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November 2011 Moms
Advice? Long road trip
Good evening all.I was looking for some advice from those of you who have taken long road trips since having your little ones.We plan on going to visit relatives next weekend and the drive there is around 9-11hours prior to having the baby.I was hoping some of you had tips or advice to help us along the way.We will be there for 2-3 days then driving home again.
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Re: Advice? Long road trip
The only long trip we have taken with LO was when she was only 1mo. She did really well, but that was when we she was still sleeping most of the time. That being said, she is in the car alot and still travels pretty well.
I would suggest trying to start your trip at a time LO is likely ready for a nap. Stopping every few hours and getting LO out of the car and out of the carseat. Be sure to have some toys that hang on the car seat (if you don't already have some I would strongly suggest investing in some). I'm guessing that it is you and YH that are going with LO. If on occasion while little one is awake one of you could sit in the back with your LO, that would also probably help. I know my DD always gets a kick out of it when I sit in back with her.
That's about all I can think of to suggest. Good luck and happy road tripping!
Last month we took our longest trip with LO. It was almost 6 hours. We left really early in the morning, so DS would sleep for a good chunk of the ride. We drove for about 3 hrs & stopped for breakfast & to let DS out of the car seat for a bottle, diaper change & playtime.DS was fine in the car for almost the whole ride. Although, the last 30 mins he got fussy, so I climbed in the back & like PP said he thought that was the best thing ever!
We didn't really "plan out" our ride back. We were much more relaxed & let LO take the lead. We just stopped if LO needed it.
Hope your trip goes great!
Baby Boy #2 is on the way!
I was actually going to post this same question today! I'll be watching everyones responses.
We're driving approx 15 hrs next Thursday. Our plan is to leave at 3 or 4 in the morning and stop to have breakfast with a friend who is 5 hours into our drive. Hopefully, with leaving that early, DD will sleep until we stop for breakfast. Then we just plan to stop at gas stations and rest stops. We're going to pack food so we can eat at rest stops and DD can roll around on a blanket in the grass if it's nice enough. That way I will be able to nurse her instead of just giving her bottles in her carseat the whole way. We also bought some new small toys and hanging toys that we have been saving for this trip, so she will have something new, that will help hold her attention a little longer.
BFP #2 March 2011, Baby Girl born November 2011!!!
We've taken DS to visit my family several times and its a 10-12 hour trip. I don't know if I'm just really lucky, but he sleeps almost the entire drive every time, no matter what time we leave. He's 5 1/2 months and more active now, but he would only play for about 15 minutes at a time before the car put him back to sleep. When we stop, it's for about 15-20 minutes at a time and he gets out of his car seat, and we stretch & walk around outside.
Definitely take toys and books; sometimes one of us had to hop over the seat and play with DS in the back for awhile when he was tired of entertaining himself and play or read a story. For feeding, we packed a thermos of hot water and just made bottles in the car while driving and I also pumped a couple of times into a bottle and then fed him it so we didn't have to stop.
Good luck with your drive!