Long car trip Q: what's a better option...

caden

We're taking my kids on a 13-hr driving trip soon and can't figure out if we should drive all night or all day. We're going to try not to break up the trip since I think my kids would freak out having to repeat a 6/7-hr trip on day 2.

My kids generally fall asleep in the car, but won't take a full nap in their carseats. So I'm not sure if they'd sleep all night in the car. But I also don't want them to be mostly awake all day and flipping out that they're still in the car. Driving all night for that long also scares me in that DH & I might not be able to do it. We've never done that before. WWYD?

ETA: My car seats are RF and there is no room to recline the front seats, if that matters. 

amanda31H

I don't like driving through the night.  I did it when I was a lot younger and so did DH, but even then I had a hard time.

I would just leave super early in the morning and drive during the day.  Bring DVDs for them to watch and when you stop for gas, diaper changes, bathroom, etc. make sure it's at a place where they can run around (assuming the weather is ok). 

Keep in mind...if you say 13 hour drive- was that before kids, or are you factoring in all the stops you'll have to make with kids? 

Fancy3Face

We just made the trip home (from Colorado to Missouri)-about 14 hours in early Oct.  We drove all night to get there and the slept 100% of the way.  We woke them in Topeka for breakfast.  I sat in between them-which sucked-but we got there without incident. It was heavenly.

The way home was a tad bit tougher.  We left later than planned, during the day, so they were wide awake for the majority of this trip.  I sat between them and worked my butt of with toys to try and keep them occupied.  They fell asleep about 5 hours from Denver. 

From my experience-drive by NIGHT!  GL!

jalaiaa

Could you break it up a little and drive from say 7pm to 12 or 1am then get up in the morning and have a shorter day drive to do? 

Also, from my night driving experience, bring a sheet or blanket or something if your kids are rear facing. For some reason, whenever a semi would come behind us their lights would wake the boys up. On the way there we dealt with it, but for the way back we bought a black sheet and hung it up so the lights didn't flash in their eyes. They slept great on the way home.  

leslie13510

Up until now we've driven overnight when we go home to visit (15 hours not including stops).  It's perfect, and I'm sad we might have to scrap that soon since they don't sleep as well in their carseats anymore. 

Usually Nathan stays up later than usual, but he'll watch movies so he's still content, and he's tired enough to not fuss about sitting still in the seat.  And, if he stays up half the night, it's not a huge deal since he can just nap with me or DH when we get there the next day.  He's really go-with-the-flow about sleep though, I can see that not working for every kid if they happened to stay awake in the car half the night.

Also, DH is a pro at staying awake and alert for ridiculously long periods of time.  If he was like me, we'd have to make the trip during the day.  I can NOT stay up all night driving.  I usually sleep until about 3-4am, and then take a 3 hour shift so he can catch a quick wink, before taking the wheel again. 

nikinikinine

We are routine drive through the nighters. Honestly I know you're trying not to break it up, but could you maybe leave at bedtime and drive for 6 hours, stop at a hotel and sleep and then drive the rest of the way after breakfast. That way they're only awake for part of the trip. 

We've done this too. Driving until we are halfway there, doing our normal morning routine and getting in the car with the first nap of the day. This way we can get a straight 2-3 hours of driving in the next day before we have to stop, give a bottle, give a snack and get back in the car.

GL. I hate car trips with the babies. The logistics always kind of stress me out. 

ahale906

We do an 8 hour drive with our boys about 3-4 times a year to see family. We drive from San Diego to Fresno CA (area). We have left at 3 in the afternoon and not arrived at our families house until midnight. The boys are usually wide awake and running around the house until 1am or so. Then by the time we get them in bed they are up at 6am!! We now just leave at 430-5am and arrive at our families house around 11am, which is pefect since naptime is 12ish. I would just wake up early and head out. Buy a DVD player (in case you dont have one already). We only take the boys out of the car one time during our drive and thats to change their diaper and right back in the car they go. If we let them run around forget getting them back in the car  

On a side note, we drove from Jacksonville FL to Fresno CA non-stop when my oldest was almost 2. That was a drive let me tell you!! We had a dvd player and ice chest...away we went! He did perfectly fine!!!

Good luck with your tavels!