How to Organize Your Vehicle When Your Have a Toddler

How to Organize Your Vehicle When You Have a Toddler

Toddlers can be messy little monsters, even when especially when they’re strapped into their car seats! Today I’m sharing my favorite tips on how to organize your vehicle with a toddler. 

We’ve all been there. You go to take your little one out of the car seat and you realize that there are crumbs everywhere. There are balled up wipes with who knows what on them scattered in the back seat. A half eaten, semi-soggy cracker is wedged into the car seat. Your vehicle looks like a bomb went off and you don’t know how it happened. Girl, I’ve been there. Let’s talk about it. 

Use a Trash Can

This seems obvious, but is often overlooked. And I’m not talking about a plastic grocery bag flung into the passenger seat floorboards. You will inevitably be unwrapping a snack or using a wipe or a million other things when in the car with your toddler.

Keeping a trash can in the car just makes sense! We have this one that straps to our console, which makes it so much easier to manage the trash in our vehicle. No more stuffing trash only to have it fall right back out again.

P.S. After being sick for a MONTH straight, I highly suggest having a tissue holder in your car as well.

Keep a Car Box

I keep a plastic shoe box with a locking lid in my car at all times. In it, I keep an extra pack of wipes, a few diapers, extra snacks, and a change of clothes for my toddler. At some point, you will run out of one of these items and need them in a pinch. 

In fact, the car shoe box was so helpful that I’ve made one for three different friends in preparation for their new babies! Even if you regularly keep your diaper bag stocked, you’ll run out {at the most inconvenient time} when you can’t get home or to a store. Like at the zoo. Ask me how I know. 

Keep a Stockpile of Toys in the Car

There are days when all the YouTube songs in the world aren’t making your kiddo happy. I keep a small bag of toys in the car to keep mine entertained.

You can also check out my post on keeping your toddler entertained on long drives. 

This keeps your toddler from wanting to bring more and more toys into the car because she will already have some waiting for her. Plus, you can control which toys are in the car, meaning it doesn’t have to be one with a million tiny plastic pieces. Think board books, a small stuffed animal, or even a toddler writing tablet. 

Limit Snacks in the Car

I know what you’re thinking. GIRL, there’s no way I can NOT feed my kid snacks in the car. I get it. And I agree! What I mean is, limit the type of snacks you have in the car. 

We have these fantastic reusable snack bags that I use to keep a handful of different, less-messy snacks for my kiddo. I avoid chips, crumble crackers, or anything with a sauce or semi-liquid goo. Think Uncrustables, they’re great, but too messy for unsupervised snacking in the car. Have you ever tried to clean jam out of a car seat? Not fun. Stick to bars like these, raisins, pretzels, or fruit snacks. Less mess means less you have to clean later. 

Regularly Clean Your Car

I don’t mean you have to make it to a car wash once a week, but carve out a little bit of time to maintain your vehicle. It will not only last longer, but you’ll have less severe messes to clean if you do so more often.

Check out my rotational cleaning guide to easily maintain your entire home on a six week schedule! 

Give Everything a Home

My rule is: if it is in my car, it needs to have a purpose. So unless I’ve got a bag of clothes to donate to a consignment shop in the trunk, everything in my vehicle has a use. This is probably my most important tip to organize your vehicle.

We keep hand sanitizer, a window breaker, extra trash bags for our trash can, and the necessary vehicle paperwork in our glove box. In the doors, we keep bug spray and an umbrella. 

In our console we keep gum, a flashlight, a mini first aid kit, and my husband’s headphones for the gym. Other than phone charges and a quarter for Aldi (IYKYK), there aren’t random things piling up in the front of our car. If it ever does start to get messy, I take it as a sign that she needs an extra cleaning. 

In the back, we keep the bag of toys, the car box, the trash can, and a hard copy of a road atlas. There is also a spare window breaker in the third row pocket, just in case. Being trapped in the car after running off a bridge is a BIG fear of mine, and these give me a sense of control. The diaper bag sits in the trunk. If I use something in it, I make sure to bring it in the next time I come home. Which brings me to my final tip:

Take Everything Out When You Leave

I don’t leave my purse (or anything else I got while out of the house) in the car when I come home. I make a point to check the floorboards when I am getting my son out of the car to make sure I don’t leave anything extra behind. I got in the habit of doing this after I accidentally left milk in the car overnight after a grocery run during the summer. That’s a smell you don’t forget easily.

By bringing everything out of the car, you are more likely to keep your car organized with a toddler. 

Believe me, I understand that toddlers make messes. And I don’t expect my car to look great all the time. But there are actionable steps you can take to keep the mess to a minimum. When you take the time to organize your vehicle, it will give you peace of mind. Your future self will thank you.

Do you have a messy car? What tips would you add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!