Kid's Travel Snacks (and Sanity-Savers)

Travelling cross country during a pandemic was never what I had planned.

I had planned to take the kids to Florida for Spring break. And while the idea of a solo flight initially freaked me out a bit, it was supposed to be short and sweet and ultimately get us to the sunshine...quickly.

Then COVID happened and my husband and I didn’t feel it was wise to travel. So we bumped our then-early March plane tickets to June, thinking things would be better. But as all of us know, this transition back to “normal” is a slow process - as it should be.

And for us, that meant the trip that should be happening this week is well, now not happening (as planned).

That’s why when my parents offered to come for Mother’s Day weekend and then drive back to FL with my three kids and myself (since my husband needed to stay home for business), we opted to make the trip happen after all. However, this was only after much deliberation to ensure that we were keeping my parents, own family, and any Floridians we could come in contact with safe (see below).

Please note: this was a choice our family made based on our own complete 10-week quarantine (as well as that of my parents), evaluating the safest possible travel arrangements, and after ensuring we would only be going to private pools, beaches, and properties while in Florida. We had the fortunate scenario that my parents live in a private community, so any beach visits we made were done completely socially-distanced (with few others ever even seen). This was unique though and does not reflect best practice behaviors to public beaches amidst this pandemic. In order to both respect Floridians and their beaches, please do not read the following post as an endorsement to put Summer travel plans before the interest of public health. Considering the high-risk elderly population and communities most impacted by others enjoying their public beaches right now, this requires us all to do our part - which sometimes means adjusting our travel plans to other locations or times in order to do so.

I merely wanted to share from our experiences, in the case any tidbits could aid others in safely pursuing their travels. This is not intended to endorse any inconsiderate or unsafe travel be it to Florida or elsewhere.

 
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So without further ado, since I had 22 hours in the backseat though with my three children (ages 21 months, 4, and 6 years), I got a good look at what worked, what didn’t, and what I would like to know as a parent should I ever decide to make a long road trip like this again with kids. Here is a recap!

Snacks, activities, meltdowns, and more...oh my!

This is my roundup post to answer the hundreds of questions that came in about our travel amidst a pandemic and how we survived a 22-hour road trip with three kids six and under including all the snacks, activities, meltdowns and more!

Snacks

Naturally, food was what I received the most questions about when I shared our 22-hour road trip and how we handled food and feeding during it.

Before we dive into the actual snack ideas and options below though, I want to address two important things: food and car safety as well as feeding structure and routines.

 

Safety

Whenever possible, time snacks around your bathroom stops. This is the safest way to ensure your child is eating in a proper position to protect them from choking (assuming they get out of the car to eat at a table or safe, seated location at these stops). Such stops also usually span around the 2-3 hour mark and give clear boundaries on when both snacks and a bathroom break will be.

If you can’t stop for a variety of reasons or it is not a clean or safe place to be getting out to eat, you might consider eating in the parked car. Again, feeding your child when stopped and with supervision is always safest. That said, as a mom myself, I did feed my kids while the car was in motion and opted for what seemed like safer snacks (particularly with my youngest). This is when nutrient-dense options with less risk of choking can be helpful, like pouches, milk boxes, or small crunchy options like dry cereal (assuming the child won’t squeeze or dump these everywhere). Then you can save the messier and/or potentially greater choking hazard options for the snacks and meals you stop for.

I should mention that I was also in the backseat with my kids for the duration of the ride, so I had eyes on each of them during their snack. If you are in the front seat or unable to see your children while snacking (say for rear-facing children), use caution and your parental discretion whether or not to feed in the car. 

 

Feeding Schedule

Many of you asked about snack rules in the car, if I had a meal/snack schedule, or just allowed snacks whenever they are whiney.

As covered in the linked posts, I am a big believer in creating meal and snack structure and establishing feeding routines - INCLUDING on road trips. While I might be a bit more lenient of feeding schedules than were outlined here, I would still encourage you to look at the travel day and see what time slots might work with when/where you are planning to stop for bathroom breaks or meal times.

When we think about it, we want our kids 1) focusing their mental energy on things other than just their next snack, and 2) we DEFINITELY don’t want to be asked for a snack every seven minutes when we are stuck in the car for several hours straight. So work these eating opportunities into your route and routine and keep it clear with suggested scripts like these:

We will have snack once we finish playing 20 questions.

