Some people are afraid of bats. Some people are afraid of spiders. Some people are afraid of heights. Well, I'd happily ride the Top-Thrill Dragster with a tarantula crawling up one arm and a bat zooming just above my head if it meant that I didn't have to travel with my young children. {Okay, okay, maybe not happily.}

Two horrific car rides did me in. The first was a visit to my brother's family in Michigan. There was so much wailing, I turned to Dan in 100% seriousness and asked him if it was possible to go insane from listening to children cry. The second was traveling to Chicago for the wedding of Dan's brother. This time, it was scream-crying, car sickness, and having to pee while stuck in a completely hopeless traffic jam. (Not to mention that we had just left a restaurant where there was a bathroom, and this particular child insisted that he hadn't a drop and definitely did not have to go.) Because of the bad experiences, we did not attempt many car trips with our littles. And because our littles don't have a lot of experience with long car trips, they don't travel very well. It's a catch-22.

In July, we decided as a family that it was necessary to travel to Chicago. My sister-in-law's father had gone home to the Lord, and we wanted to show our support. At first, we were thinking we would drive to Chicago the day of the wake, spend the night, and attend the funeral. After more consideration and discussion, we decided to drive down for the wake and drive back home in one day. This meant we were in for six hours of driving in one day. Six!

After recovering from my initial panic, I did what any Mom-Who-Is-Technically-a-Millennial would do. I hopped on Facebook and shamelessly begged for traveling tips! You guys are so smart and had so many good things to say. I humbly accepted all of the advice, and our trip actually turned out pretty well! We didn't have to watch any movies on the way down, there were no instances of car sickness or bathroom emergencies, and we had relatively happy little travelers! (Theo did cry for about the last 45 minutes of the drive. He was overtired, and there was just nothing we could do to console him.) I also need to add the disclaimer that much of our success is due to the fact that mom (bless her!) watched three-year-old Logan, who stayed behind at home. We chose to leave Logan at home because (a) he's loud 100% of the time and wakes up Theo if he happens to drift off in the car, (b) he can't really follow along with audiobooks yet and sings/babbles loudly so no one can enjoy them, (c) he is still learning to behave in various social situations, and we weren't sure how we would do at a wake, (d) we thought Logan would have a lot more fun having some one-on-one time with Nana.

Your tips were so great, I wanted to share them all in one place. Here goes!

{1} Bring snacks! So. Many. Snacks.

These mini-meals are game changers. Not only do they keep the children occupied for a while, but they also prevent that "hangry" feeling we get when our tummies are rumbling. Shortly before we our trip, I took the boys to Target and loaded up on fruit leather, granola bars, pouches of nuts, shelf-stable chocolate milk, and apple juice. Each boy also had constant access to a thermos of ice water. I brought lots of fruits and veggies. If you can, pre-bag them into snack-sized bags. If you just bring a big tub of grapes, for example, you have to deal with potential spills as they pass the tub back and forth, and their germy little hands contaminating things as they reach inside the tub.

One brilliant friend recommended spreading out the snacks. For example, you might say, "When we get to Oshkosh, everyone gets grapes! When we get to Milwaukee, everyone gets granola bars!"

Are you wondering how we avoided bathroom emergencies with all those beverages we brought along? I purchased and brought this portable child urinal. (I am not even kidding. This is how deep the trauma from our Chicago trip runs, guys.) We did not have to use it, but I was still glad we had it. Just in case. Also, check out tip #2.

{2} Make frequent stops. {At least every hour.}

I've been pregnant for about one-tenth my life. My obstetrician has always warned me to get up and stretch at least every hour to avoid blood clots, so I'm kind of in the habit of hourly stretch-breaks already. These are good opportunities to nurse the baby, use the restroom, and have the big boys run sprints. (Except for the part where one of my kids wipes out while running and gets massive grass stains on his dress clothes before attending the wake, but nevermind that!) A change of scenery and stature is nice for everyone. One friend advised taking long breaks, like 45 minutes to an hour. We didn't break for that long, but if you have a kiddo who's just had it (I'm thinking of one of my children on the trip to Michigan), I could see this being necessary.

