Traveling with a 2 year old, need advice!

[emilysburk]

Hey all!  We will be traveling from coast to coast and then back for four weeks visiting national parks and monuments with our family of 8!  It will be my parents, two brothers, sister, my husband and our 2 year old.  We are very excited, but I am slightly nervous at the thought of so many hours on the road with our needs-her-routine 2 year old.  I am new to the RV world so I would appreciate any and all tips for traveling with a toddler in one...  toddler schedule tips, entertainment ideas, sleeping/eating/bathing hacks, anything you have learned from your experience!

We are also trying to figure out where to put the carseat, as I know everyone else does too.  Right now we are thinking rear-facing at the dinette, but still trying to find one that has a base that will fit on that portion of the seat when the table is up.  Does anyone put the carseat on top of the dinette cushion, or should that be removed for optimal safely?

Thank you!!!

 

[Isaac-1]

It may help if you could share which brand and model of RV you will be taking.

 

[RVMommaTo6]

Always have snacks, healthy ones. Don't bog her down with sugar, it'll give her immediate energy that you don't want and it'll lead to a sugar crash later which you don't want. Stick to fruits, cut up veggies, proteins, etc. Eat while she's in the car seat instead of stopping to eat. Adults like to stop and eat, it's a break from the driving. A 2 year old has to sit for a meal and it's not a break for her. If she eats her meals, messy as it may be, in her car seat, it's passing the time, distracting her, and then any stopping time can be used to run around and get exercise.
Get a children's CD (or playlist if you're more technologically advanced than me lol) and sing along. You may get tired of it, but she'll like the repetition listening to the same songs over and over again.
When my babies were little, I used to bathe them in a Rubbermaid bin. We tent camped, so you may have more luxuries in an RV, but I would heat up water in kitchen pots over fire, then add cold water until it was a good temperature and bathe the kids in it.
Good luck and have an awesome trip!

 

[JudyJB]

You should put the car seat in a location with seat belts installed.  There are often seat belts on the dinette seats or the couch seats, but you should not be adding belts of any sorts anywhere else. 

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    When we took our grandkids in our Class A we put the seat rear facing on the seat cushion.  You will need to have someone else sit nearby when she's awake so that she has company.  And as was posted on a string earlier today, it is a good idea to remove/drop the table, so that it is out of the way should you be in an accident.

Ed

 

[ClickHill]

When my kids were little we did a lot of car travel and we did lots of, I'm dating myself, cassett tapes of kids songs and stories, they also had their own steering wheel toy that atached to the car seat. It had all sorts of activities on it that helped pass the time.
Sometimes I still sing the songs from the tapes. That was 26 years ago I listed to them.

 

[grashley]

We have a FW and usually travel one way with our granddaughter, now 2 ?.  Obviously we are in the truck, but keep favorite toys, especially ones that make music nearby.  She loves videos of her favorite shows, like Daniel Tiger and Puppy Dog Pals, on grandma's iPad or phone. Depending on the RV  layout, DVD or DVR shows on TV may help. Make sure she can see out a window.  Swap adults now and again.  She will wear just one person to a frazzle!

When stopped, let her loose to run off some energy!

 

[emilysburk]

It may help if you could share which brand and model of RV you will be taking.

Good idea! I don?t know the details but i know it is made by Ford and it is a 30ft. Class C ?

 

[emilysburk]

    When we took our grandkids in our Class A we put the seat rear facing on the seat cushion.  You will need to have someone else sit nearby when she's awake so that she has company.  And as was posted on a string earlier today, it is a good idea to remove/drop the table, so that it is out of the way should you be in an accident.

Ed

Thank you for that advice! We will not be able to drop the table since we have 2 other adults that will need to sit there with her, but we will def have her rear facing and she will have lots of company!

 

[emilysburk]

Always have snacks, healthy ones. Don't bog her down with sugar, it'll give her immediate energy that you don't want and it'll lead to a sugar crash later which you don't want. Stick to fruits, cut up veggies, proteins, etc. Eat while she's in the car seat instead of stopping to eat. Adults like to stop and eat, it's a break from the driving. A 2 year old has to sit for a meal and it's not a break for her. If she eats her meals, messy as it may be, in her car seat, it's passing the time, distracting her, and then any stopping time can be used to run around and get exercise.
Get a children's CD (or playlist if you're more technologically advanced than me lol) and sing along. You may get tired of it, but she'll like the repetition listening to the same songs over and over again.
When my babies were little, I used to bathe them in a Rubbermaid bin. We tent camped, so you may have more luxuries in an RV, but I would heat up water in kitchen pots over fire, then add cold water until it was a good temperature and bathe the kids in it.
Good luck and have an awesome trip!

These are such great ideas!! Good thought on the sugar, I hadn?t really thought about the energy spikes and drops. I?ve heard before that you should let them run around when you stop to eat and then they can eat in the car seat, so we will definitely try that too! Thank you so much!! Good luck on your trip as well!

 

[Oldgator73]

A family of eight one being a two year old traveling cross country in a 30 foot class c. You folks are brave. Is there even enough seats in a 30? class c for eight folks to sit legally? You will have plenty of adults to take turns with your 2 year old. Coast to coast visiting NP?s and Monuments in four weeks is a bit of a whirlwind. I would posit six hour days will be your max, maybe 250 miles per day. Just the logistics of traveling that distance with eight folks is astronomical. We just a a month long trip with our 7 & 9 year old grandchildren. Just the laundry part was hard. You will have laundry for eight. Is there enough storage for eight folks stuff? Cooking and cleaning up will be a chore. Think of eight folks staying at your house for a month where you can go outside and walk around or get in you car and leave for a while when things get hectic. You will be in a 30? sealed container barreling down the road at 60 miles an hour. You can?t leave. If this trip is still a go, follow RVMomma?s advice in regards to your two year old.

 

[Ernie n Tara]

To expand on the above, I can't believe you won't be GROSSLY overweight. I'd expect that just the people would use most or all of the ccc.

Ernie

 

[RVMommaTo6]

To expand on the above, I can't believe you won't be GROSSLY overweight. I'd expect that just the people would use most or all of the ccc.

Ernie

Oh I didn't even think of that, she's going to be WAY over!

 

[Joezeppy]

One additional thought, RV dinette tables are meant to come apart easily to raise and lower. I would not be comfortable putting a 2 year old in the dinette with the table up unless I was sure it the table was VERY SECURE and would not come apart during an accident impact. Also, with the child sitting backwards, if the adults on the other side of the table are not belted, they will become projectiles themselves (possibly taking the table with them) with the child right in their path!

 

[JudyJB]

Ditto on the vehicle being way overweight.  I have no idea where you are sitting all those people or sleeping them, but some should ride in a separate car.

Since you do not know the make or model of the motorhome, I am guessing you are very new at this and possibly traveling in a rental or borrowed RV, so you may not be aware of the danger being overweight can cause. 

Look for a sticker showing cargo carrying capacity and add up the weight of all the people, their luggage, food, water and sewage, sports equipment, etc. and my guess is you will be several hundred pounds over the weight limit.  This can cause a serious danger as tires, wheels, and other components are not built for being overweight and you could have a catastrophic blowout, causing the RV to cross another lane of traffic or go off the road and roll over.  This is a very serious issue, so please take it seriously!!!