We will stop for lunch in 100 miles when we get to ___________.

After we all have rest time, you can choose a snack out of the cooler.

Tonight before we go to the hotel, we can stop to get ___________.

This routine is NOT to kill their joy or to add unnecessary rigidity to an adventure that demands flexibility. But, it will save your sanity and spare your kids from endless and/or mindless snacking while ensuring snacks function to both fuel your child and move a long day of travel along.

I have tried to provide snack ideas for this below with ways that you can round out and boost the overall nutritional density of a simple, default packaged snack with something that would deliberately add extra fat, fiber, or protein to become a more filling option (if you need your child to stay full for longer). This advice applies to any day*, but especially on long road trips when you likely don’t want to be asked for a snack every seven minutes.

*The only exception to this I would say is if your child is feeling car sick, go with your gut. Sometimes crackers or an impromptu stop for fresh air and an early snack might be merited and that is a-okay.

 

Snack Coordinator

Even in the car, I would try to maintain your role and responsibility at meals and snacks as much as possible. You might opt to pre-pack a snack bag for each child and let them decide how they work their way through that, but you need to know your child, if they are at an age that they can safely regulate when to eat each option (if unsupervised), and if they have the ability to self-regulate (so they don’t burn through all their snacks in the first stretch of the trip).

Instead, I usually go by the rule of offering one rainbow food (being a fruit or veggie) + one packaged option per snack. If they are still hungry, they can have more of either/both but we aren’t going to just plow through the whole snack bag the first snack time and have each kid ask for something different until each feels satisfied. But with the ages my kids are at, this helps prevent large snack boxes from being spilled (that you often see on Pinterest) and helps us to keep with regular feeding/eating routines, like those we use at home.

To help your children also feel supported and satisfied with a little added spontaneity, one idea that kids might enjoy is to rotate which child picks the snack. So maybe the first snack stop your youngest gets to choose which rainbow food and packaged option and the next, your oldest. This takes into consideration their requests (particularly if there are any “ special” car snacks you know they otherwise will ask incessantly about until they get them) but also adds some predictability to who’s choosing what when it is deemed snack time without all calling out for random things at once.

 

Shelf-Stable

We packed a non-perishable snack bag as well as a cooler with food that needed to be kept cool and fresh. Here is a rundown of some of the options we included in each.

Non-perishable, packaged, shelf-stable snack options:

  • Whole grain crackers (can be mixed into a trail mix )

  • Whole grain tortilla chips or plantain chips (offer with mini guacamole cups from the cooler)

  • Dry cereal (could be offered with a shelf-stable milk box)

  • Pea crisps (could be given with a cheese stick and/or hummus cup from the cooler)

  • Veggie sticks (can be paired with a hummus cup and veggies from the cooler)

  • Graham crackers (could be given to dip in a yogurt cup)

  • Popcorn (note choking hazard under age four)

  • Freeze-dried fruit (add to dried several and/or homemade trail mix)

  • Homemade trail mix (note nuts as a choking hazard)

  • Nut butter (for fruit, veggies, or crackers to be dipped in; keep room temp for easier dipping)

  • All-natural jerky options

  • Fruit and Nut bars or energy bites (can be homemade ahead of time or purchased from brands such as those shown here)

  • Bagels (add cream cheese to for an easy breakfast, snack, or lunch option)

Many of my posts on snacks are getting an update over the summer, but you can check out the original posts here for more ideas on any of the following:

 

Perishable and Picnic Options

Since we drove 11-ish hours per day, we packed a picnic before leaving home on day one and then packed enough items for a simple picnic on day two. We had a hotel mini fridge we kept these items in overnight and then just froze the ice packs overnight. With this, I would either bring Ziplocks you can add ice from the ice machine in (if the hotel is offering ice during COVID) or ask the hotel in advance if they have a safe, sanitary freezer for you to store the ice packs overnight. Our hotel did, so this allowed us to refreeze the ice packs to use on the second day.

