Things to consider when traveling with an infant:
- With a baby, you should stop every 2-3 hours anyway so take some time to map out the best places to stop. I like to hit waysides and the local state visitor info centers, the last one I was at had a lovely paved walking path with lots of shady patches of lawn to let the baby crawl on.
- If you’re traveling with another adult, one of you can attend to the baby while the other fills the gas tank or orders the food.
- If you’re lucky enough to be traveling with another adult, that means there’ll be someone available to sit in the back seat, to distract a fussy baby.
- A pacifier clip is an invaluable asset when trying to keep pacifier from the floor mats. My baby is old enough to put it back in his mouth when he spits it out.
- If you can, plan the trip around baby’s sleep schedule. The easiest car trip I had was the one we started at night after bedtime. He slept the entire time!
If driving at night is not an option, and you’re traveling alone with a car-crabby baby try these tips;
- Turn the car radio to static and raise it to the general volume of his crying. (It works with the vacuum cleaner when you’re at home!)
- Keep an abundance of small, interesting, toys in the front seat with you and pass them back as he throws them over the side of the car seat.
- Sing. Sometimes the sound of your voice doing something like singing could be enough to make your crabby kid smile.
- Open the windows. A blasting of wind is often distracting, sometimes fun, to an irritated baby.
- If there’s space for it, provide finger foods for distraction.