Surviving Your Family Road Trip

Family road trips. Ah, yes. Three little words that elicit both nostalgia and . . . a sense of doom.

Remember the kids singing and giggling during the day, and then later, the quiet murmurings of the adults in the front seat as wee ones drifted to sleep in the back?

Precious days.

Oh, and do you remember this? “Dad, I don’t feel so good,” followed by the sound of a wee one barfing all over the backseat and probably the back of a sibling.

Doom need not be your traveling companion during family road trips. Whether you’re headed out on a meandering vacation, or going to grandma’s for the holidays, we have some tips on how to keep the nostalgia and ditch the doom.

Fill a pack or a sack for each child with age-appropriate activities, stuffed critters, and snacks. It is theirs to carry and keep close.

Place a small cooler on the floor behind the front seats and fill it with drinks.

Tuck packages of wet wipes and paper towels around the vehicle’s interior.

Encourage games that require kids to look out the windows. Reading or watching a screen may create a circumstance where the child’s inner ear feels the car’s motion, but his eyes do not see the motion, and that sets up a potential for carsickness.

Direct cool air to flow toward the kids, either from open windows, or the vehicle’s ventilation system. This helps tamp down feelings of nausea.

Wearing a Reliefband will help ward off symptoms of carsickness, once your child is old enough to know how to control a Reliefband, and his wrists are big enough to wear it. Your child’s pediatrician will be able to help you make that determination.

Food eaten during the trip should be of a healthy variety, and not too spicy or greasy.

And finally, naps are encouraged.

Have fun! In the end, you’ll be glad you went.