Then, the morning of day two, we packed bagels and cream cheese one way or PB&Js the other. These were added to the more snacky side items like fruit, veggies, crackers, cheese, etc. once we got to the rest stop for lunch. Just be sure you have extra reusable bags, containers, lunchboxes, or foil wrap to store the sandwiches themselves. You can also use the plastic sleeve the bread or bagels comes in to repurpose a disposable option that you can throw out after you eat the sandwiches inside!

Perishable snack ideas (to store in a cooler and/or offer with a picnic):

  • Cold cut veggies

  • Fresh fruit

  • Avocado in a container (so it wouldn’t be smashed)

  • Cheese sticks or rounds

  • Applesauce or fruit and veggie pouches

  • Yogurt containers or tubes

  • Milk boxes

  • Hard boiled eggs (just note they might be stinky in the car!)

  • Cream cheese

For more ideas, consider including the things your family knowingly enjoys in a snack drawer instead in a cooler.

 

Snack Supply

Many of you mentioned that it feels like your kids eat way more when on road trips or while travelling. And yes, since boredom is often up while in the car, always prepare yourself to have MORE vs less snacks on hand.

Having routine around snack time can help, but also know it is again okay and preferred for your child to self-regulate rather than for you to feel you need to “cut them off.” You decide what, when, and where the snacks are offered. Then, allow your child to decide if/whether and how much of that snack to eat at the given opportunity.

If you physically don’t have more of the given snack they finished, then you can offer them something else. Or if you need to not burn through all of the bars on day one of the trip, simply state,

“We only have enough bars for everyone to have one per day. You may choose between ________ and _______ if you are still hungry.”

 

For Families with Food Allergies/Sensitivities 

Feeding my youngest was by far the most stressful part of the road trip to me due to his food intolerances. Ensuring we had enough safe foods for him without sticking to the same few was a challenge, but we made it work.

While we keep to more of the “love it food” staples for him than I would usually do if at home (when more variety is available), I would emphasize having as many familiar foods as possible on hand so you know you don’t end up somewhere without something. Depending on how many people in your family these dietary needs apply to, it might be worth packing a spare cooler just with these items in it so that you can go ahead and pack all of their “extra” food in one place and restock as needed (without opening up, taking out, and thus heating up the main cooler that is used for everyone). Since a lot of my son’s items are specialty foods, this was helpful as it allowed me to pack larger containers that I knew he would be eating more from over the travel days and as we got settled/before we made it to the grocery store.

Additionally, depending on what your child’s dietary needs are, it might be worth making a batch or two of something in advance so you have hearty muffins, breakfast cookies, etc. on hand that they could eat beyond the packaged snacks or other foods available. Also, if you are choosing to stop and get take out, map your mealtime stops around facilities that have safe options. This can help bring something new and more exciting (and nutritionally diverse) to the day and their diet than the staples you packed.

 

Activities

These obviously will be unique to the age of child you have and if you have an infant, preschooler, or older child. That’s why I am keeping it my own experience with my own three kids (ages 21 months, 4 years, and 6 years as of writing). Hopefully each will give some ideas so wherever your child(ren) falls within here, you are able to utilize some of the ideas from or within the options suggested.

 

Toddlers

Favorite Car Activities

The pom pom, card slot, straw drop games are just not my kid’s jam, but if you know your child has a love of one of these, go with it! Particularly because if something drops with one of these, it is more forgiving. That’s why I recommend bringing toys that either are all contained or have enough added pieces it isn’t a problem if something drops.

What worked for us with my toddler as well as my older two was pulling out one thing at a time and rotating between book and toys. I would let him play with someone (or play with him) as long as it held his interest, then when I could tell he was done, we would read a book (which as toddlers do, means you read it 32 times). Then, when he was done with that book, we would bring out a new toy and repeat that process.

Here were my son’s favorites activities.

None of these were ones I bought specific for the trip, but rather ones we have long had and enjoyed (affiliate links):

Keeping them happy

Every child is different, let alone toddlers. I know some refuse car seats within 20 minutes and others will only nap in the car. My son is usually operating at 110%, 110% of the time. BUT - the exception is if he has his pacifier. It is so soothing to him that we allow him to have it in his crib or the car seat. So for us, this was a huge saving grace on the road trip. Since this is a longer stretch of time in the car though, I didn’t want him to have it the whole time, so I kept them hidden until I saw him starting to get antsy or uncomfortable or in need of a nap. At that point, I would ask him if he wanted it (which he never refused). With this on-off strategy, he stayed content throughout the car ride up until around 5:00 each day. For the last hour or so each day, I just assumed insanity and had my expectations set to be as kind and accommodating as I could be to get us to the hotel or home for the night. We usually planned dinner (i.e. a chance to get out of the car and run around in a small area) for around this time too so that the final stretch was only a short one and thus, easier on everyone.

