Road Trip with a Child and Packing for a Week

we just got back from a week trip. We were gone 7 days.. I packed 7 outfits + 2 extra just in case.. Pack 7 underwear + 4 extra just in case. Pack 3 or 4 pajaas (pajamas for 2 nights..if she wets bring extras. I brought 1 pair of jeans and 1 light weight jacket in case it got cold (not likely but it can happen)

my kids do not play with toys on trips.. they are excited about where they are.. they each packed a backpack with small toys that were ignored the entire trip. they did play with beach toys.. shovels, buckets bug net (for catching minnows) a beach ball good for kicking... I always bring books for reading bedtime stories.. -- helps them relax and they are used the story before bed routine.. no matter where we are we always read.

My family (hubby and 4 kids) just got back from a week stay with family, we travel to see them a fair amount since the drive is only about 5 hours. Do the friends you are visiting have children? Any close in age to your daughter? The great thing about staying with friends/family is they often have a lot of the "just in case" items you are needlessly packing. And they likely have a washer/dryer they would let you use. I only pack the minimum clothes we would need to get by and do laundry if necessary. Just this past week my son had an allregic reaction to my MIL cats, she didn't have any benadryl in the house so I ran to Walgreens to pick some up, no biggie. One time I managed to forget to pack underwear for one of the kids, so we bought some when we got there. We decided to go to the pool last week but I just borrowed a few extra towels from my parents, they are too big and bulky to pack. Find out if your friends have any extra towels you could use for the week. They likely have beach toys and such too, so no need to pack stuff like that. My husband and i always do a mental checklist before leaving to see if we remembered everything, but in the end we just cross our fingers that everything got packed and remind ourselves that almost anything we would need can be bought there if necessary. Parents of babies tend to over pack a lot, but by age three you can really start paring down to just the basics.

When you pack, roll your cloths and towels instead of folding. You can fit a lot more that way. Remember that you can always do laundry on your trip. If not at your friends, then at a launramat. Unless you are going somewhere really remote, you can pretty much buy anything you need when you get there, so don't worry too much about the just-in-case stuff.

-take interchangeable clothes: capris w/a blazer, then a printed blouse to wear w/those capris
-buy a grab & go bathroom kit that hangs on the back of a shower door. It
unfolds & hangs there. It has little bottles for shampoo so it can always be ready in there so you just have to grab the whole thing & go on vacation. In there, always keep bandaids, headache meds, hair ties etc.
-buy new toys for your daughter to look at. It will help since they will be new, never-seen-before toys.
-buy a travel DVD player for her & some age appropriate DVD's
-printed shirts for yourself will make you look more made up than you are yet keep you comfortable.
-make a list. Pack from that.
-I always take a backpack. You never know when that might come in
handy.
Have a fun, safe trip!

I pack allergy meds, advil, etc in indiv. snack baggies, labeled with permanent marker. Your daughter will be so busy she will not need a lot of toys. For my son I used to pack a lot of small toys and then I realized all I needed was a sandwich bag full of match box cars, that's it! Just take the thing she plays with the most. Don't go nuts on taking more than one of things, one bathing suit each, one sweatshirt each, pajamas can be worn more than once, put socks and underwear in a ziplock storage bag and squeeze out extra air. I hate having all things together in one suitcase as it is harder to find what I'm looking for when living out of a suitcase, so I like taking three seperate bags. but if you decide to take one maybe you can find ways to organize better than I do. Maybe one complete outfit in a ziplock bag, socks, undies, shirt and shorts. At 3 I was prepared for accidents, extra underwear, shorts and pajama bottoms just in case! Have fun!

Here's a trick I used when packing my daughter for camp, for each day we packed an entire outfit plus one extra (shorts, tshirt, underwear, socks) in a zip lock bag. Another bag with extra undergarments and socks. Then pack a the other needed items bathing suits, two sweatshirts, pj's. You get the idea.

Remember you staying with friends so if there is an emergency you can always borrow something or use their washing machine.

Please consider these new fangled appliances that almost every home has now. They're called washers and dryers. Even hotels are starting to have them for their guests...lol. It sure makes things easier when packing to know "we'll be at Bob and Carol's on Wednesday and I can do a load of dark's and a load of perma press stuff. Then on Saturday we'll be at Ted and Alice's. I can do 2 more loads of laundry there and we'll be set until we come home on Monday".

We started staying at hotels that offer washer and dryer service to their guests a while back and it was a life saver. Even if you have to make a trip to a local laundry-mat it will save time and space on your part.

Take 4 outfits for play and daily use then one that is nicer, hanging kind of clothes.

That way you won't over pack. You'll have one suitcase per person, nothing more. Their towels and swim suits can go in one beach bag with sunscreen and maybe a couple of sand toys but nothing else.

If you are staying with friends, I assume they have a washing machine. So
you should pack for only four days. No need to go nuts packing med etc.
unless it is prescription, because there are plenty of drug stores if you need
something. One beach towel each. One suitcase should do it and one
bag for the car.

I packed one suitcase each for a six week trip across Canada, Alaska and
across the northern U.S. by train. Always had clean clothes.