Road trips with Babies!!

So we made it back to Baltimore safe and sound after hitting the road in the first week of May to Minnesota, and we returned last Thursday (May 26).

My mom drove back with me and the girls and ALL our stuff (2 pack and plays, 3 suitcases, a cooler, car seats, car seat bases, diapers, bottles, computers, jackets, shoes etc. etc.; stroller did not fit however!). We were driving a Jeep Cherokee and we had about one square foot viewing capability out of the back window.

So initially I thought it would be easier and less stressful to hit the road instead of flying. I am not sure I feel the same way, but driving did have some benefits:

• Room: for all our crap
• Privacy: to breast feed and to keep fussy little ones out of earshot of others
• Not having to worry about security lines or sitting next to someone smelly on the plane:)
• Good bonding time with my mom-- and NPR
• And I could belt out "Wheels on the Bus" and "Day-O" as loud as I wanted!! (the girls love those two songs in particular)

Cons:

• Normally a 2-3 day trip took 4 days
• Not really any more cost efficient since we had to stay in a hotel 3 nights each way, the room had to be spacious, and gas was around $4/ gallon (pardon me, diesel... my rents have a 'cool' Jeep).
• We had to load and unload the car... a lot. (By the way, thanks mom-- you did it almost every time!)
• Tandem-feeding in the back seat at rest stops was not the most comfortable, especially considering I had to empty out half the back seat to finagle my way in there.
• Weather (we had severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning on the way back!)
• Not being able to find good coffee when I needed some
• Other people having to listen to my singing!

Advice to myself for future road trips (with kids- at least for a few more months):

• Those mesh sucky things that you can put fruit into-- great idea (for babies naturally)!! Just don't do bananas- they stain believe it or not. We did cantaloupe; honeydew, watermelon, mango, pears would all work well too.
• Make sure to get turbo-absorbent diapers; its no fun cleaning up poop explosions on the road
• Have a bag of toys and mix out what the kids are playing with every now and then; make sure the books aren't edible (aka, cardboard); and if all else fails- find some non-toy item- it will keep them entertained for a while (i.e. Glasses case, water bottle, ziplock bag filled with cool stuff like cantaloupe).
• Make sure extra clothes are accessible
• Find shades for the back windows; even though they were tinted, it still got pretty steamy back there