One thing about breaks... If the baby is sleeping and/or all the kids are happy, DO NOT STOP. Do not be a crazy person.

{3} Sit next to the baby.

I don't know why, but I wouldn't have thought of this myself. Since Logan wasn't coming along, we removed his car-seat, and I was able to sit back by Theo when he started showing signs of fussiness. At first, I was able to keep Theo happy with smiles and silly faces. When that grew old, I kept him happy with some fingerplays ("Itsy Bitsy Spider" is his favorite!) and some games of peek-a-boo. When he was done with that, I handed him toys from the big bag of baby toys I had brought along. When his patience was gone, he threw the toys onto the floor of the van almost as soon as I handed them to him. Of course, he always threw it on the side away from me (between his seat and the van door), so when we opened the door, a wave of baby toys came tumbling out into the parking lot. Like I said, Theo had just had it and cried inconsolably for the last 45 minutes of our trip, but this was a vast improvement over the hours (and hours and hours) of crying we endured on our trip to Michigan.

{4} Entertainment!

It's not hard to entertain my older kids (ages 9 and 6) in the car. To be honest, other than the car sickness and bathroom emergencies, I really wasn't worried about these two kids at all. We adore listening to compilations narrated by Jim Weiss. These are some of our favorites:

• Greek Myths (Conner started listening to these when he was four and still loves them! He especially loves the labors of Hercules.)
• Arabian Nights
• Giants! A Colossal Collection of Tales and Tunes
• King Arthur and His Knights
• Tales from the Old Testament

Besides audiobooks, there are always the good old-fashioned car games like "I Spy," license plate sightings, car BINGO, and A-Z animals, countries, etc. (Name an animal that begins with "A." Now, "B!" Etc.)

I picked up lots of craft-like activities from the Target Dollar Spot. My crafty six-year-old was especially entertained with a scratch art kit sort of like this one. He preferred scratching off ALL of the black on each and every shape, which was OK because it took him a lot of time to do this. (Bonus: he scratched off a heart shape to give to my sister-in-law at the wake, which was very sweet.) We did have to vacuum the van when we got home, but I still maintain that it was worth it! I also bought a gear art set, which was not a hit, and Slinkies, which were a treat but were quickly confiscated because the boys were being annoying with them in the van.

I try to limit the boys' screentime, and I don't want the expectation to be that they get to watch movies whenever we travel. That said, after we've done a good amount of driving (usually when we're on the return trip), I'm totally okay with throwing in a DVD. I let the boys each choose one movie. Shane chose this one, and Conner chose this one.

Another friend had the super-fun idea to let her children help create a road-trip playlist! We're pretty picky about the music we listen to in our house, so the playlist would probably be a compilation of songs from the WOW Hits CDs. Another friend suggested a podcast called Stories. I haven't checked it out yet, but I'm going to!

{5} Shh! The baby's sleeping!

My babies have never slept well in the car. If they do, I try to keep the older children as quiet as possible, so the littlest can sleep as long as possible. There is a direct correlation between how much my babies sleep and how happy they are. But how do you keep the older children quiet?

One friend suggested the following strategy, which I just love! Buy a bunch of small Dollar Store toys, wrap them, and play "The Quiet Game." Set a timer and everyone (except baby) has to be totally quiet until it rings. If they're quiet, they win a prize, and the toy keeps them occupied for a good half hour or more afterward!

If I have a sleeping babe, this is also a good time to bust out a movie. 🙂

{6} Embrace children's dramamine.

We had some car sickness on our earlier trip to Chicago. (Is there anything worse than being trapped in a vehicle with that smell for hours and hours?) On that trip, my oldest learned that he cannot read or do anything even close to reading while traveling in the car. A friend suggested that we pick up some children's dramamine for this trip to Chicago. I didn't know there was such a thing! (She said she has also given her children half an adult tablet when in a pinch.) I gave both of the older children a dramamine tablet about 30 mins. before we left and again according to the package instructions, and we never had an issue with carsickness.

