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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
slyrose123
member
Who has done a long road trip?!?!?!
slyrose123
member
We have a family reunion to go to in 3 weeks! Sooo DS will be close to 8 months old (a week away from it actually) and the car trip is about 6-9 hours (so says my husband..don't know for sure) I just know that I consider that; either or, it is a long time!
What did you do? Any specific toys? How did your LO fare? Just ADVICE, STORIES, TIPS, ANYTHING welcome 
!!! TIA
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Re: Who has done a long road trip?!?!?!
We drove 13 hours to Arkansas and 5 hours to Wisconsin a couple times. The drive was horrible because we did it during the day and LO got so bored being in the carseat but fine when we were at stops. I had a huge bag of toys and sat back with him, but it did not matter. We broke it up into two days for 6.5 hours each day but it was still miserable. Driving after his bedtime was much better.
Good Luck!
We drove to Maine for vacation this past summer (8-9 hour trip from where we live in NJ) DD was 3 and a half months and she did great. I sat in the backseat with her and entertained her with toys and songs. She actually slept for a good portion of the trip. We stopped like 3 times which isn't bad.
We just went to a wedding 5 hours away in VA. She was a couple weeks shy of 6 months and she did great.
Yep, we've done a bunch now. We go to NJ every Thanksgiving, about 7 hours before kids!
I recommend that when everyone starts screaming you look where you are on google maps and look for the elementary schools in your area for playgrounds! Expect to stop just to stretch legs and let baby be in the swing or something else relaxing and not the car.
Pack at least one bottle for the car. It's amazing what the passenger can do leaning back and giving baby a bottle mid tantrum can do. Ahhhhh, hear that, yep, it's quiet :-)
I also recommend leaving just a couple hours before bedtime (if your kid STTN and is good already about bedtime, ours always have been pretty quickly). Travel, stop for dinner, feed and drive!
ETA: I should say, we do not sit in back with the kids. DH did a bunch with DD when she was our only but I thought that made things worse. Neither of us sit back there any more. We have a van now as we are hopefully expanding again shortly so on really long drives one of us may kneel back there with a bottle briefly but that's it.
We've done a trip to Virginia (9 hours one way) and back and then a trip to the beach (12 hours one way) and back. DS2 was 2.5 months for the trip to VA and 6.5 for the 12 hour trip. He actually did much better for the 12 hour trip. I had a basket full of toys and when he would get bored with one, I'd give him another. I probably had 20 little teether/rattle/soft toys for him.
He still eats every 2.5 hours so we had to stop quite often but luckily he's a fast eater so we weren't stopped for too long. We always got out and walked around after he ate for some fresh air. I didn't ride in the back because there is no room between their seats. I had a stash of pacifiers in the front cupholder and would give them as needed.
Everytime we've tried to travel through the night, it has backfired on us so we don't attempt anymore. My 4-year old will stay awake in the car no matter what so it just gets his sleep rhythm out of whack. Haven't attempted it with DS2 simply because our oldest doesn't handle it well.
Good luck!! It's totally doable and I don't regret either trip. There were unpleasant moments but nothing that made it unbearable.
We frequently do a 5-6 hour drive to visit our parents.
If we can, we like to leave around bed time. That way she sleeps 90% of the time and we get there faster.
Plan on taking longer than you think it takes. Feeding. Changing diapers. Stretching. But along with that, don't plan on stopping too many times. Nothing pisses my DD off like going in and out of the carseat a bunch of times.
Bring new toys just for the trip. Give him one at a time to help distract him.
Bring easy snacks like puffs and yogurt bites.
You can sit next to him and bottle feed or give solids while driving.
DH and I recently made a 14 hour drive to Kentucky from Florida. DD was 6 months old. She did surprisingly well. I was slightly worried to be honest. It's a long trip for adults. We left early in the AM around 4:30. I made sure to wake her up and give her a bottle right before we left. Kept her in her pj's and she went right back to sleep in the car seat almost as soon as we hit the road.
We brought lots of small toys and like others have said, trade them out one at a time as she got bored with one. She still napped in the car seat for about an hour or longer stretches. We made stops to give her a bottle and her other meals, although she did not eat her normal amount of solids, probably do to distraction. But as long as she got her formula in I was not worried.
Made sure to pack a blanket to put down in the grass at one of the rest stops about mid way through. Let DD lay down and roll around, just to stretch. I did sit in the back with her a couple of times just to keep her company and to give her and extra bottle if needed.
Keep pacifiers handy up front if your DS uses one. This way you can reach back and replace them is they are lost. (This was a major help!)
I will tell you that the ride home was tougher than the ride there. I think that we all were ready to be home and in our own bed/crib. DD was just fussier than normal. It was worth the trip, but not something I would repeat more than once a year.