Road Tripping with a Toddler and a Newborn… Tips, Tricks, and How to Find the Right Stops Along the Way

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Road trips with young kids are absolutely doable. They just require a different kind of planning than the road trips of your previous life. We’ve put together our top tips for taking a road trip with a baby and a toddler based on our team’s recent trips across Victoria, New South Wales & Queensland. Download our free packing list to help you plan your next trip.

Before you leave - the planning that actually matters

Forget the schedule. Plan the stops instead.

Our top tip for road trips with a toddler and a newborn is to stop thinking about the destination and start thinking about the journey in 90-minute to 2-hour blocks instead. Newborns need to feed every few hours, and toddlers need to run around and burn off energy. And sometimes their timing might not align. This means your road trip will have more stops than you might realise. If you’re wondering how often to stop on a road trip with a baby, a break every 90 minutes to 2 hours is a good starting point.

Before you leave, map out your route and identify at least one potential stop every 90 minutes to 2 hours. Let Pram About Town help you find family-friendly venues along your route with confirmed change tables, kids' menus and playgrounds, so you're never stopping and hoping. You're stopping and knowing.

Leave earlier than you think.

An early departure is one of the best road trip strategies with young children**.** If you can make it work, leaving at 5 am or 6 am can get you a few hours of driving done while your little ones keep snoozing.

Pack as much as you can the night before.

There will always be things you can’t pack until the very last minute, but everything else should be in the car or ready to go the night before. Use our packing list and make a list of everything else left to be packed in the morning (baby camera, sleeping bags, lovies, etc.) and plan where these will go in your luggage. That way, you’ll have no surprises in the morning, and nothing will be left behind.

Download Everything.

Do not rely on mobile data for a road trip through regional Australia. Mobile coverage along the way can be patchy, and no one wants your only music options to be what’s on dad’s phone or the crackling radio. Download. Everything. Before. You. Leave. While you’re at it, be sure to download the Happy Song by Imogen Heap and thank us later.

Road trip snacks for toddlers.

Pack more snacks than you think you'll need. Then double it. Toddlers on road trips enter a constant snacking state, and the ability to produce a snack at the exact right moment is the closest thing to a road trip superpower.

Pouches, rice crackers, cheese, fruit and veggie sticks, dried fruit, mini muffins, muesli bars - anything that can be easily handed over to your little one and that won’t make too much mess if dropped.

Road trip activities for toddlers: Pack An Entertainment Hierarchy.

We all dream of having our kids happily sitting in the back of the car, playing I Spy and singing along to the radio… but a lot of times that just isn’t going to happen. Come prepared with lots of different types of entertainment. Mess-free colouring books, fidget spinners, interactive books, a new toy, audio players, and devices - pack and pick what you think your kid needs. They may surprise you by not needing a screen at all.

Our favourite road trip activities for toddlers, starting with the least effort for you:

Audio first: a screen-free audio player, music or story playlists (downloaded in advance)
Hands-on: a mess-free colouring book, a busy tray or interactive books
Something new: a small toy they haven't seen before, saved for the middle of the drive
Screens last: keep devices for when everything else has run out

What we packed - Pram About Town's road trip kit

Download our packing list, and if you’re in the market for our top products, click on the affiliate links below:

| Product | Why we love it | Where to buy | | ----- | ----- | ----- | | Travel Busy Tray | A game changer for road trips. Your little one has autonomy and independence with everything they need at their fingertips | I’m With Kids | | Dummy Clip | An absolute must-have if your baby uses a dummy. Saves you endlessly looking under seats. | Amazon Australia | | Silicone Snack Cup | Keep snacks contained and as mess-free as possible. | The Memo | | Baby car mirror | Gives you peace of mind on long stretches of driving as you can easily glance at the baby | Baby Bunting | | Yoto Player & Headphones | Fantastic to keep toddlers and kids entertained without a screen. | The Memo | | Mess-free Colouring Book | Different coloured markers that only work on this colouring book - genius! | I’m With Kids |

The stops - the secret to a successful road trip with a baby

Every stop should tick multiple boxes

A great road trip stop with a newborn and a toddler does more than one thing at once. Ideally, every stop covers:

A feed and/or nappy change for the baby (change table, quiet spot for a feed)
A run and/or play for the toddler (playground, grass to run on, something to climb)
A coffee and/or food and a breather for the adults (a cafe nearby, or a picnic spot)

Planning your road trip stops in Australia with Pram About Town

This is what Pram About Town was built for. Before your road trip, open Pram About Town and search along your route. Or if the kids are losing it on the drive, find venues closest to you ASAP. Filter by change table, playground, kids menu, toilets, and build a loose list of potential stops for each leg of the journey.

You don't need to commit to any specific stop in advance. Just knowing that there are a few good options in the next stretch, like a cafe with a change table and high chairs at the 20km mark, a playground with clean toilets at the 50km mark, and a family-friendly pub with a kids menu at the 80km mark. This means you can make the call in the moment based on how everyone is travelling.

The mindset shift that makes everything easier

A road trip with a toddler and a newborn is different to any road trip pre-children. It is slower, louder, messier, and more frequently interrupted. It can also be more joyful, more memorable, and maybe even better than you might expect.

The toddler who asks "are we there yet?" from the end of the driveway will also be the one who points out every cow, horse, and sheep along the way. Your newborn may doze off with zero fuss and sleep through a beautiful stretch of highway as the sun comes up and you have your first hot coffee in peace.

The stops are not delays. They are the trip. The cafe with the excellent change table and the play corner that bought you 45 minutes of calm. The playground where your toddler made friends with a stranger's dog for ten minutes and came back to the car a completely different child. The servo picnic table where you fed the baby while your toddler waved to every truck passing by, and you all laughed at the chaos.

That's the road trip. And it's a good one.

Road trip with a baby: your questions answered

How often should you stop on a road trip with a baby?

We plan for a stop every 90 minutes to 2 hours. That gives time for a feed or nappy change, a run around for the toddler, and a break for the adults. Expect more stops than you would have planned before kids, and treat them as part of the trip.

Can you take a newborn on a road trip?

Many families do, but newborns have specific needs, especially around car seat time and feeding. Talk to your GP or child health nurse about how long your baby can safely travel in a car seat and how often to take them out.

What should you pack for a road trip with a baby and a toddler?

Pack the essentials within reach: nappies, wipes, a change mat, spare clothes, snacks, drinks and a few entertainment options. Download our free packing list for the full version, and see our kit above for the products we use.

How do you find stops on a road trip with young kids?

Search along your route in Pram About Town and filter by change table, playground, kids menu and toilets. Build a loose list of options for each leg so you can choose on the day.

Pram About Town maps family-friendly venues across Australia with confirmed details on change tables, high chairs, pram access, and more. Find your next stop before you need it.