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Driving long distances

Samiantha101Samiantha101 member
in June 2012 Moms
So, I babysit for a couple's dd during the day. It's been a good situation for us, giving AJ social interaction and all. Anyways, the little girl is going on an impromptu vaca, and I thought this would be the perfect time to visit home. I would, however, have to make the 9 hour drive without my husband. Normally, we leave in the middle of the night, so AJ can sleep, and we just push on through. Normally, my husband is the one who always drives. I've lived on an island and have had my husband to drive, so I haven't driven over a one hour period in half a decade. Has anybody else made a long drive with your LO? What arrangements did you make?
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Re: Driving long distances

  • stepper1725stepper1725 member
    Yep, over Thanksgiving we drove 10 hours. DD was pretty good & happy. She did cry for the last hour or so, but other than that it was ok. We left at 5am, and then drove 3 hours before our first stop. After that, we stopped every 2 hours. We got out at a rest stop and walked around for a little while. Now, I think it'd be much easier than when she was only 5 months old. You can give your DD books and toys to keep her occupied. If you have the time & money, you could also maybe split up the trip into two days.
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  • unaveragejaneunaveragejane member
    I did a 5 hour trip to my parents' house when DS was about 10 months old. I planned to stop at my aunt's house halfway so that DS could get out of the car and crawl around for a while. This worked out pretty well. He was okay in the car for about 2 hours, then would fuss/cry the last 30 minutes. This helped us plan when we went on vacation earlier this month. DH and I stopped every 2-3 hours to let DS get out and walk around. We planned our stops for exits that had kid-friendly walking spots like Cracker Barrel or the Durbin Farms farmer's market. Also, for DS I found that it was best to give him one toy at a time rather than all of the toys. When he would get tired of one, I had the bag of toys next to me so I could drop a new one into his seat. FYI, fast food paper bags make awesome toys. (Disclaimer: They're probably covered in BPA or something toxic, but for now we use them and DS loves them!)

    Honestly, the hardest part for us with visiting my parents' now is that their house is completely unsafe for a walking baby. I am so frustrated over that, but there's nothing I can do aside from not visiting! :( I hope you have better luck and more conscientious parents!
                 

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  • Samiantha101Samiantha101 member
    Well, wish me luck tomorrow! I may really need it! My stomach is kind of in knots. I've taken quite a few road trips with her. Most recently, we drove 9 hrs to CO. It was a NIGHTMARE and she had two people in the back with her. I plan on stopping frequently. I hope the 9 hour drive doesn't extend much past 12 hours. I only wish my husband could drive my pansy butt!
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  • Gismo123Gismo123 member
    Goodluck!  The longest we've driven with DS is 7 hours and it was a NIGHTMARE! We had to stop every 2 hours so he could bf and be changed.  The original time it would have taken to get to our destination was 5 hours but with the stops it was an extra 2 hours.
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  • giggles0918giggles0918 member

    Hope it goes well.  I stop every few hours and try to give her a bunch of toys and some food to keep her happy.  Hopefully she'll fall asleep for you for a few hours!

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  • Samiantha101Samiantha101 member
    Two hours in and it's going ok. Thank goodness for disgusting fast food playland!
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  • joleinejoleine member
    Over 4th of July we drove 350 miles (each way) with both of our girls.  My husband went with though, but I drove the whole way (I get really car sick if I'm a passenger) - We left right before Kara's (baby) naptime so she ended up sleeping almost half of the trip and we also brought a 2 screen portable dvd player that hooked onto the headrest (so both FF 3 year old and RF baby could watch!) 

    The dvd player was a life saver!  I also bought some of the Enfagrow rtf formula (even though she's on whole milk) for quick bottles since stopping for milk would have been a pain.  
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  • Samiantha101Samiantha101 member
    I made it...12 hours later. It's been a long day. I will never repeat this adventure. But to AJ's credit, she was wonderful.
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