We didn’t know how he would travel since we have only done a few three-hour car trips with him to date. Those we also stopped on and planned around nap times, so I didn’t know how he would do on this drive. If you know your child has a challenging temperament in the car (i.e. legit screams nonstop), then I would say either try to find what works with them, try to build up a tolerance before the trip, or just accept this is not the season to travel long distances with them.

Naps

Thankfully, my son is an awesome sleeper at home in his cool, dark, white-noised room, but he doesn’t ever sleep in the car. So the first day was tough, as he resisted all naps and only dozed off for maybe 30 minutes. Good news was, this made him extra tired on day two, so he did then nap. Other things that can help are portable sound machines and using nursing covers to create a bit of a cocoon around their car seat. This helps make it less bright and minimize any distractions from siblings in the back seat, but I could not find if this was considered safe my car seat manufacturers.

Since our recent road trip, Sleep Baby Consulting has created a Travel Handbook for babies and kids. It has tips for children’s sleep with car and plane travel as well as tips for handling sleep while on vacation and once you get back home! I didn’t have this resource before our trip, but wish I would have! The advice would have saved me the stress of winging it with my kids sleep while en route and when adjusting to time changes.

Disclosure: Sleep Baby Consulting is who helped me adopt healthy sleep habits with Owen. This former service was gifted, but all opinions are my own. Inclusion of this link is unsponsored and merely to share valuable resources about sleep, since this is a field I do not specialize in and received many questions about.

 

Preschoolers and Older Children

Favorite Car Activities

My daughter’s car seats sit beside one another in the back seat so they were able to play together much of the trip, which helped a ton so I could entertain and play with or read to Owen. If your family arrangement doesn’t work that way, here are a few of the activities my middle daughter enjoyed the most:

 

Meltdowns (myself included!)

Mental Preparedness

A lot of you wanted to know how to keep both parent and child mentally prepared for the trip.

Here is my thinking for travel: ‘This is unlikely to be my favorite part of the trip but it is on me to hold it together because guaranteed my kids will become tempted to whine, complain, and grow irritated.’

It is my feeling that we as parents have to commit to confidently make lemonade out of ALL the lemons in life but especially in travel, and then our kids will follow suit. So in relation to travelling, we just turn EVERYTHING into an adventure. I often find myself wishing I had this gift in everyday life, but when travelling, I have found it the most essential thing to pack.

Side note: Maybe it is because our first time ever flying with our oldest was among the more horrendous of experiences possible. We were delayed and then the plane they sent was seven rows too short, so the advice to “always take the back row” did not serve us well and we got bumped out of our seats. My breast pump (I exclusively pumped) and car seat got sent to San Fran meanwhile they redirected us on the next flight to Oakland or SF the next day. So needless to say, it was a giant mess. BUT - it did set my expectations for the stress of travelling with kids up from the get go so since, I have flown with a 2 and 4 year old while pregnant and not found it too terrible. WE set the tone for our kids when we travel. Remember that.

 

Boredom

Another big thing was boredom, and although I shared some of the top activities my kids enjoyed above, that doesn’t address the mentality of boredom. I, however, am a big believer that boredom is a choice and I don’t feel the need to come in and rescue my kids when they experience it. I would help maybe give them an option or two, but I didn’t feel it was my responsibility to change their mood. We often say, “The only thing you can control is yourself” in our family so my kids were not surprised in the car when they said, “I’m bored!” that my response was, “Boredom is a choice, so what would you like to choose to do about it.” Having set time slots to our “routine-esque” in the car did help with this though, as they knew we would rotate through several things during the day to help minimize the expected boredom that can come when cooped up in a car that long!

 

Mom Guilt

One mom asked, how to get over mom-guilt of keeping them in the car for hours on end?

