Babies: 0 - 3 Months

Car trip with a 3 week old, overnite stay, would you?

DD is officially a week old today and my parents 50th anniversary is in two weeks, they are having a big dinner with my sisters and all the grandkids. It's roughly a three hour drive for us and then we'd probably need to stay overnite with my sister that has an almost 3 yr old. We had been resigned to the fact we'd have to miss it due to how young DD is, I also have a 2yr old DS who is of course still transitioning to the new family member! But the closer it gets the more upset I get about not being there. Is it totally crazy to consider traveling with a 3 week old? My major concerns are exposing her to germs with the other kids, DS always gets sick when we visit for the weekend, and just the whole hassle of travel with two youngins... would you or have you done it?

nate and teddy        <img src=http://flic.kr/p/hi2aWe width="150px">

Me 43 DH 48 Not actively ttc, surprise BFP on 1/6/11! 4/1/11 m/c our sunshine at 16wks after complications from CVS test.  *5th cycle after loss 12/6/11 BFP! Missed m/c at 9 weeks 1/21/12, trisomy 14. Two Chemical PG 3/12&7/12
** BFP 8/16/12 beta #1 148! beta#2 407 beta #3 4000 u/s 9.10 1 lovely hb 126, Baby Boy born 5/6/2013!

TTC #2, bpf 1/15/15 Baby Girl due Oct 1! She's here, 9/26/2015! 

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Re: Car trip with a 3 week old, overnite stay, would you?

  • Its definitely do-able. We took DD to Florida when she was about 9 weeks old, so older than your LO. She slept the whole way, but she was veeeeery overstimulated with all the noise, new surroundings, and new faces. So she was pretty crabby the whole time. But at 3 weeks old, they don't have a ton of awake time, so that may not be an issue. Are you BFing? If so, LO is unlikely to get sick. I would go and just keep her close to you! :) GL!
  • I wouldn't do it. Sleep is so crappy when they are that little and to me it would probably be more work than it would be enjoyable.
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  • My sister's wedding fell when my DS was just under 3 weeks old. We drove from VA to NYC with DS and his three year old sister. It took about six hours due to traffic and stopping several times for me to BF DS and let DD run around. We stayed two nights in NYC. We had the hotel provide a crib in the room and had DD sleep in the crib to prevent her from running around the hotel room all night and had DS co-sleep with me. Honestly the trip was harder with my DD then the baby. They sleep so much in the first month that it is pretty easy to bring them anywhere. It was far more chaotic with the three year old. If you will regret not being there I say go for it!
  • jlt3357 said:
    My sister's wedding fell when my DS was just under 3 weeks old. We drove from VA to NYC with DS and his three year old sister. It took about six hours due to traffic and stopping several times for me to BF DS and let DD run around. We stayed two nights in NYC. We had the hotel provide a crib in the room and had DD sleep in the crib to prevent her from running around the hotel room all night and had DS co-sleep with me. Honestly the trip was harder with my DD then the baby. They sleep so much in the first month that it is pretty easy to bring them anywhere. It was far more chaotic with the three year old. If you will regret not being there I say go for it!
    This is actually very true about having a toddler and a baby.
  • I'd go if you're feeling up to it.  My friend traveled five hours for a wedding just four days PP (her baby was late).  I thought she was crazy, and still do, actually, lol.  She said it was harder on her than it was on the baby.


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  • Thanks for the comments, I know I'll be upset if I miss it. I'm so sleep deprived right now it's hard to make any decisions, I think we'll debate it for another week or so and see. I'm more worried at this point about DS who's been a terror this past week with the transition of having a DD, I'm starting to be more concerned about him than DD, having us all stay overnight in one room may lead to more than one major meltdown!

    nate and teddy        <img src=http://flic.kr/p/hi2aWe width="150px">

    Me 43 DH 48 Not actively ttc, surprise BFP on 1/6/11! 4/1/11 m/c our sunshine at 16wks after complications from CVS test.  *5th cycle after loss 12/6/11 BFP! Missed m/c at 9 weeks 1/21/12, trisomy 14. Two Chemical PG 3/12&7/12
    ** BFP 8/16/12 beta #1 148! beta#2 407 beta #3 4000 u/s 9.10 1 lovely hb 126, Baby Boy born 5/6/2013!

    TTC #2, bpf 1/15/15 Baby Girl due Oct 1! She's here, 9/26/2015! 

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  • I just did a commute that long with my 4 week old and she slept the whole car ride and did great! I think it's good for them to be exposed to new surroundings .. Hope this helps!
  • It is really a gamble. We did an overnight trip when my LO was about 4 weeks old. It was a 3.5 hour trip. We stopped halfway to breastfeed and change diaper. LO did great for the car ride, but he cried most of the night and it was horrible. We had planned for him to sleep in the same pack n play he had been sleeping in at our home so I really don't know why he had such a hard time going to sleep. Must have been overstimulated? A few weeks later we made the same trip and had absolutely no problems.



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