vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

dd will be almost 21 months old when we take our 1st vacation with her this summer. we are going to the lake George area with my family for a week... so it will be a 5-6 hour trip in the car. we are renting cabins; she will have her own bedroom and I will bring the pack & play for her to sleep in but I'm just anxiety-ridden over the whole thing lol

my parents, sister & niece are all going as well, so there will be different people to help entertain her and spend time with once we are there... but I'm still nervous about vacationing with a toddler.

how to keep a child, who just wants to be free, in a car seat for so long - how much toys etc I have to bring. how many diapers etc to pack. how she'll sleep in the pack & play. all of it!

I know i'll just have to figure it out and learn as we go... but everyone took their first trip with a child at some point, so for anyone who has advice on what maybe made your trip/transition a little easier, i'll take it!! please!

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

How is she in the car? DS2 is a runner. He is on the go the moment he wakes up. In the car he is fine. Get a portable DVD player and put on a movie for her to watch. Hopefully she'll fall asleep too from the long car ride. Leave real early in the morning if possible and bring snacks
Figure about how many diapers she goes through in a day and then throw in extra. Good part is you are driving so you CAN overpack. Flying is another story bc you have to worry about weight.
Think casual. It's Lake George and you will have a blast. Bring drinks for you and DH, games, puzzles, coloring books, stickers, etc for your DD. With everyone else there she will be too busy playing.
Lots of snacks and you can always go shopping there if you have to.
sunscreen, take and toss sippies, cooler of stuff unless you're shopping there, hat, bathingsuits, swimmie diapers, baby advil, diapers, pajamas, light clothes, sweatshirt for night time, blanket and her fav stuff that go in her crib, bug spray and bug bite lotions, baby powder, etc.
Go to 5 Below or Dollar store and pick up a ton of outside toys including a blowup pool.

Message edited 3/20/2014 2:08:28 PM.

vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

We just did a road trip upstate with my 22 month old and she did great. We rented a big house with a bunch of friends and some other kids so I wasn't worried much about entertainment while we were there although I packed a big bag or toys.

As for the car, I packed a huge bag or toys and snacks. She ended up playing with the stuffed animal she grabbed on the way out the door for the first 1.5 hours before I broke out the toys (M&D water wow, magnadoodle type stuff). Those held her for about 10 minutes before she was over it and I put a movie on for her (we brought a portable dvd player and rented her favorite movie from the library). We stopped for a long lunch and then she napped after lunch and watched her movie again before we got there.

DD doesn't love the pnp but she would go down fine at night. We were sharing a room so us going to bed usually woke her up and she'd end up in bed with us for the rest of the night. Not ideal but we dealt with it. She napped in it fine most days too. We brought our white noise machine and all her normal bedtime stuff so she was comfortable. It took a day or two after we got home for her to get back to sttn in her crib but it was worth it! Have fun!

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Don't pack diapers etc. just google a local target or Walmart and buy up there.

We have a foldable cot that we take because ds was not comfy in a pnp. By 21m she might be starting to get cramped in a pnp so I would explore other options.

My ds sleeps in the car so he'd probably sleep that entire ride.

I would just throw in a bunch of toys but remember its a new place so they will probably just want to explore.

Traveling is not hard at all unless we make it that way.

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Posted by MrsKelly

Posted by EricaAlt

How is she in the car? DS2 is a runner. He is on the go the moment he wakes up. In the car he is fine. Get a portable DVD player and put on a movie for her to watch. Hopefully she'll fall asleep too from the long car ride. Leave real early in the morning if possible and bring snacks
Figure about how many diapers she goes through in a day and then throw in extra. Good part is you are driving so you CAN overpack. Flying is another story bc you have to worry about weight.
Think casual. It's Lake George and you will have a blast. Bring drinks for you and DH, games, puzzles, coloring books, stickers, etc for your DD. With everyone else there she will be too busy playing.


Go to 5 Below or Dollar store and pick up a ton of outside toys including a blowup pool.

what games are they into at that age? dd is 16.5 months now... i know it's a while away still... but i feel like now, she just plays with her 1,000 toys and books around the house. i can't even imagine how to narrow it down to know what to take

there is a private beach on the lake, right where our cabins are... I'm not sure if there would be a hose hook up to fill a baby pool, but i do have one from last summer i can bring. i have bubbles and a pail and shovel... i guess i'll pick up a few more things to dig with... and a beach ball or two... what else is good for them to play with outside, at that age??

i have a protable dvd player; i will DEFINITELY bring that for the car. good call. she's never been on a long trip in the car... honestly, never more than a half an hour or so. and she gets ansty by that point

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Don't stress out about 'entertaining' your 22 month old. She's a kid, and it's a beach vacation with her parents, grandparents and cousins .........you will all have a great time, if you don't put so much pressure on yourself to 'do everything right'

Babies are still people. My advice is to bring her 'favorite' things from home as a comfort for when she may be cranky or tired (a blanket, stuffed animal, favorite cup, book that kind of thing)

If it's possible, and she still naps, try to plan your drive around when she would be napping so she's alseep for a decent part of the drive .......otherwise, well, she HAS to be in the carseat. End of story. Too bad if she 'wants to run around' ......If you have an iPad, download her favorite movie as a treat - but ONLY break that one out if she gets crazy !!

