12 hour drive with 5 month old twins

brookith · November 2012

Hi Ladies,

My husband and I just decided to take our boys to visit my family for Thanksgiving. It is a 12 hour car ride and they will be 5 months old. I am a little worried about the whole trip.

Any suggestions for making it a little easier on everyone? I am thinking we will drive over night when they are usually asleep for a good 9-10 hours, eat and go back to sleep for about 2 more hours. I am not sure if being in the car will disrupt their sleep though?

My moms house is small so we cannot bring a lot of stuff. I will probably bring our twin pack and play for bedtime and nap.

If anyone has any suggestions for me I would greatly appreciate it. Or if you have any experience with long car trips with babies I would love some input.

Thanks!

LadyNikon · November 2012

I had to drive to SC while DD was 5 weeks old. We did all of our driving overnight. My husband and I traded places every 4 hrs so we both weren't to sleepy. It sucks but it is doable.

hayleydeee · November 2012

We've done a few big road trips and were surprised that it wasn't nearly as bad as we though it was going to be. Most of the time the babies were happy to just look out the window. When they did get upset a quick stop was usually enough for them to be okay again afterwards. It will literally take twice as long to get there as it would without babies in tow though.

Honestly, I think I'd try to split a 12 hour drive into two days. Also, I wouldn't want to drive at night because then my schedule would be all messed up and I wouldn't enjoy the trip. Plus, I like to enjoy the scenery too!

My best tips are: Use binky clips and clip them onto the side of the baby that is easiest for you to reach. Also, if you don't already have them, get some of those mirrors that hang on the seat facing your baby. They make it easier for you to check on the kid, and also serve as a form of entertainment for them. They love to look at their own reflection!

notallisonmarie22 · November 2012

Like PP, I recommend you drive overnight. We'll be doing a 10 hour trip with ours when they are 7 months old and we're leaving after their evening bath and bottle.

ougrad1 · November 2012

Expect the 12 hour trip to take up to 16 hours. When they get older, it will take longer.

We travel regularly to my family 6 hours away. In the beginning it only took 8ish hours and last week it took us 9 hours with all the potty breaks and "getting" out to stretch" breaks.

brookith · November 2012

Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate the tips and suggestions! I am sure it will be a crazy adventure!

crystaleyes39 · November 2012

We're planning to drive down to Orlando, FL from Chicago (18 hours or so) when the girls are 15 months old. I'm so anxious about it, but like others have suggested I think we'll either drive during the day and stop over night to split the trip or we'll drive straight through starting at the girls bed time. I would bring new toys, A DVD player (my girls love mickey mouse club house, snacks, bottles ready to go (w/ a cooler), pacifiers and plan on singing lots of songs!

Eriksgal · November 2012

My suggestion would be to just go with the flow and plan to stop at a hotel if you need to! We did this when my babies were 6 mo old-moved from TX to CO. It is a 13 hr drive and we left in the evening thinking they would sleep all night but they didn't. We ended up getting a hotel room at 2am when they all started going nuts. Good luck!

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