6-8 hrs car ride ??

aivi08

Ladies, we are driving to AZ next month and was wondering if any of you have driven w/ LO for that long before and if you have any advice/suggestions for the car ride?

We are not flying since we would still have to drive for another 1 1/2 hrs from Pheonix. Plus trying to cut cost since $$ is tight. tia.

simplicty

I have done the drive to the bay area many times... is your LO still rear facing? dd was when we did the drives- we got her a car entertainer. i also sat in the back with her armed with cherrios, water and other snacks she likes. hth gl!

simplicty

also- we like to drive early in the am in hopes that she would just keep sleeping.

aivi08

My DD is such a light sleeper I'm afraid to take her out of bed in the middle of the night to leave. We are meeting up w/ families but I don't think ppl will be at the lodge until later in the day. Now I think the hell with it maybe we'll just leave in the middle of the night and get there early in the morning and just hang out somewhere. dredding the car ride lol!

augs06

I think the furthest we've gone has been 5ish.  Our best trips we have had are leaving near bedtime between 6-7pm.  This way she sleeps nearly the entire ride.  We have left in the daytime as well and have needed to make a few more rest stops than leaving at night.

Does she sleep well in the car?  I think if you woke her up just to put her in her seat in the middle of the night, it might not be too bad.  We also had lullabies on the ipod that we would play at least until she fell back asleep.  GL!

Morla

We have done long drives from NYC to D.C. took us about 6 1/2 hours when DS was about 6months old. We left in time for his morning nap... DS sleeps pretty well in the car. When he woke up from his nap we stopped to get something to eat, feed DS... then back on the road... lots of toys, music CDs.

We also did a drive to SF about a month ago, and he was entertained by my mom and my brother in the backseat with him, once again same thing... nap, stop to eat, nap again and we were there... 

We had a portable DVD player just in case but between my brother's iPhone and music CDs we took with us he was fine. DS was only 10months so he couldn't really enjoy the view but I'm sure if your DC is in a forward facing seat DC might really enjoy the different views... but it wouldn't hurt to bring, coloring books, toys, snacks, DVD player...

Have fun and Good luck!

TarzansWife

We are making the same drive from C-bad in two weeks. My game plan is to leave right when it is time for LO's morning nap. I figure he will sleep for 1-2 hours in the car. Then when he wakes up we will find a rest stop, I will nurse him, we will all stretch our legs and get him out for a bit. Then get back in the car for snacks and entertainment w mom in the back seat. Then probably stop again in another 1-2 hours for another break and then after that stop hopefully he will take a second nap which wil hopefully get us close to being there. That's my plan!

brennrobert

We've done countless 6-8 hours drives and two driving trips from SF to Seattle.  One was when DD was 6 months and one at 1.5 years.  I pack several books (some musical ones), a few smaller toys like her learning laptop, aqua/magna doodle, and a DVD player with some Signing Time! DVDs (her fave).  Someone always sits in back with DD on long trips to help entertain her, give her snacks, etc.  We usually left before sunrise and she'd be up for the first hour or so and then pass out for a while.  After she woke up, we'd try to drive an hour or two and then stop to run around.  When I'm doing the trips by myself with DD, then I try to leave at nap time knowing I'll get a good 2-3 hours in before she wakes up and then she'll be happy for about and hour and we can stop for a while.