Okay, so we might not survive the zombie apocalypse, but these 5 necessities are always stashed away in my trunk and have saved the day on more than one occasion! Some of these may seem obvious, but as a first time parent, I did not have the things I needed in my car until it was too late. My oldest has definitely ridden home in his birthday suit on a couple of occasions before I started keeping these on hand. How you store everything is up to you. We have a canvas tote that has 3 storage areas that I shove everything into. Some people use smaller storage bins or plastic rubbermaid style containers. Use whatever works for you and your family.
1. Extra Clothes, Wipes, & Diapers
If you have a baby, it may seem obvious to always have extra clothes on hand for the inevitable blow out that happens when you least expect it (they pooped already this morning, HOW can that tiny thing have that much poop left in their body?!) but I find that I usually need extra clothes for my oldest... that's right, the 9 year old.
He is my fearless adventurer who has no problem rolling down a hill of wet grass, has ripped his pants wide open on a tree branch, been puked on by his sister... the list goes on. Regardless, I always keep extra cool and warm weather clothes for EVERYONE in the car, myself included. Having a long sleeve shirt and pants tucked away has been a lifesaver when we went for an outing and it was considerably colder than anticipated. No cold, cranky babies here. Same goes for a warm hat and gloves. We grab a cheap pair from the dollar store and they live in the car forever. The extra couple of bucks is worth it when you have a little with frozen fingers/ears.
I also try to make a mental note to swap the clothes in the car whenever I'm swapping sizes for that child, just to make sure everyone has things that will actually fit. Don't forget to pack extra socks and underwear too... don't ask, just do it. You'll thank me later.
Same goes with diapers and wipes. I keep diapers and wipes in my diaper bag...have I forgotten to refill the diapers and wipes in my diaper bag and left the house? YES. My saving grace was having my small stash of extra diapers in the car. And whether you have babies or not, I feel like wipes are always useful. Even when I no longer need a diaper bag, I still keep a travel size pack in my purse and a regular size pack in the car. They also are AMAZING at pulling stains out of white/light colored clothing. Spilled coffee on your cream colored blouse? Grab a baby wipe and blot, scrub, and rub until you get the stain out. If you can't get all of it, it at least gets most of it until you can get home to stain stick and pray to the washer gods that it comes out and you remember to check it before tossing it in the dryer and setting that stain forever.
2. Snacks
We keep a large tupperware style container with snacks that can withstand both hot and cold temperatures. We used to keep them in a reusable tote, but they would inevitably get crushed as they traveled through the car. The tupperware keeps squishable items, like crackers, from getting pulverized into powder. We don't need even more crumbs in our car. Some of our favorite things to keep on hand for when the hangries hit: fruit snacks, trail mix, protein bars (avoid chocolate coated ones, these will melt in the summer months), travel size bags of snacks (we usually grab one of those boxes with an assortment of chips, cookies, and popcorn), animal crackers/graham crackers, and goldfish.
We typically always travel with water bottles, but I also keep a bottle or two of water in the car as well. They're also good to have on hand to rinse out any cuts and scrapes... which leads me to my next car necessity.
3. First Aid Kit
This should probably be the first thing on the list, but I don't happen to use this one much. I'm just super thankful to have it on hand for when I do need it. If you buy a premade one from the store, add extra band-aids. Band-aids fix everything.
4. Picnic Blanket & TOWELS
I can't count the amount of times we have needed towels. Whether one of the kids "fell" in the creek or we got caught in the rain, having an extra towel or two on hand is always nice. We also keep a picnic blanket in the car (ours has a liner so if the grass is wet, it doesn't seep through) so we have something to sit on or I have something to put down for the girls to crawl around on and sit with their toys.
5. Stroller, Soft Structured Carrier, Framed Carrier
Whether you have one or all of the above, I have to keep some form of containment system in my car. Now that I have 2 under 2, the double stroller is my go to simply because I am outnumbered... and old. My back just isn't what it used to be and I can't carry either of my girls for long periods of time. I do still keep my soft structured carrier in the car and I have used it in a pinch for the youngest when I didn't realize strollers weren't allowed at an event. (Note to self - always check to make sure your stroller or wagon is OK when you're going somewhere for the day, a lot of museums and attractions are starting to place restrictions on what is allowed). Having the baby in the carrier freed up my hands so I could wrangle the toddler.
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Extras to keep on hand... not necessarily a necessity, but they make life a lot easier when you do need it
- Grocery Bags... for clothes that got wet, or puked on, or pooped on... whatever, it happens and this helps contain the ick until you can dispose of it in the washer.
- Emergency Car Kit - because waiting for AAA with screaming toddlers is not fun, and if it's as simple as asking someone to help jump your car so you can be on your way (after one of the kids turned all the lights on in the car while you were outside at the playground for 2 hours and you came back to a dead battery), it's worth having in the car.
- Hand Sanitizer - Kids are gross and it makes me feel cleaner than just baby wiping my hands.
- Tissues - they're softer than the stash of napkins from McDonald's in your glovebox.
- Random toys/activities - We have some board books for the babies, toys from McDonald's, fidget toys, etc that we keep in a small bag for when boredom really kicks in on long rides or unexpected traffic.
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Macaroni Kid Carlisle-Shippensburg-Boiling Springs is a is a free weekly newsletter and website focused on fun family events and information in Carlisle, Shippensburg, and Boiling Springs. We gather together all kinds of local family events and activities each week, and add useful information about classes, family-focused businesses, book and product reviews, recipes, crafts, school and camp guides and more. We proudly serve families in Carlisle, Shippensburg, Newville, Newburg, Boiling Springs, Mt. Holly Springs, Gardners, Orrstown and more.
