Car Accessories for Children for a Successful Parent Road Trip
We’ve been embracing the simple road trip as our favorite family holiday/vacation, especially in the last year. However, assuring the success of the family road trip boils down to keeping the kids safe, comfortable, and occupied throughout the lengthy vehicle ride. This is all about the kids vehicle accessories you bring when you prepare your car for the long travel ahead.
To assist you in deciding which vehicle accessories for kids would be ideal for you, I have compiled a list of family car accessories concentrating on all age groups from newborns, toddlers, pre-schoolers, and school-age children. You’ll also learn why you’d desire each item, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each piece of equipment.
Table of Contents
Automobile Seats
Many of you will be taking your own vehicle on a road trip, which means you will most likely have the suitable car seat for your newborn, toddler, or small kid.
If you have flown to your location and then rented a vehicle, don’t forget to rent the necessary infant car seat or booster seat. Many individuals have complained about the cleanliness of vehicle rental car seats, therefore as an alternative, you may hire a car seat from a baby hire firm, whose stock is typically clean, of excellent quality, and fits the country’s car seat laws.
You may also bring your own infant car seat or booster seat on the aircraft as baggage. You may even have your youngster travel in the car seat. However, you must pre-book this with your airline prior to your departure date.
Read More; The 5 Best Low-Cost Luggage Options for 2023
Travel Car Seat Bag
If you are flying to your destination before embarking on your road trip and are transporting your child’s car seat as baggage. With a car seat travel bag*, you can help keep it clean while it’s in the baggage hold.
Automobile Seats
Many of you will be taking your own vehicle on a road trip, which means you will most likely have the suitable car seat for your newborn, toddler, or small kid.
If you have flown to your location and then rented a vehicle, don’t forget to rent the necessary infant car seat or booster seat. Many individuals have complained about the cleanliness of vehicle rental car seats, therefore as an alternative, you may hire a car seat from a baby hire firm, whose stock is typically clean, of excellent quality, and fits the country’s car seat laws.
You may also bring your own infant car seat or booster seat on the aircraft as baggage. You may even have your youngster travel in the car seat. However, you must pre-book this with your airline prior to your departure date.
Mirror
We had a vehicle a few years back that had an extra mirror next to the rear vision mirror that flipped down so the driver (and passenger) could see the kids without having to turn around or adjust the rear vision mirror.
This eliminated the need for us to take our eyes off the road by rotating to glance rear while driving. The kid vehicle mirror functions similarly to your rearview mirror. It was also quite useful if our baby was sleeping and we wanted to verify on him without waking him up with any quick jolting motions.
If your vehicle does not come with one, you may purchase an extra car mirror* that connects to the sun visor or one that fixes to the windshield with a suction cup. A baby vehicle camera that records and shows in real-time on a tiny monitor (about the size of your cell phone phone) affixed to the dash is a more flashy option.
Keeping Children Safe in the Car
Now that your youngster is safe and secure, let’s get them acquainted with some automobile toys for kids.
Seat Belt Strap Shield
The most essential thing to remember while traveling with children is to have them buckled into the right car seat for their age. However, car seat straps or standard vehicle straps used with a booster seat might irritate and cut into your child’s neck.
As a result, I discovered that seat belt strap protectors* are an important infant vehicle item that will be utilized for many years to come. The belt strap protectors are sold in pairs and are constructed of a soft fabric that wraps over the seat belt and easily glides up and down the belt to suit where your kid needs protection.
Pillow for Traveling
For older children, consider a cushioned pillow version*. Children often fall asleep during lengthy car rides, and this cushion that wraps over the car seat belt can keep your child’s head from twisting in an unusual position.
Alternatively, you may choose a more typical travel pillow (kid size)* that wraps around your neck and is ideal for flights and train rides.
Blanket for Travel
As you may be aware, as you fall asleep, your body temperature lowers. A luxurious compact lightweight travel blanket* will keep the kids (or you) cozy on the go. These travel blankets that I discovered fold up into a soft bag that can be attached to your baggage, hanging from the back of the car seat for quick access, or used as a tiny cushion.
Sunshade for the side window
Sunlight streaming in through the side windows might not only be annoying while the youngsters are attempting to sleep, but it can also cause sunburn. You would assume that this is simply a baby vehicle necessity, but we’ve discovered that it’s also really beneficial for our young adolescent.
Side window sunshades come in a number of forms, and we’ve tested them all throughout the years. The sock version* is the greatest sidecar sunshade in my opinion. The mesh covering is designed to fit over the top of your vehicle door, encompassing the full read window and preventing sunlight from entering through any holes. When buying this kind of sunshade, check the size and form of the sock style shade to verify it suits your vehicle.
A roller blind was another kind of sunshade that we offered with one of the cars. These roller blinds* are useful if you wish to effortlessly remove the shade to allow your toddler to view outside.
The finished product is a twist folding shade* that adheres to the glass. The advantage of them is that you are able to move them about the vehicle as required, although the sun does slip through the holes.
Toys for a Road Trip
Now that the kids are at ease, let’s keep them busy so you don’t have to deal with incessant screams of “I’m bored!” as well as “Are we there yet?”
Toys and activities for car journeys should be compact, varied, and free of little bits that might come off.
Hanging car toys are the greatest vehicle toys for infants since they do not fall on the floor. Choose one with a variety of textures to touch and view that can be pulled down and wound back up. You may also add a few plush baby books, but be prepared for them to be flung to the floor for the amusement of seeing you do a contortionist performance collecting the things from the depths of the vehicle floor. To keep the toys from falling to the floor, use toy link rings* to tie them to the automobile.
When my children are a little older, I love activity and sticker books* with colored pencils or crayons (not felt markers – I don’t need to be washing stuff off). There are several possibilities for satisfying your child’s interests.
Consider particular vehicle games for older children such as Scavenger Hunt, Shotgun, and Travel Bingo*.
Car Organizer for Children
A car seat toy holder may help keep all of these travel toys for vehicle journeys organized and accessible. They exist in numerous varieties, so let’s go through the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Organizer for the back seat
A rear seat organizer* is a device that attaches to the back of the driver’s and passenger’s seats. It has several compartments for storing books, pencils, toys, snacks, and water bottles. The advantage of using this organizer is that the chairs remain available for up to three children or for the youngsters to stretch out. However, your youngster must be tall enough to reach the seatback organizer to remove and return the objects.
Some car seat organizers include a tray*, which provides your kid with a little table to work or play on, similar to what you’d find on a plane.
Another car seat organizer has a tablet holder* to keep the youngsters occupied. You could also buy a separate vehicle iPad mount* that fits to the headrest and can be tilted so that all of the kids in the rear can watch the program.
Organiser of the middle seat
If you prefer that your children have better access to their activities, food, and water and do not have a third child, a middle seat organiser* might be the solution. Some vehicle organizers are created with several compartments to help you organize your children’s belongings.
Because I only have one kid, we utilize a child’s carry-on baggage bag* instead of this arrangement. When we get at our location, we zip the bag back up and my kid wheeled his activity bag into our room.
