Some things we learned on our first road trip with Kirsten, to Portland and the Oregon coast on Memorial Day weekend:
Lesson 1- The shorter the road trip. . . the better! This might not be true for a younger baby who might sleep a long time in the car. But for a wiggly one year-old, it's very true!
Lesson 2- Plan for lots of stops. More than you think you'll need! It's good to plan drives around nap-times, but don't count on a nap to be a normal length. Kirsten's naps in the car were usually around a half hour each, and never longer than an hour. And when she woke up, boy was she ready to get out of that car seat and take a break!
Lesson 1- The shorter the road trip. . . the better! This might not be true for a younger baby who might sleep a long time in the car. But for a wiggly one year-old, it's very true!
Lesson 2- Plan for lots of stops. More than you think you'll need! It's good to plan drives around nap-times, but don't count on a nap to be a normal length. Kirsten's naps in the car were usually around a half hour each, and never longer than an hour. And when she woke up, boy was she ready to get out of that car seat and take a break!
Lesson 3- A crawling baby is going to want to crawl. Period. She won't be happy to be stuck in the car seat or a high chair or even to be held for very long. She wants to get down on the floor and crawl, and that's all she wants. It's awesome if you can find restaurants or fast food places that have a baby play area or somewhere for them to crawl around. I wish there were more like that, because they're hard to find!
Lesson 4- Definitely plan to spend more time in a hotel room than you normally would. Kirsten loved exploring the hotel room, and we brought toys with us too so she could crawl around and play with them. She was much happier in the hotel than in the car!
Lesson 5- Let the hotel know you have a baby, and most will have a portable crib set up for you. We stayed at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, Washington, just across the river from Portland. Kirsten slept really well at night in the crib they provided.
Lesson 6- Take extras of everything and try to plan for anything. We had mixed up a triple batch of her formula ahead of time, but the cooler tipped over in the car and a lot of it leaked out and got all over. Luckily, we still had enough to last us the whole trip. I took more than we needed of diapers, wipes, outfits, bottles, bibs, spoons, baby food jars, snacks, and toys. It's better to take too much than need something and not have it!
You brought tons of toys, wow! Yes, a crawling baby is interesting to take on trips. I tried not to freak out too much with Lilly crawling all over the nasty hotel floor...eee.
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