With Thanksgiving just a short week away, one of the busiest travel times is fast approaching. Millions of Americans will be traveling to visit family and loved ones. We have the tradition of making a four hour trip to Las Vegas to spend the holiday with my husband’s aunt. Here are some tips when traveling long distances by car with little ones for busy holidays:

• Leave as early as possible – for instance we try to leave the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving and then return home the day after. If you can’t leave early then experts agree that you should leave the day of the actual holiday. We have found that traveling to Las Vegas on Thanksgiving was lighter than the day before. Don’t leave during the morning rush or afternoon rush.. Aim for mid-morning or very early morning

• Stop at least every two hours for a potty or snack break. Although if they are asleep, we try to just keep chugging along.

• Bring plenty of snacks and bottled water in the car. It’s better than having to buy food in traveler traps along the way.

• Load your car with entertaining things for the children like books, DVD’s for the portable DVD player (they are so inexpensive these days, there is no excuse not to have one), and music. We have found that our children are both highly entertained by the Kids Stuff music station on our Sirius Satellite Radio.

• Make sure to bring a couple of plastic bags just in case you might have to change a diaper or two and there are no changing stations around. I’ve found that the front seat makes an excellent changing station.

• Just be prepared to be flexible and give yourself plenty of time to get where you need to go. Young children are unpredictable and are not always going to feel like cooperating with mom and dad’s scheduled plans.