{"id":969,"date":"2013-09-08T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-08T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/box2067.temp.domains\/~atinytri\/?p=969"},"modified":"2021-01-13T15:46:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-13T19:46:01","slug":"road-tripping-with-two-little-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atinytrip.com\/road-tripping-with-two-little-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"Road Tripping with 2 Little Ones (Baby and Toddler)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When it’s too expensive to fly, you have too much gear to carry, or flying feels unsafe, consider taking a road trip! Even with a baby and toddler in tow, there are ways to manage and make it into an adventure! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we adjusted our time line for a road trip with a baby and how to make sitting in the car fun for a toddler! Read on for the best tips for roadtripping with two little ones. Scroll to the bottom for my best tips for a road trip with a toddler!<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

This post may contain affiliate links<\/a>. Thank you for supporting our work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were going to the beach. It was going to cost an arm and a leg to fly there. Gas, hotels, restaurants and we would still have a huge chunk of change in our pockets. So we decided to take a risk: make the 9+ hour drive with the kiddos in the back seat.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In sum, the beach was a bust. But the road trip was not the horror story we imagined and apart from a few crying spells that were a bit tough on the soul, it was a fun, fun adventure!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Logistically, we decided to break up the drive into 2 driving segments: Houston to New Orleans, and then New Orleans to Destin. Each drive should have taken 5 hours, but with stops they took 8 hours and 7 hours, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving from Houston to New Orleans<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We left everything packed and ready the night before. M and I each had a couple tasks to do first thing in the morning, so we got up an hour before the babies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baby Brother woke up and I took care of him while M loaded the car. Then Little Boy woke up, so we quickly dressed him and left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baby Brother had a solid nap and Little Boy was busy snacking so we got a decent drive right off the bat. We had a couple short stops and one longer one for lunch with lots of running for Little Boy. The rest of the time we entertained them with various toys from the bag I had packed in the back seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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New Orleans with Kids<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We decided to spend the day in New Orleans it was so.much.fun! So much so, that I wrote a whole post about New Orleans with a baby and toddler<\/a>! If driving with kids makes you nervous and you’re not in a rush, I do recommend splitting up the drive by staying an extra night on the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Driving from New Orleans to Destin Florida<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This part of the trip was less eventful. We left New Orleans in time for baby’s nap which afforded us a good stretch. We stopped a couple of times for feeding, lunch, running around. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then we got a second good stretch with an afternoon nap for both kids! Winning! All in all, this stretch took us “only” 7 hours (instead of the predicted 5)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A Week in Destin with a Baby and Toddler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ahhh\u2026the beach. It could be so relaxing, but this time it just wasn’t. We had a rainy, rainy week in Destin, Florida<\/a> and were mostly cooped up in the rental. We stayed at this rental house in Hidden Dunes-

Beach Vacation in Destin Florida<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Beach Gear for a Baby and Toddler<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Even though most of the week was a bust, we did get good use of the beach gear we had bought ahead of time. Here are our favorites:<\/p>\n\n\n\n