Many parents cannot imagine a scarier thought than going on a long road trip with their 2 or 3-year-olds. Even a short trip seems overly daunting for many of the parents we have met. At a recent meeting of the Albuquerque Twins Club, we spoke with a father who was frightened to take his twins on a mere four-hour drive to see their grandparents!

Since when did parents become scared of their own children? This is America after all, the country founded by settlers who bore their children in wagons across wild lands that had never been graced by a McDonald's Play Place.

When Jesus was a little one, an angel of the Lord told Joseph to take his family to Egypt because King Herod would come to kill the child if they stayed in Bethlehem. If this had taken place in 2006, I wonder if Joseph might have replied, "travel to Egypt with my kid? I'll take my chances with Herod!"

But I say to you, Fear Not! Traveling with the Terrible Two's is certainly different, but it doesn't have to be hard, and certainly should not be scary. Two weeks ago, my wife Alison and I made the 12-hour drive from Albuquerque to Wichita with our 2-year-old twins, and the same 12-hour drive back three days later. You know what? It went pretty smoothly. And now I'm going to share our secrets with you:

WHEN TO LEAVE

For a short trip, 4 hours or less, consider heading out around your child's bedtime. After a long hard day of playing, the car will put them to sleep in no time. When you arrive at your destination, just carry your little sleeper to their bed, and voila.

For a moderate-sized trip of 4 to 8 hours, you can buy yourself a little time by heading out around naptime. Some children, but not all, will take a nice long nap in a moving vehicle with a stomach full from lunch.

For a long trip of 8 hours or more (like our trip to Wichita), it is important to get an early start on the day. Get yourselves ready before the break of dawn, and quietly transport your sleeping child to their car seat, pajamas and all. The darkness outside will help them stay or go back to sleep, and provides a nice way for them to ease into the excitement of being in the car.

HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE

As a general rule, add an extra 1/2 hour to every 2-3 hours of expected driving time to account for the run & play breaks your child will need to fight off the boredom and captivity of being in the car seat for extended periods of time.

WHAT TO TAKE

1. Inexpensive new toys that the kids have never seen before
- Little men or dinosaurs in tubes that they can play with or just take in and out
- Crayons and new coloring book or lined notebook
- Small magnadoodle is always a favorite
- Hot Wheels, My Little Pony, action figures
- Put some small toys from home in a little backpack or resealable bag so that they can take them in and out again and again

2. DVD Player or Laptop
- Probably not needed for a trip less than 3 hours long, but it can still gain you some quiet time on those short trips. We all want our kids to enjoy the scenery and learn about the areas we are driving through, but that is not very realistic for a toddler. Some kids will sit happily for hours but most need something to keep their mind off the fact that they are strapped in their seat and have no idea when they will be able to escape.
- Favorite movies for our girls include: Signing Time videos, Muzzy, My Baby Can Read, and many of the animal-based Disney movies.

3. Snacks
- This is very important. Do not worry too much about nutrition but do try to get some healthy food in them. It is not a myth that some children will get sick if they eat a lot of junk food and, even though they will probably only throw up once, it is not something you want to deal with. I have always found traveling to be hunger inducing and in my experience traveling with kids, it has the same effect on them. We bring along their favorites like organic cereal bars, Gerber fruit snacks, oranges, and letter cookies but we also bring some special (unhealthy) treats to get doled out once or twice a day like button candy. Make every effort to have a large supply of food they like on hand
- Drinks. A sippie of water is good because as long as it does not get dirty, you can use it for a couple of days. If your kids will not drink water, bring along a case of 100% juice boxes. Milk boxes also travel well. Sometimes just having a special bottle they like will help them stay hydrated. For example, our girls love their child-size water bottles with the sport tops just like the ones mommy and daddy use.

4. Books
- Books can keep kids occupied for a good while. We always put away some of their favorite books a couple weeks before a trip so that they are excited to see them again when we bring them out in the car. If they have a new obsession, you can also get some inexpensive books relating to that for the drive.

5. Taby Tray or other Lap Desk
- If you take a trip over 3 hours in length, this is something you will not regret investing in. It gives the kids a surface to play on so that they can keep themselves occupied while you try to drive.

6. Children's Music CDs

7. Cleanup Supplies
- plastic bags for dirty diapers or clothes
- baby wipes and Purell for cleaning hands and faces after playing outside or eating
- paper towels for accidents

8. A Camera
- Even if you don't think you will be going anywhere photo-worthy, take this just in case. You never know when your little ones are going to experience something you wish you had captured on film.

HOW TO HANDLE SLEEP

Take all the items you normally use for the nap & bedtime routines such as cds, pajamas, special blankets, special small toys, books to read, etc. Try to keep the routines as close as possible to how they are at home, even though you're on the road. This is very important for helping your child realize that it really is time to sleep.

Also important is to put up a sheet between the passenger and driver seats so that your kids cannot see you. If they can see you, that is often enough by itself to keep them from falling asleep. For some strange reason, they find us entertaining.

HOW TO DRIVE

Dole out the toys very slowly with other activities mixed in like cds, singing, rest stops, or dvds. You should not be out of toys when you are only a few hours into the drive.

Pull over every 2-3 hours to allow the kids to run. A rest stop is good for this, or you can combine the break with a meal by searching out a McDonald's or Burger King with a Play Place (you will never find us at one of those establishments at home, but they are a blessing out on the road). Feed yourself while the kids play and then feed them in the car on their taby trays to buy yourself peaceful time on the road.

And finally, expect to spend some small part of the trip sitting in the back seat with the kiddos. If you prefer to sit in the front, do not give in to going back there too easily or else your children will learn to expect it. They are old enough to entertain themselves for reasonable stretches of time with only minimal help from you, but you should still go back if you feel they have finally had more than they can handle and need some comforting to get them back on track.

CONCLUSION

Parents of small children should not feel as though they have been inextricably chained to their house. Traveling with small children is complicated, but it doesn't have to be difficult. And the earlier you get them used to the road, the easier it will be as they progress to the older stages of childhood. Enjoy your travels, and BE NOT AFRAID!

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Copyright, Paul Martin, Noss Galen Baby LLC 2006

Paul and Alison Martin are the owners of Noss Galen Baby LLC, a small online business dedicated to offering innovative, hard-to-find products for babies and toddlers at affordable prices.

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