Babs' 3,000 Mile Road Trip

Babs is a squirmy 16-month-old toddler, so I was understandably anxious about her coming on this road trip. There were a few bumps, some red-faced screaming and some miles where I had to ride with my arm twisted around to hold her hand, but we made it and ultimately have a more flexible toddler.

that's a lot of miles

If you have a baby who gets fussy/bored in the dar, drive while she is sleeping. We stopped in Illinois on the first night to get some sleep, since we were headed to a wedding and knew there wouldn't be much sleep the next few nights either.

We pulled into the jankiest Motel 6 in America at about 1 a.m. and Babs was delighted to explore the hotel room. Wide awake and not wanting to sleep in her pack n play in a new place, I bounced her (on my own two legs--not even an exercise ball) for about an hour before just putting her in bed with us and watching a movie on my iphone until she fell asleep.

Side note: it was the first time we'd co-slept and it was delightful. She wiggles a lot when she sleeps but it's worth being able to watch her in peaceful dreams. Plus, when she woke up and saw Dad and Mom in bed with her she fell back asleep for another hour.

On the drive home, we drove straight through and Babs slept like a log the whole way. I'd take that over a couple hours sleep in a hotel room.

Feeding Baby on the Road

Giving your toddler good nutritious foods while traveling can be difficult. When we stopped to eat, we'd give her some of whatever we had (omelet, hash browns, green beans, etc.) as long as it wasn't deep fried. But for quickie meals in the car when she's hungry and you don't want to stop, or when traveling without access to a steamer, we went through literally hundreds of these to-go puree pouches:

There are a ton of different brands: Plum, Happy Tot, Gerber, etc. And a ton of different flavor combinations: veggies, fruit, fruit & veggies, even some with yogurt and some with meat. But beware of the ingredients. Even if it only lists two things on the front of the pouch, many of them are sweetened with apple juice.

Now Babs gets uncontrollably excited whenever she sees one of these heavenly pouches. In the baby aisle at the grocery store, or the spare I keep in my diaper bag. Once she catches sight of it, she will move heaven and earth to get it. And all other food is second best.

It was 110% worth it for me to buy these pouch holders because Babs has definitely squeezed the food puree all over herself a time or two before I wised up.

Napping on the Road

We brought the Pack n Play for her to sleep in, since that has been her crib for the last month and a half anyway. She hardly spent a single night in the same place for about a week, but she did surprisingly well with it. She had to sleep between us in bed a few nights and we had to lay in bed and pretend to be asleep for her to go down for a nap a couple times, but it worked just fine.

At camp, she napped with us in the tent, or in the hammock. We put the Pack n Play in our tent for the first couple nights but she didn't end up sleeping in it so we took it down. She slept better when she would wake up and see us right next to her anyway.

She's a wiggler when she sleeps so I got pushed off the mattress a couple times, but I was so happy she was actually sleeping that I didn't mind too much.

It was so hot at camp the first few days we had to do a couple naps in the nice air conditioned car, but we were so hot too we didn't mind the break.

I know people say routine routine routine for toddlers, but I think this shake up was ultimately good for her. She's proven to herself that she can not only manage elsewhere, but be happy napping in a hammock and sleeping in a tent at night. Camp was so much fun for her with the great wide world as her playground that it wiped her out and she slept pretty good.

It's a good sign for the plans Mr. Go and I would like to put into motion in the near future. And the older she gets, the easier it will be to travel with her, as she learns more and more how to entertain herself without us around.