And while this one never occurred to me, I am trying to cover all the angles of the questions that were asked and wanted to at least address my position on this. One, my kids enjoyed the trip, so it didn’t feel as though they were being tortured. Sure, towards the end of the long days they got agitated but that was why I reserved screen time to when I knew they could be most cranky. Second, travel with kids is not the end all, be all goal. The time I knew I could offer them once we were there though was, so I think that made any potential for guilt pale in comparison to the fun, freedom, and memories with family they would get to have once the car ride was over.

 

More (all the other questions I was asked)

Schedule

We knew we needed to cover about 600 miles each day, so this is how we broke it down. You all know I love schedules and routine for myself but especially with kids, so here is a general guide to the one we went with when travelling. It helps move the day along and set up expectations around what will occur when without the ongoing asking.

8 Breakfast at home/hotel

8:30 Get on the road

Free play and leverage their energy and self-initiated interests as long as possible, then work on writing or math-related schoolwork once they have had some time to play and settle into the drive. They each have a daily journal for COVID so they did this and then any other worksheets or workbooks we had or they had been assigned.

10 Stop at a rest stop to use the restroom, run around, and have a snack

Color, drawing, car games, reading, plotting the cities on our route for the day, and songs/music

12 Stop at another rest stop to use the restroom, run around, and have a snack

Nap time, then girls to finish any schoolwork needed while my youngest still napped

3 Stop at a rest stop to use the restroom, run around, and have an afternoon snack

Screentime (for my toddler, this normally meant we listened to the PBS songs or flipped through the digital books, which helped lessen the amount I had to pack. My older two got to play games as their Fires don’t have shows without wifi...or at least I didn’t know how to make them work without it!)

4:30 Stop at a rest stop to use the restroom and stretch legs (if needed before dinner)

5:30 Find a place to stop and have dinner. Since all restaurants were closed to inside service, we would call ahead and place a to go order. Then, since most parking lots were empty, we would go to a space with no through traffic or people parking (like a nearby bank parking lot) and park there. We then spread out a big blanket, brought out my toddler’s travel seat, and ate the take out there and let the kids run around before returning to the car.

Rally and do whatever crazy things needed to all make the final stretch. Usually this was when we played whatever music the kids wanted in the car, or read more books, or played more games. They were rowdy at this point so we just did whatever appeased the most people!

6:30 Get into hotel or home for the night

Some people wanted to know about traveling at night, but obviously we didn’t do that this trip. In general, I think it is what my husband and I would opt to do so there are less daytime hours to do (when just the two of us to drive). But since my parents were gracious enough to offer to drive us, they rotated between the two of them and preferred doing so in the daylight (which safety wise is my preference also).

 

Devices

When I got my current car a few years ago, I remember thinking I didn’t want TVs in it. And although this trip might have tempted me otherwise, we did just fine without screens in the vehicle itself. It would have made the trip MUCH easier though if you have devices in your car and can tune all the kids in to the same movie or show at once!

Since all I know is not having this though, here is what we did.

We had previously bought three Amazon Fires for the kids to travel with. We got them on Prime Day, so I loved how much less expensive and smaller they are than iPads. With three to travel with, this is a lot less cumbersome to pack (when I was before planning to fly solo with all three). I admit, I am not very tech-savvy so I am more familiar with and thus prefer iPads, but we made do with these. Each child had these headphones and could hook them up during the part of the day when we allowed screens. Since we tend to be more strict with screen time rules than some, our daily routine allowed them to have an hour or so each day after afternoon snacks and before dinner. This was their hardest stretch of the day, so it helped buffer it for sure!

This said, I know some do not have devices or access to them. If that’s the case and you would like to have devices at your disposal while travelling, one thing I would recommend is to ask around to see if a friend has some you could borrow. I know ours I bought for travel but our kids otherwise rarely use them. I would gladly loan them to a close friend if/when in need, and historically had a friend loan me her little in-car DVD system when I once took a 4 yo, 2 yo, and 1 month old to San Antonio to meet my husband (yes, crazy...what took 4 hours took us 7!).

 

Packing

I was asked several times how I didn’t just pack EVERYTHING?! And although one thing I do love about car travel is having more flexibility to over-pack, I also knew that would make us all the more cramped in the car too.

