack myself up!). Seriously, do not forget about yourself.  You will need a change of clothes too, especially if the temperature will change 45 degrees in just a few hours like it did for myself.

Nobody knows your child better than you do, so consider their sleeping habits, comfort level, eating schedule, etc. and plan out when and where you will need to stop. Hopefully, your child is like me and loves sleeping in cars!

As far as entertainment goes, when I was a kid this was my time-passer during long car trips:

Now, not only do we have TV’s in our cars, but each child has their own! Their version of a tamagotchi is a handheld device, which is in color (probably 3-D), AND if they don’t have a game they want, they just download it. It’s unbelievable! So fortunately for you, the entertainment factor is a bit easier than “back in the day.” What was your favorite toy as a child?

Check out what www.parenting.com put together:The top baby travel gear!  

Interested in a babysitter for your spring vacation? Just a few fun facts before you book:

-The babysitter will sleep in her own bed.

-The babysitter will need some privacy time for showers, bathroom breaks etc.  However, the sitter will do most of her personal things while the children are sleeping.

-It is the sitter’s responsibility to keep the hotel room tidy and clean.

-Give the sitter a budget for room service and she will keep all receipts. Tell her what to tip when room service comes.

-If the babysitter is staying in a room with the kids put the room in the sitter’s name (in case she gets locked out of the hotel room with the children).

-The rates for traveling babysitter’s starts at 250/day for domestic travel.

Be sure to check out a previous blog post:Traveling With A Babysitter for more information.

Safe travels!!!