Other than that, you don't have to pack up your house. She's going to a new place to do new and fun things - bring beach and pool toys and a few smaller toys to occupy her at dinner or in the cabin later at night

You will be fine! The first time is always nerve wracking and you overpack and stress out .......its just the anxiety and anticvipation of doing it for the first time.

If you have room to pack the diapers, pack them, if you run out ..........there's always a target or walmart or whatever around

vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Not sure if it was said but I think its worth saying. For mine, She needs to SEE where she's sleeping before she's asleep. I have travelled with her so many places. Road trip to SA, Road trip to and from Iowa, Hawaii, Flying to Florida more than once ..... never an issue....and then one time I took her to New York... TOTAL MELTDOWN! I want to go home.. I want my bed.. I want to go home NOW.. crying, screaming, end of the world. She cried so hard she cried herself to sleep still shaking with sobs. Nothing I could do could comfort her. IT was so STRANGE!

It was a long night but she was fine in the morning. The next night, no issues. Then we realized. She had fallen asleep at a backyard party, after that we moved to another home where we were sleeping. She thought she was staying in the first house and had pretty much set up camp in the living room. She woke up in the middle of the night to an entirely different living room and environment. She's never had window A/C unit so I think the sound essentially woke her up but then the fact she was in a strange place (even tho we both slept on either side of her) she lost it.

So we learned to always show her WHERE she's going to sleep before anything and let her 'set it up'. I will wake her UP on purpose to show her now. Wake up ... wake up honey.. Stand up I want to you to see where you're sleeping.. see that.. that's for you ok? Answer me sweetie.. where are your friends, do you have your towel. She hates it but we have silenced all meltdown since that first.

I travel a lot with her so that was the one and only hiccup.

Message edited 3/21/2014 10:33:19 AM.

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Posted by EricaAlt

Posted by MrsKelly

Posted by EricaAlt

How is she in the car? DS2 is a runner. He is on the go the moment he wakes up. In the car he is fine. Get a portable DVD player and put on a movie for her to watch. Hopefully she'll fall asleep too from the long car ride. Leave real early in the morning if possible and bring snacks
Figure about how many diapers she goes through in a day and then throw in extra. Good part is you are driving so you CAN overpack. Flying is another story bc you have to worry about weight.
Think casual. It's Lake George and you will have a blast. Bring drinks for you and DH, games, puzzles, coloring books, stickers, etc for your DD. With everyone else there she will be too busy playing.


Go to 5 Below or Dollar store and pick up a ton of outside toys including a blowup pool.

what games are they into at that age? dd is 16.5 months now... i know it's a while away still... but i feel like now, she just plays with her 1,000 toys and books around the house. i can't even imagine how to narrow it down to know what to take

there is a private beach on the lake, right where our cabins are... I'm not sure if there would be a hose hook up to fill a baby pool, but i do have one from last summer i can bring. i have bubbles and a pail and shovel... i guess i'll pick up a few more things to dig with... and a beach ball or two... what else is good for them to play with outside, at that age??

i have a protable dvd player; i will DEFINITELY bring that for the car. good call. she's never been on a long trip in the car... honestly, never more than a half an hour or so. and she gets ansty by that point

Just some toys, balls, cheap sand toys, etc are fine. It'll be fine. Unless you plan on shopping there I'd still bring the diapers so you have it just incase. Find a local store just to have so you have a backup plan if you run out of anything. Bring any of those take and toss sippy cups, bowls, etc so you can toss at the end of the trip. You don't have to use the pool for water. It can be a place to also keep DD's toys in or for her to sit in if she doesn't like the sand or have a seat.

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Posted by MarisaK

Don't stress out about 'entertaining' your 22 month old. She's a kid, and it's a beach vacation with her parents, grandparents and cousins .........you will all have a great time, if you don't put so much pressure on yourself to 'do everything right'

Babies are still people. My advice is to bring her 'favorite' things from home as a comfort for when she may be cranky or tired (a blanket, stuffed animal, favorite cup, book that kind of thing)

If it's possible, and she still naps, try to plan your drive around when she would be napping so she's alseep for a decent part of the drive .......otherwise, well, she HAS to be in the carseat. End of story. Too bad if she 'wants to run around' ......If you have an iPad, download her favorite movie as a treat - but ONLY break that one out if she gets crazy !!

Other than that, you don't have to pack up your house. She's going to a new place to do new and fun things - bring beach and pool toys and a few smaller toys to occupy her at dinner or in the cabin later at night

You will be fine! The first time is always nerve wracking and you overpack and stress out .......its just the anxiety and anticvipation of doing it for the first time.

If you have room to pack the diapers, pack them, if you run out ..........there's always a target or walmart or whatever around

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

Don't stress too much about what to bring. Worry about things that can't be purchased, special "lovies", stuffed animals. Anything else you did not think of can be picked up there, there are plenty of regular supermarkets and stores less then 10-15 minutes away.

You will probably need mostly pool/beach toys the most because that is where you will be for most of your free time. There is so much to do that there won't be that much down time. Things like bubbles, a ball etc are also good.

Re: vacation advice: what to bring - sleeping area transition - road trip etc

I've learned to bring things for the PNP to make it as much like home as possible. I bring DS's projector that plays music, along with his blanket, pillow and snugglies. Aside from that I don't stress. My kids always have a blast upstate. The projector comes in handy for the music. He can turn it on to tune out the strange new noises. GL!!!