Thank you Maxi Cosi for sponsoring today’s post. As always, content and opinions are my own!
Avoid the melt downs, kicking the back of your seat, and “are we there yet’s” by getting in the car prepared! After 3 kiddos, I have lived and learned – when their curious little growing brain is turning, there is no such thing as a ‘short’ car ride. An eight-minute drive to the grocery store feels like an eternity to these little growing minds. And a road trip? Forget it! If you are not prepared, you are going to regret it! So, therefore I have decided to share what I do on every single car ride, long or short – to keep our kiddos occupied. The only difference between an 8-minute ride and a 6-hour drive? The level of preparation I take each of these tips to.
Oh, but if you are going on a long trip – make sure to pack an extra pair of comfortable clothes per kiddo. And make sure their seats are comfortable too. We ended up falling in love with the new Maxi-Cosi Magellan car seat so much with Walker – we also got it for Charli and Braydon. Yes! The same car seat fits all three of our kids safely and comfortably! It has 5 different modes. Two rear facing modes, two forward facing modes and a booster seat mode! These are literally the last car seats we will ever have to get – and for you, it could be your ONLY car seat you need!
1.Movies. We keep all of our DVDs and Blu-rays in the car. Inside we have our movies downloaded or rentable on our tv so we don’t even have a way to play our DVDs inside anymore, anyways. But, I just keep a case in the back of the passenger seat so every time I set the boys in the car I ask them what they want to watch and we get it set up before we hit the road! They know there is no changing the movie once we start moving unless both Ryan and I are in the car and the passenger can change it. Tip: If you have multiple kids – each of our kids has their own tv so there is no arguing over what to watch!
Oh, and I don’t know about you but our kids fall asleep a lot during movies and the belt covers on the Magellan are great for keeping their neck from falling over and getting sore!
- Snacks. When it is a quick trip – I usually just grab a few bags of snack options for the boys, Charli is still happy with her bottle at this point – plus I am afraid she would choke since she’s reclined. When we are going on a road trip, I actually take a basket full of snacks as well as a small cooler for drinks, cheese sticks, fruit, etc. One of the reasons the kids love their Maxi-Cosi Magellan car seats more than any other car seat is because it has not only one but two cup holders, they can set their drink in one and snacks in the other!
- Toys. Braydon has grown out of the “toy” phase in the car so we actually back him his erasable notepad, books, and on long road trips only, his Nintendo switch. Walker is extremely happy with his mini potato heads. He takes them apart and puts them back together 100 times a day. He also loves keeping them in that orange pumpkin year round. Ha!
4. Games. This is more of a tip for longer road trips, or when we are stuck in traffic but it’s great for getting their little minds turning! We play I Spy and letter hunt. For the letter hunt we go through the alphabet – it gets them looking at their surroundings and recognizing their letters quicker and more efficiently.
- Creative Art Supplies. If you google car trays for children – so many options come up. These are great so the kids can color, draw, or work on homework if they are older. We use the cup holders as marker and crayon holders and they go to town on the paper for hours. Braydon has gotten to where he likes to try to draw the characters that he sees in the movie he’s watching. He gets in the zone and doesn’t even realize how long we are in the car for!
So, I would totally love to hear what tips you have for keeping your kiddos happy in the car! We are wanting to take a trip this fall with all the babes and I would love some more tools in my belt to keep them happy!
Available in Target stores starting at the end of July. Currently sold online below!
Maxi-Cosi Lila Stroller
5 Favorite Sweet Spots on 30a
Tips To Keep Your One Year Old Entertained on the Go
5 Tips For Christmas Photos With Kids
I might be slow…. but were having our first and I have some questions. When you say insert for newborns does it come with it? Do I purchase separately and just put in? Also, we were eyeing the Rachel Zoe version of MaxiCosi and I wondered if I wanted an all black also, could I just buy the skin/cover and replace?
I am not sure about the Rachel Zoe version as far as covers (it will come with NB inserts tho) but I do know that all of the newborn inserts that you will need come with this car seat!! This car seat has more modes than the Rachel Zoe one! We loved that one – had it with Walker, but we will get way more use out of this one!