Holiday Travel Safety Tips from Safety 1st (and a car seat giveaway for you!)

The holiday travel season is fast approaching!  The roads will be full of people on their way to parties or to grandma's house, and with winter weather blanketing most of the country, staying safe on the road can be challenging. As if decorating the house, wrapping presents, and planning parties isn't stressful enough!  To help make everyone's life easier, Safety 1st consumer safety experts have come up with some great safety tips!

According to AAA last year 94.5 million people were on the roads, train tracks or in the skies during the holiday season. That’s a lot of people! Then add your own kids into the mix of congestion and for some it can mean holiday headaches. However, Safety 1st has some tips to help fight some of those headaches this season.

1. Avoid peak travel days –Try not to fly or drive the days immediately before and after the actual holiday. Those are the busiest travel days. However, if you fly or take a train you might save money by traveling on the actual holiday, the roads are less congested too.

2. Prepare your child for the trip – Holiday parties can be overwhelming with sensory overload. Especially for young children it’s good to talk about the upcoming trip days even weeks in advance. This will help him or her get excited about the journey. Show photos of family members or friends your child has not met yet, this way the new face might be a little familiar on arrival.

3. “Are we there yet?” - To help avoid that dreaded phrase an hour into your six hour trip reserve a bag just for the kids, include books, toys, diapers a change of clothes and snacks. Pre-load a tablet or smartphone with kid friendly apps or games. If you are driving keep all necessary items such as wipes, hand sanitizer or tissues easy to reach in a second – there are times you may not want to be digging through the bottom of a bag for such items. The Safety 1st Car Door Sanitation Station is a great solution.

4. Car Seats – If you are flying check to make sure your car seat is FAA certified. If it’s not clearly labeled contact the manufacture. For parents with older children the Safety 1st BoostAPack can double as a kid survival kit, it’s FAA certified, and will fit in the plane overhead bin.

If you are driving make sure your car seat is installed correctly. If it’s been awhile since you visited a car seat check, it’s recommended to check your seat with a Certified Child Safety Technician in advance of your trip. Safercar.gov is a great resource.

5. Prepare the guest room – If your child will be sleeping in a Play Yard during the trip, use that for bed or nap time the entire week before. This will help him or her get used to a new sleep environment. Also if your infant or child sleeps better in a dark room or tends to wake up early with the morning light, bring garbage bags or dark fabric to tape over windows.

Win a Safety 1st Convertible Car Seat

One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a Advance SE 65 Air+ convertible car seat from Safety 1st!  This premium car seat has the latest in impact protection technology to keep your little one safer on the road.

Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and share a tip to keep your family safe and happy during the holiday season.

Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry you complete, with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, Facebook id, Pinterest id, etc..)

1) Follow bonggamom on Blogger (1 entry)

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4) Pin this giveaway on any of your Pinterest boards (1 entry)

5) Like Bonggamom Finds on Facebook and write this on my wall (1 entry):
I joined the Safety 1st car seat giveaway Bonggamom Finds!  Ends 12/07/14 http://ow.ly/E5rqO 

6) Follow @bonggafinds on Twitter and tweet this once per day (1 entry per day):
Enter to win a @safety_1st convertible car seat!  Giveaway on @bonggafinds ends 12/7 http://ow.ly/E5rqO 

7) Leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite feature of the Safety 1st Advance 65 SE Air+ convertible car seat (1 entry)

8) Join any open giveaway on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for every giveaway you join).

The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59 PST on December 7, 2014. I will draw a winner at random on December 8 and post their name after they confirm acceptance. Prize shown in the photo is the St. Germain fabric pattern; actual fabric pattern may vary .Continental US residents only. For additional giveaway rules, click here.



Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. Tips and giveaway prize are provided by Safety 1st. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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