10 Tips to Organize Your Car
We travel frequently in our car with our baby Holden and it became increasingly difficult to keep our car organized. We came up with some ideas that work for us and hopefully they will help you to organize your car...
- Don’t get overwhelmed. When you arrive home from a trip (short trip or long trip) clean out the mess as soon as possible. If you let the mess go, it soon becomes overwhelming and requires a much bigger effort to clean. Even when babies are infants, you can grab the carrier in one hand, throw the diaper bag over your shoulder, and grab whatever you can manage in the other hand. Then one extra trip out to the car (before your child starts to protest) goes a long way. Get your baby settled then run out to grab any last remnants.
- Store items outside the car when not needed. Keep a bin in the garage or shed that holds all the beach chairs, towels, beach toys (or winter toys during the winter). After a trip return all the gear to its bin outside your vehicle, wash things like towels, and then return the clean items to the bin and everything is ready to go for your next trip. It’s better than leaving the gear rolling around inside your vehicle.
- Prepack your diaper bag. After returning from a trip and once the baby has been settled in our home I take a few minutes to restock my gr8x diaper bag. I put clean diapers, face cloths, and so on in the diaper bag and I am basically ready for the next trip outside the home. I couldn't live without my gr8x diaper bag. Take a look.
- Stock the glove box and side pockets with necessities. Devote your glove box and side door compartments to keeping essentials at hand during a trip, so you don’t have to keep pulling over to open the trunk. Don’t use the glove box and side door compartments as a "catch-all compartment" or a trash can. It’s a place to store traveling essentials. For day-to-day use, simply keeping important car documents (like your insurance and registration cards), a pen or pencil, a pocket-sized notepad, and a small first-aid kit is sufficient. For travel purposes, you’ll want to beef that list up a bit to include maps, directions, and a few small trash bags.
- Use your front seat center console. If your vehicle does not have one, buy one. Keep supplies of handy items in the console including sunscreen, a small pack of tissues, baby wipes, etc.
- Keep a small travel bag with toys in the car and leave them there. When your baby needs a toy to keep them happy, pull one from the bag and when they are finished with the toy, put it back in the bag. The car toy bag stays in the car. Its one less thing to carry to and from your home to the car.
- Buy a clip on tray for the baby's car seat to help keep baby busy and happy when you travel about town or about the planet. That way they can have some of their favorite toys to play with on your journey.
- Install sunshades on the backseat windows. They will protect your kids from the sun—and they will help prevent food and other items from melting.
- Purchase a small easily carried cooler to bring with you in the car to keep baby’s milk and other drinks cool. Take a look at our portable bottle cooler, and also our gr8x diaper bags come with a portable bottle cooler. Take a look at this fantastic diaper bag.
- Use your front seat if you are traveling solo with your baby. You may want to purchases a front seat organizer which straps into the front passenger seat and keeps everything you need in a pinch readily accessible and organized.
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