If you have a child who's prone to car sickness, it's also a good idea to bring a "puke bucket." One of my traveling buddies recommended picking up a small waste basket at the Dollar Store as well as some small trash bin liners. (These are great, because they don't have holes in the bottom as Walmart or Target bags sometimes do.) Line the waste basket with the plastic liner, and keep it next to the child who is feeling nauseous. You would also be wise to bring a change of clothes... just in case.

{7} It's all about the Benjamins timing, baby.

Timing may very well be the single most important factor in planning a successful road trip with littles. There are several aspects to consider when figuring out timing: naptimes/bedtimes, allowing enough time for breaks, giving yourself puh-lenty of margin, and avoiding rush-hour traffic.

Lots of families have found success planning their road trip to coordinate with their baby's nap. For example, if the baby typically goes down for his morning nap at 10:00, the family may choose to leave at 9:45, so the baby konks out around his regular naptime and sleeps peacefully for most of the trip. This strategy has never worked for our family. Not. Once. In our case, it totally backfires. The baby is used to sleeping at 10:00, is stimulated by the car ride, does not sleep, and then is super-cranky upon arriving at the destination. Be warned and do what works for your family.

My neighbor embarks on a super-long car ride with her four little ones every year. On the night that they are planning to leave, she and her husband get the car all packed up and everyone goes to bed early (like, 8:00 or 9:00 PM). Then, she and her husband get everyone up around 1:00 or 2:00 AM, load the pajama-clad children into the van, and they begin their drive while the children continue to sleep. By the time the children wake up in the morning, a large chunk of the driving is done. This is brilliant, but I don't think it would work for me and Dan right now because (a) we're still too sleep-deprived to pull such an awesome stunt (I'm afraid we'd fall asleep at the wheel!) and (b) I could see one (or more!) or our children not being able to fall back asleep, and then we would end up with an extremely-tired-demon-child upon arrival. (See above about this type of strategy backfiring on us.)

When I plan a trip, I plan to stop once every hour. For each regular stretch/bathroom break, I allow 10 mins. (or longer if I need to nurse). For each meal break, I plan for 30 mins. I add up all these breaks times and factor them in when determining the time we need to leave. I am also sure to include plenty of...

Margin. This is ridiculously important for planning a smooth-ish road trip. Let's say I figure we need 2 hours worth of breaks. I will actually plan for 2 and a 1/2 hours (or more!) of breaks to give ourselves some breathing room. Life happens and our best-laid plans go awry. Give yourself plenty of extra time. If you need it, great! It's there for you. If you don't need it, you can just take longer breaks at the end or be there early. (Never a bad thing!)

Also, do your best to avoid rush hour traffic. On our trip to Chicago, we aimed to arrive at the wake around 1:30, and we hoped to be on the road out of Chicago by 3:00 to avoid the rush hour traffic. Sometimes, it can't be helped, but if you can plan your trip to avoid the times when the highways are slammed hardest, it will make your trip that much better.

{8} Bring an extra change of clothes... for everyone.

We didn't do this on our trip to Chicago, and I wish we had. As I mentioned way back in tip #2, one of my children wiped out while running sprints and got massive grass stains all over his dress pants before we arrived at the wake. Then, when we stopped at Culver's for lunch, my husband lifted Theo out of his car-seat and hoisted him onto his hip, only then realizing that Theo had blown out of his diaper. Not only was Theo's outfit stained a bright orange-brown, but my husband's shirt and tie had also become smeared with the stuff. We had a change of clothes for Theo packed in the diaper bag, but my hubby had to spend a lot of time in the Culver's bathroom doing his best to get the stains out in the sink with water and hand soap. He was super-delighted and thrilled by all of this. Except for the complete opposite of that. If we had been smart, we would have brought a change of clothes for everyone.

Although I wouldn't say our trip to Chicago was the best trip ever, I will say that it was successful enough that we attempted a trip to the Milwaukee Zoo in August (another post!), and we're planning another trip to Milwaukee in the near future. Thank you so much to everyone who shared their traveling wisdom. It really, really helped! Do you have any tips to share? I'm all ears!