I'll start off by saying, that in my daughters lifetime (all of 20 months) she has taken over 10 road trips.
Some of these she was tiny and slept almost the whole 12 hours, some she was at a terrible age for road trips, where she didn't sleep nearly as much, but also couldn't really be entertained by anything.
Those months of the un-entertainable in between really made me question if we needed to go see our parents or not.
Around one, my daughter hit the wonderful age where, along with tantrums and talking, came this new phase of being entertained by things for longer than 10 minutes. Oh the joy, suddenly the 12 hours in the car, could be 6 hours of sleeping and 6 hours of eating, looking out the window, watching 'Puppy Dog Pals', looking at books, and talking to her daddy and I.
This is the phase that this post is aimed at. The earlier stages.... well, they were rough, but we still continued taking road trips... I wish you luck.
THINGS TO HAVE FOR A ROAD TRIP WITH YOUR TODDLER
Snacks. Non-messy, delicious, wonderful, toddler snacks. Plus some extras because your husband or road trip buddy (maybe even you) will end up digging into the fruit snacks.
A good sippy cup. Or two. Goes without saying- some sort of kid cup is usually essential.
Books. Might entertain them for an hour, might only entertain them for 2 or 3 minutes. Anything that will entertain them for a little while is worth bringing, trust me.
Their favorite show. Tablet, travel TV, your phone- if you can, do it. Bring some DVDs, download a movie- even if you think you won't have them watch something, you may be glad you have it. DISCLAIMER: this one may not go over well if you have a little one that gets car sick. I know that on our last road trip my daughter only got through a few episodes of 'Bluey' before she threw up all over herself. That was the end of her watching shows on road trips.
Something I do not have but have wished that I did. Toddler-size headphones. Even if you won't be having your toddler watching a show, some kids like music. For our next road trip I think I may get a set of toddler-size headphones so that our girl can listen to whatever she wants for however long she wants, without me and my husband going nuts.
More wipes than you think you'll need. Dirty hands, dirty nose, your dirty hands, throw up, etc., etc. Wipes can help with a lot of things- bring them.
Blanket. Everyone needs a blanket on a long road trip- but especially a little one that you're wanting to nap. Plus, some people like to blast the AC, and nobody wants a frozen kid.
Window sunshade. Don't already have one of these? If I were you, I'd get one. No one likes the sun in their eyes, especially a toddler. In a pinch, you can rig up some sort of blanket over the window- but having something that either hooks on, or suctions to the window is extremely helpful.
Trash bags. Random, and maybe always an essential- but with the possibility of dirty, wet, or possibly puked on, clothes, extra trash bags are always nice. More than once I've regretted not having something on hand to hold either gross clothes or a particularly messy diaper that I changed while we weren't somewhere I could throw it away (P.U.)
I think that may have summed it up! What do you bring on your road trips? Let me know if I forgot anything!