Road Trip Packing List

My previous post “First Road Trip” was all about our first family road trip to visit my grandparents.  The trip went well and with everything I packed I don’t feel like my daughter missed anything with the exception of her own crib.  We were gone for three (3) nights and 4 days.  This is my list of things that I did pack for my little one:

• Diapers – I packed 10 per day and 2 per night, I actually kept track of the amount diapers that my daughter goes through per day for about five (5) days prior the trip to know how many I might need.  Average six (6) per day and 1 per night, extra’s for the just in case, if I did run out I know I could’ve easily picked up another package at the store.
• 1 Package of wipes
• Bum Rash Cream
• 1 Bath Wash – I packed a head-to-toe wash so I wouldn’t have to pack Shampoo and a separate wash
• 1 small tube of Lotion
• 2 face clothes, 1 towel
• 6 Bibs, 6 clothes – I did a quick hand wash of these
• 3 pre-measured containers of baby mixed cereal, 1 package baby rice cereal – Breakfast is packed
• Enough pre-made fruit for 4 days – we usually feed our daughter what we eat as per her doctor, this has helped to make this trip a bit lighter to pack for
• 1 tin of formula – I packed a brand new tin and again if I ran out I could easily pick up another tin (I did only one (1) and had plenty leftover)
• 1 8oz bottle, 1 4oz bottle, 1 sippy cup – I washed each bottle after each use and the sippy cup was used for water
• 1 container (about a cup) of Cheerios – my daughter loves these and are the best snack for her
• 4 sleepers, 5 outfits – I packed an extra of each because you never know, the extra outfit came in handy.  Also I mostly packed more sweat suit type outfits for her to be as comfortable as possible and out cute dress because we did plan to go out for dinner one night.
• 3 Blankets – 2 thinner receiving blankets and 1 thicker blanket for night time
• a few toys – just a couple of small toys to keep her occupied and also for chewing because she has been teething a lot more lately.
• Booster seat – her seat easily clips onto any chair
• Play Pen
• Stroller and car seat
• Tylenol, oral gel – all for teething and I am happy we did, what I forgot to mention in my previous post was that my girl was teething really badly on the way home, we had to find a safe place to pull over so I could give her some Tylenol and numbing gel to help keep her as comfortable as possible until we reached home. 

One thing that we needed was an SUV or a Van for packing all her stuff plus ours, thankfully my parents were coming and they had lots of extra room in their car.  We had everything we needed and like I mentioned my daughter didn’t seem to miss anything with the exception of her crib.

How was packing for your vacation with your little one (s) at hand? did you forget anything or over-pack? 

First Road Trip

Finally off to visit my Grandparents so they can meet their great-grand-daughter.  My daughter is their 3 great-grand-baby but like many great-grandparents, they were just as excited as if she was the first. 

The road trip to my grandparents place is about a five and a half hours with short bathroom stops and a quick stop of a small bite to eat.  My parents used to take this exact trip with me and my sister when we were little, so not much has changed with a new baby in house.  My mom warned me… this trip will now take over seven (7) hours. 

How can a trip that normally takes under six (6) hours now take over 7!  Well, the short bathroom breaks now turns into short bathroom break, diaper change and feeding (bottle or food) for the baby.  So as opposed to the stops taking about 15 minutes they now average about half an hour, if not longer.  The longer breaks were actually not bad, it gave us all a little bit of extra time to stretch from sitting so long. 

My daughter did really good for about 2/3’s of the way, all she did was nap.  Once we reached to our last stop she was tired of napping, I could really tell she wanted to stay out of her car seat and play.  So my mom sat in the back seat and played with my daughter to help keep her entertained for the remaining part of the trip.  All I could hear from the back seat was baby babble, laughter and my mom talking to her.  She remained awake for the last two (2) hours of the trip and I was thankful that someone was in the back seat with my daughter to help keep her entertained. 

Our stay with my grandparents is mostly just hanging out and relaxing.  We did just that with the exception of my daughter being the centre of the entertainment.  My daughter took immediately to my grandparents as if she’s known them her whole life.  It was a wonderful visit!

Nap time seemed to be ok, she just napped in her play pen for about an hour or two (2), so she wasn’t too out of sorts.  Bedtime was a different story.  She would go down initially for about a couple of hours than she was up and wanted to sleep in our bed. 

We stayed by grandparents for about three (3) days and by the 3rd day my girl was ready to go home and be in her own bed.  The road trip was the same on the way home with the last two (2) hours of the trip she was tired of napping and this time I sat in the back with her. 

One thing that I feel we did need for the car ride was one of those window shades for kids.  We ended up just using a blanket to cover up the window. 

How was your first road trip with your little one? Happy Vacationing!