Taking Your Baby on the Road

Planning your first extended road trip as a new parent can be a bit overwhelming. You may have taken your baby out for a quick run to the store, to the doctor or to visit grandma a few miles away, but a long road trip is a different story. As a parent, you can get used to the comfort and convenience of you own home, so how do you fit your baby room into your car? Well, that probably isn't possible, but with some good planning, you can make it pleasant for everyone.

The first thing you need to consider is your vehicle preparation. It's a good idea to have at least two people in the car with your baby, one in the driver's and one in the backseat. With this setup, you can alternate drivers and baby care during those long trips, and the changes give you a chance to get out of the car and stretch. Even though one of you is assigned to driving, you still want know whats going on in the backseat, so installing a baby mirror is a great idea. What will the weather be like while you're on the road? If its cold, you will want some extra blankets, but if its a bright sunny day, you may want to set up window shades. You should think about bringing a baby music CD for your baby's listening enjoyment, unless he or she is into the current music scene.

Now that all the passengers are situated, you can lay out your plan for entertaining your baby, if he or she doesn't sleep the whole way. Make sure you have some of your baby's favorite toys, bring baby books to read, tape pictures to the seat so your baby has something to look at and you could also setup a hanging entertainment center from the roof for your baby to look at and play with.

If you're able to, you may want to leave early in the morning so the sun doesn't bother your baby and it seems like its still night time. The longer your baby sleeps on the trip, the less irritated he or she will be which makes it a more enjoyable trip. When your baby wakes up, you can do your normal routine of feeding, burping and playing. This is also a good time to change drivers.

It may be something your not accustomed to, but taking your baby on a road trip can actually go very well. Before you take on a 5 or 6 hour road trip, you may want to test the water with a short trip in the 1-2 hour range.