It’s June 15th, 2021, and that means that today California officially “re-opens!”
Exciting stuff. We know this will mean a lot more travel, trips, and all-around FUN for most of us.
As it happens, I’m writing this blog post as I drive BACK into California. I’ve been on vacation for the past eleven days road tripping with my husband and nine-month-old baby to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. You may be wondering… can you really call a road trip with an infant a vacation? And this is a very valid question! But I’m happy to report to you that yes, traveling with an infant can still be a super enjoyable experience. It’s not quite the same as the days when hubby and I would just load up the Rav4 real quick and hit the open road without a care in the world (ahhh the glory days), but if you keep a positive mentality, it can still have epic vacation vibes!
Here are my top 5 tips for how to make road tripping with your infant a positive experience!
1) Bring extra water, mama.
I’m one of those water freaks who brings a full water bottle with me every I go, so when I packed our usual bottles for the start of our trip I was feeling good to go. However, I didn’t take into account the fact that as a breastfeeding mama I need to be drinking double the usual amount of water! When you’re road tripping and taking breaks every few hours to feed baby you gotta make sure to stay hydrated yourself. Bring more water than you think you’ll need so you’re always prepped. Nobody wants to be thirsty on I-5.
2) Bring baby food pouches.
If baby is old enough to be eating solids, consider bringing some baby food pouches for the trip (the kind they can suck right out of). I believe eating solid food not in a pouch is def a healthier way to go, but this option can be super convenient when you’re on the road. They also have some fairly impressive baby food options these days with all organic vegetable ingredients (or even grass-fed beef, fancy!). My all time favorite brand is Serenity Kids. While we didn’t end up using the ones I brought I was happy we had them and I can definitely imagine soothing a fussy baby with a little snack while you’re on the road. Bring a bib too to keep your car clean!
3) Embrace the suck—especially at night.
Ever heard the expression, “embrace the suck?” -- it’s a pretty handy one when it comes to new parent life! Accepting the fact that this is a challenging period of life can help us avoid complaining and leaning into negative thinking. Gotta roll with the punches and make the most of it! This can be super applicable to sleep while traveling. As we learned on our trip, even if your little one is a perfect sleeping angel at home, when you throw all the variables into travel it’s a crap shoot whether or not they will sleep well. Hope for the best but just embrace the suck. For us, this meant caving and having Koda sleep in bed with us most nights in a smaller than typical bed (something that does not happen at home). Remember it’s all temporary and you’ll be back in your “normal” home environment soon enough. So enjoy the change of pace! And PS— consider booking a room with a king sized bed just in case!
4) Order restaurant food that baby can share too.
Road tripping typically means a lot of eating out at restaurants. Come armed to the table with a toy, a bib, and ask for a high chair (stuff a rolled up blanket behind baby to help prop them up in the chair if needed). If baby is eating solids, take them into consideration when ordering and choose foods that they can share too. We started doing this because it was a helpful way to keep Koda content during meal time, but it quickly became one of the greatest parts of our trip! We started to make a point to order all sorts of exotic and fun (yet healthy and baby appropriate) foods for him to try. In all, Koda tasted reindeer, alligator, duck, roe, elk, clam, and cuttle fish all for the first time on our trip (plus lots of vegetables too!… Still we nicknamed him “the predator” on our trip). What you choose to feed your baby is definitely a personal decision and my own choice has been to expose my baby to a wide variety of foods and see what he gravitates toward naturally (plus plenty of breast milk for lots of nutrition!). Having said that, it was SO MUCH FUN to share lots of new foods with him that we wouldn’t normally eat or have access to at home. Bonus points, it kept restaurant mealtime a lot more enjoyable for mom and dad when baby was busy munching.
Traveling somewhere with less than desirable food options? Try bringing celery or carrot sticks that baby can chew on in their high chair (even if they’re not really swallowing any they’ll enjoy the taste, texture, and being part of mealtime).
5) Get your nursery rhyme on
If you’re on an eleven-day road trip, there will almost inevitably come a time when baby is over this whole riding in the car thing. Our greatest ally here? – singing nursery rhymes! Most babies love singing! And I think they like knowing they have not been forgotten about in the back seat. Try playing a simple nursery rhyme track on YouTube (or Spotify or whatever) and sing along to distract and comfort baby if they get fussy on the drive. You’d be surprised how many lyrics you’ll remember when prompted by a song track! Another great option here is read aloud baby books. Again on YouTube or Spotify, etc., you can find children books read aloud with fun, creative voices to entertain your little. Or keep some books on hand and read them aloud yourself!
Bonus tips from Dad
I asked my husband what tips he would add to this list, and here are his top two!
Roll the window down.
I can’t even explain it entirely, but when Koda gets fussy in the backseat and we roll his nearest window down, it seems to instantly distract him from whatever was bothering him and a good amount of the time he’ll pass out within a few minutes! It’s like a magic trick for us.
Taking breaks is okay.
We usually like to bomb the open road, but it’s good to remember that it’s okay to take those unexpected breaks to tend to baby as needed. Loosen up on time frames and just enjoy the ride!
Happy travels and stay safe!
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