Traveling questions

bridetobe9132013

I know I know... this has been brought up a ton. My sister is pregnant and due in June. The pregnancy was unexpected and they just decided last week they will be getting married Feb 6 in Florida. DH and I are trying to decide if we want to drive there (from michigan) or fly. We would like to save money on flights and rentals but I feel bad having DD in the car for that long. Any advice to make our decision easier?

hbird0723

We are going to be driving 10 hours to Michigan from Missouri for Christmas so I can let you know how that goes... Not looking forward to it but like you said it saves money on flying! I know the Florida drive would be longer but I can tell you what 10 hours was like.

ns1

I haven't flown with LOs so can't speak to that.  But we have taken a lot of car trips with 1 LO and will start soon with 2 LOs.  

We've done a lot of 6 and 8 hour trips to see parents, and we did one 10 hour drive for vacation too.  DD is great with these drives.  We do the bulk at night if we can, but did the 10 hour one during the day both ways with no real problems.  We just stopped when DD needed to like PP said.  

bridetobe9132013

Thanks ladies! I have those links on her seat now. We have a malibu so space will be tight where in michigan are you coming @Hbird05‌? I am thinking we will stay over night just to give DD a break.

hbird0723

@bridetobe9132013‌ we are going to flat rock. Are you close to there?

bridetobe9132013

I am in Clarkston, about 1 hour from Flat Rock.

Junebug060609

MI to FL with an infant in winter? Fly. Seriously fly.

You'll have to stop so much, and as a result have to do more overnights at hotels...burning up the would-be savings of driving.

hbird0723

@Junebug060609 that is a good point! We just booked our hotels and it's going to be like $130 for both nights to split up the drive so that might be looking into. How much will it cost to stay verses plane tickets.

bridetobe9132013

I found a flight for a good price! With flight, checking bags, car rental, and car seat rental we will be paying around $650. We will be flying. We wouldn't be saving enough to deal with the hassle of driving.

bridetobe9132013

I don't like that Spirit makes you pay for a carry on. I have no choice with DD, I have to bring a carry on.

Emmagk

We flew from Maine to FL in september with alligeant and it was fine. On the same trip we also drove from Bangor to Boston and then 2 days later from Boston to home which is 7 hours without stops. If we could have skipped the long drives and flown we would have done

andoll8

we're in GA heading to MI (UP) for Thanksgiving. you can't pay me enough $$ to take DS on a road trip like that. 

maybe it's just me, though.

rainbowsockmonkey

@bridetobe9132013‌ please do not rent a car seat for your LO. You won't know if it has been in an accident, straps have been washed, it could be expired, or they could try and give you a seat that is forward facing only. The safest option is to pay for a seat on the plane for your baby and use DD's car seat for her on the plane.

bridetobe9132013

@rainbowsockmonkey‌ what about just checking the car seat?

Emmagk

If you do choose to get your LO her own seat check first to make sure your car seat is approved for airplane use. We chose to gate check our seat and had DS on our laps. His seat is not airplane approved and way too big

bridetobe9132013

@Emmagk i know all airlines are different but do you remember how much it was to check your seat? Ill probably just be using the infant seat still

bridetobe9132013

@becole42‌ I just looked into it and spirit checks car seats and strollers for free! Thanks for the info! They allow a small personal bag for free so ill shove a bottle in that

rainbowsockmonkey

bridetobe9132013 said:

@rainbowsockmonkey‌ what about just checking the car seat?

Checking the seat can give it an unknown history. Even gate checking it. Baggage people have been filmed throwing car seats around like the do luggage. Your car seat could potentially be damageduribg the flight, and may not work properly in an accident.

bridetobe9132013

Traveling with DD is becoming a nightmare!

bridetobe9132013

@comicsans you are about to fly or do a car trip?

bridetobe9132013

@becole42 we do have a travel system stroller but I may be buying a smaller light weight stroller for the trip.

gutsysneakers

FWIW - I flew with DD when she was 9 weeks. I wore her in the Ergo and she sat with me on the plane. I rented a carseat and stroller only because our stoller/car seat combo was close to $900 and I don't trust that they won't throw that stuff around. I had no problems. 

When DD was 6 weeks old, we drove from DC to NH. She was great in the car. We're making the same trip for Thanksgiving. We plan on leaving a little bit later than DD normally goes does for the night so she'll (hopefully) sleep the entire way there. 

bridetobe9132013

@becole42 that is perfect for our trip!

bridetobe9132013

Nevermind, we have a Grace car seat. I thought any car seat could click in. We may just need to bring the bigger stroller