Preparing to move with any child can be crazy and hectic to say the least. I have only ever moved provinces with a dog and a cat and that alone was a bit much for me! However we did it and it worked fine. Now, moving with a baby or I should say toddler, I feel like there is a lot more we need to prepare for in order to make this a success.

We currently live in Quebec, Canada and will be moving back home to Halifax, Nova Scotia. The total driving time is about 14 or so hours however we all know that with a baby and animals that time will probably look more like 16 or so hours based on the amount of stops that you need to do for different things like fueling up, food, rest and stretch your legs as well as whatever else there is. I have only ever went on road trips when I was a child for bowling around the province of Nova Scotia so I really have nearly no idea what it would be like to move with a toddler. Oh yeah, and did I mention that I am also going to be about 5 months pregnant at this point too? Not to mention there is a lot of of different rules with traveling through different provinces especially with Covid restrictions as well too. Here is the plan and hopefully it does work out!

Food is something that as adults is super easy. If you are hungry all you need to do is simply stop at a fast food restaurant, and keep going. No need to stop and do whatever though we normally do for a few minutes due to the dog. The cat is typically fine for the drive which is okay. The dog we also have to stop for a little bit because if we don’t he might get sick due to being in the car so long which would also suck. Not to mention we have to do his business outside frequently also. For our son I was thinking about (And by thinking at this point I had already gotten) a few things to help with the car ride such as, a small cooler so that we can put some apple sauce and yogurt inside, as well as some small ice packs, and 2 small thermos. I was thinking that the day we leave to make the drive that I could also get up earlier so I can make some oatmeal to put in one thermos. This will be a good start for the day as he does love oatmeal. I also am looking for perhaps making some small pasta with some tomato sauce and putting it into a second thermos for his lunch. Supper will have to be more winged it though which shouldn’t be so hard to think about either. If he was older sure fast food would be maybe alright but since he is smaller I don’t want to have to rely on worrying about restaurants to get his foods though. As far as drinks he only has water right now so we don’t have to worry about that.

As far as entertainment goes, I have gotten a tablet holder for the back of the seat so that we can download some episodes of blues clues for my son since that is his top favorite show right now. This obviously would be nearly a last resort since we try to even limit his screen time by normally putting it on just an hour before bed since he does enjoy it! We also are planning on getting him some new toys just a few books and hand toys that he can enjoy while we drive. Nothing too crazy in terms of pieces because I really dont want to be picking up pieces along the way but something he can just fidget with. One is the lacing toys that he currently has a watermelon of and loves. The hardest part when we drive with my son is stop signs or stop lights as he always starts to fuss so we are hoping by moving on the highway he will do better.

We aim to also be driving early about 4-5am so we will get there in the evenings. And wont be really driving into the dark as that can be really hard. Plus with two of us we will be able to drive so that will be nice to flip if one of us is tired. The hope is that my son will sleep in the beginning since he normally would, and then once wakes up I can entertain him in the back since I will be there. the hope is that we can keep a pretty solid schedule and then it should be okay. He also has a nap as well in the afternoon. And about 7pm or so he should be asleep for the last leg of the drive. It really should be okay however it makes me extremely nervous since we never did this before. Thankfully this is our last move though since we did find our forever home so we wont need to do this anymore. Any family in Quebec will have to come see us in the future til our children are old enough that we can leave and they not ask when are we getting there every few moments!

Other than that I am pretty nervous about it however when we drive to Quebec city which is 2.5 hours away he did pretty good. My son is also old enough that we don’t need to have warming his bottles all the time so that is a good thing, not that he really has many now, we still give one in the morning and one before bed and if he drinks it he drinks it, if not no worries.

Have you ever traveled with a toddler?
What did you find helped with the drive?
Was it over 10 hours?

Let me know in the comments below! I would love to hear your experience!

– Stacey

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