So for the kid’s stuff, they each had one small duffel as did I. Then, we had my son’s travel high chair, feeding supplies, and pack n play, as well as an overnight bag that had their PJs for the night on the road plus their clothes for the next day (and toothbrushes, etc.). This made it so we only had to take in one bag (with the high chair and pack n play) once we got to the hotel at night. For more on food-related items to pack, see below.

Otherwise, each of the kids had one backpack with self-selected books and toys too. The older two packed theirs with mainly Barbies and books and my youngest was his diaper bag. Then I had one, single collapsible bag that I put all their car activities in (outside of what was in the girl’s bags at their feet. This sat between my captain seat and my son, so I could reach it and hand items out as needed. I also had the coolers there too at my feet and beside where the diaper bag was. Keeping it in this one bag helped me both have access to it but also limit how many activities we packed to what would fit, definitely emphasizing the smaller, skinnier ones as well as those that offer more open-ended play than those they quickly got bored of.

Many people asked about the car we have. We rented a 2020 Chrysler Pacfica for the trip, and while I don’t drive a van myself, this one is awesome and was very comfortable and accommodating.

Car Food & Picnic Essentials to Pack

Extra grocery bags for trash, reusable Bumkins bags for kids snacks (whether they’re served in the car or at a rest stop), a few large ziplocks (you just never know for what, but they always get used it seems!), as well as a pocket knife or small travel knife to cut up food with, plenty of wipes (Lysol and gentle, diapering one) and hand sanitizer. Oh, and of course, water bottles for each person and jugs to refill with!

We also brought this travel high chair along with our Bumkins Silicone Grip Dish, First Feeding Set Bowl and Spoon, bibs, and Splat Mat in our wet bag. This helped me to contain all the toddler feeding supplies we would need while in transit and ensure they were one of the easiest things to get to when we stopped for the night or finally got in. You can find all of these items here.

 

Restrooms or Rest Stops

Where we stopped

You can see on the schedule shared above about how often we stopped. This helped to break up the trip without making it so we were taking every exit. I would say this was actually an advantage of stopping during COVID because we didn’t want to stop any public place we didn’t have to. We did have one emergency stop at a gas station for a bathroom break but otherwise the only other restrooms we planned into the trip was at Costco when we stopped for gas once each day depending on when it fell on the drive.

Restrooms

In terms of handling the restroom with three kids, we had my older two mask up and go to the bathroom but for my youngest, we put out his changing mat in the car and did all diaper changes in the car.

Running around

The rest stops were well-kept during COVID and offered us as much fresh air as we could have hoped for during the trip. The kids had a safe, spacious place to run around without people nearby, which helped then stay in the car for as long. My kids did fine with the transition and although they always wanted to stay longer, knew we needed to make the most of the time and then get back on the road. It was important that besides eating, we had them move around as much as possible when we stopped.

Hotels

An obvious concern of travelling during COVID is the hotels. We were pleasantly surprised by both the safety and sanitation (which my parents had checked out on their way to TX before we returned to FL with them, thankfully). We also took additional measures to wipe/spray down our room, remove all shared items (like remotes or phones), and minimize other potential concerns like bringing our own pack n play versus using the one provided.

The breakfast options in the morning were stopped at one and offering cold, packaged foods only at the other. Otherwise, there were very few people at them, and since we only stayed long enough to sleep, we felt as comfortable as we could with it. We stayed at hotels from Marriott, for reference.

For those who asked about all sharing a room, my three kids and I all shared a hotel room with an adjoining door to my parents. I have had this go pretty horrifically before (aka that San Antonio trip I mentioned doing when my youngest was an infant), but my kids did well this time. We made it dark, put the white noise machine on (that we packed), and I just held my youngest until he was settled and then stayed in bed rubbing the girls backs until all were asleep. It isn’t the quickest put-down situation ever, but we just had to adapt to put them all down at the same time (since usually my older two stay up an hour later than my youngest). Then I actually got some time to do work in silence by myself!

For more information on sleep and travel with kids, check out this handbook from Sleep Baby Consulting.

We have arrived!

That’s it - The snacks, activities, meltdowns, and more of surviving a 22-hour road trip with three kids! I hope it offers you some insights, ideas, and encouragement wherever your summer plans may take you! May the adventure be worth it for you and your family!

SeasonsAshley SmithTravel