10 Steps To Prepping Car For Baby

1. Oil Change
One of the most basic, but one of the most neglected services, your oil change is important to keep your car running efficiently and staying in top shape. You can opt to do this yourself, or take it to a professional. I personally take my car to the dealer because I adore the staff there and they always send coupons! 

2. Tire Check
A service that is included in most oil change services is a tire check, this is critical, especially if you're going to be driving around a little. I always have them check for wear, tear or nails. I rotate regularly and purchase new tires when needed. 

3. Deep Clean Your Interior
Luckily I have a husband who LOVES washing cars, so our cars are always pretty sparkly. But a good deep clean, chemical free preferred, is important before bringing baby home. We cleaned ours top to bottom and gave it a thorough vacuum to prep for the car seat.

4. Tune Up
This can be scheduled during one of your routine oil changes, but its important to know what may need to be tuned up on your car. Squeaky belts? Loose brakes? All of this should be addressed before your baby's birth date. 

5. Registration 
This should go without saying, but important piece of information to make the list. Make sure your emissions, tags and registration are up to date. 

6. Easy DIY Upgrades
Items like faulty windshield wipers, adding air to your tires, or swapping out easy changes, like your cars engine air filter, can all be done at home to save you on labor costs. See how I easily swapped out my cars engine air filter in under five minutes. 

7. Mommy Car Care Kit
Aside from the diaper bag, I created a Mommy Car Care Kit. It's a small box in my trunk that includes a pair of flip flops if I need to pop on some comfy shoes, diaper wipes, a small pack of tissues, an extra changing pad, a few diapers, a hoodie for me, a hoodie for baby and a summer change of clothes for baby as well. Always better to have extra items on hand than not enough I always say. When our babes gets older, the kit reflect that. With non-perishable snacks, color books and a toy or two. 

8. Car Emergency Kit
Mr. Charming and I are big into kits, for home, work and car and our car emergency kit consists of items such as flashlights, emergency blankets, water, a few canned foods, a First Aid kit and boots/close toed shoes, as well as the necessities to jack up the car or change a tire. 

9. Window Covers
This one is optional, but where we live in Arizona, the summer gets extremely hot. Shaded window covers and a car seat cover are must haves to keep the baby's area cool when we are shopping or out of the car. 

10. Car Seat Installation
Once your car is clean and checked its time for the cherry on top, installing car seat for baby! We plan to visit our local Fire House to have them install our model for the first time. To be safe, we can see how to properly install our chosen car seat in our particular car model as they are all so different. 

Do you have any additional tips on getting your car ready for baby? I would love to know if I missed anything as we prep for Baby P this summer!