Long drives are usually never fun for anyone. Especially if you live in Eastern Montana / North Dakota! This weekend we took a drive out to the farm to see the family. It’s about a two hour drive through nothing. No hills, no mountains, hardly any other traffic, no trees, no sites at all. There sure is lots of cows though!
Now imagine that long boring trip with a baby and two dogs (one with horrible car anxiety). The baby is screaming, the dog is whining, and your music or podcasts can’t go loud enough to drown out the sounds. It’s complete chaos.
So let me tell you how I handle this. You can’t control a baby’s cries or a stressed out dog, but you can control your own peace. Try to prepare for all disasters and prepare to know something WILL go wrong.
Before leaving the house a prep the car and diaper bag. Since we can’t have total control over the dogs while we are in the front we had to get creative. We have a Jeep Renegade, which is a very small vehicle. We looped the dog seat belts through the clips in the back to keep them in the row behind the carseat. Next, we make sure the carseat is properly fastened and in the best position. My boyfriend is very tall, so the seat can’t be pulled up far enough to put the carseat in without a fight with the carseat.
Next comes the diaper bag. You can never be too prepares. However, if your like me you hate trying to carry a ton of things around. So I have diaper bag that is big enough for all I need. The backpack ones I thought were such a great idea for comfortable catty, which it it. I did learn though, that you can fit less into the backpack diaper bags unless the items are not bulky. So of course you need diapers. I always pack enough for one every 2 hours plus 3 extra, one thing of Wipes, a changing pad, diaper cream, an extra onesie and a shirt for mom, spit up cloth, four prepped bottles, formula, and a teether and/or rattle. How I prep the bottles is simple. I just take four Dr. Brown bottles and fill them up with the amount of water I use. Aside from that, I have a little formula dispenser I fill up with the amount of formula I need in each section.
Outside of the diaper bag I always bring a couple more items. I bring a blanket and a swaddle for her to nap while we are gone. Some items I will keep on hand in the car are children’s Tylenol, children’s benadryl, baby sunscreen, and gripe water.
To start the trip I make sure my baby has a fresh diaper on and comfortable car clothes. I always feed her before leaving so we don’t have to stop right away. I make sure she has a sun shade to not wake her or get in her eyes. The best entertainment on the drive of course is to play cocomelon!
That’s my small little routine for our short drives (and yes in Montana 2 hours is a short drive). Either way she cries and no one is really enjoying the trip. So once we arrive, she gets grandma and I can breathe!
Confessions of a Preemie Mom 