12 hour trip w/ infant

[downtoearth]

We used to travel 12 hours for vacations with our little kids and it took about 14-15 for that 12 hour trip post-babes. I did have to stop pretty much every 2 hours to feed, change, and cuddle the baby, but after a couple stops, the baby just seemed to relax and sleep longer, so we did get some 4-hour periods. I don't have good advice, but I wish you luck!

[dottyblue]

You need to stop every 2 hours and get him out of his seat. Your call if you feed him or not but he needs to get out of his seat that often. It's recommended by car seat experts.

Make sure you have soft, soothing music cued up for when he gets antsy.

If you haven't booked a hotel for 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through the trip, you probably should. If it's a 12 hour trip, it's going to be 18-24 with an infant.

Good luck!

[Deleted]

Put a small white noise machine in the car seat with the baby ) like the travel sleep sheep next to there head as loud as possible.

[aqualuv]

I just wanted to say good luck! I hope M is really sleepy and does well on the ride.

And here I am dreading a 3 hour car ride to visit the in laws.

[Deleted]

My trip length certainly did not double with kids. We went from a 7 hour drive to maybe 8-8.5 hours. Not 14.

I'd try to stop every 2-3 hours, but not if baby is sleeping. Feed, change, cuddle. I never put my babies down as there is rarely a good place to do so. For your sanity, ear plugs and/or loud music.

[dottyblue]

Sept 26, 2014 12:02:06 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Put a small white noise machine in the car seat with the baby ) like the travel sleep sheep next to there head as loud as possible.

Just be careful with this.  I had to stop using the white noise in the car because it makes me insanely drowsy when I drive.  Like narcoleptic level.  I scared the shit out of DH the last time we used it (almost drove off the road).

[downtoearth]

Sept 26, 2014 12:01:23 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

You need to stop every 2 hours and get him out of his seat. Your call if you feed him or not but he needs to get out of his seat that often. It's recommended by car seat experts.

Make sure you have soft, soothing music cued up for when he gets antsy.

If you haven't booked a hotel for 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through the trip, you probably should. If it's a 12 hour trip, it's going to be 18-24 with an infant.

Good luck!

I think, but could be wrong, that the Mayo clinic reported that repeated use of a car seat as a sleeping place (instead of a crib for night or during all naps) was the issue, not one cross-county ride. It's good to get the baby out, but if this is just a couple days, sleeping for 4-6 hours might not be the worst if the baby is doing ok.  

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2014 12:06:07 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

Sept 26, 2014 12:01:23 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

You need to stop every 2 hours and get him out of his seat. Your call if you feed him or not but he needs to get out of his seat that often. It's recommended by car seat experts.

Make sure you have soft, soothing music cued up for when he gets antsy.

If you haven't booked a hotel for 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through the trip, you probably should. If it's a 12 hour trip, it's going to be 18-24 with an infant.

Good luck!

I think, but could be wrong, that the Mayo clinic reported that repeated use of a car seat as a sleeping place (instead of a crib for night or during all naps) was the issue, not one cross-county ride. It's good to get the baby out, but if this is just a couple days, sleeping for 4-6 hours might not be the worst if the baby is doing ok.  

Normal people do not wake babies to annoy the shit out of them for no particular reason while on epic road trips.

[Deleted]

Can you leave at night?

Good luck! B slept great on long rides when he was little. In retrospect we should have taken more trips! I would stop every three hours roughly because that's how often B ate back then, but trudge ahead if he's sleeping.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2014 12:06:31 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Sept 26, 2014 12:02:06 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Put a small white noise machine in the car seat with the baby ) like the travel sleep sheep next to there head as loud as possible.

isn't white noise plus road noise too much?  I think even as an adult that would overwhelm me. 

Overwhelming white noise (like on an airplane) usually conked my babies out. Not great for hearing if we're playing the "everything is bad for you!" card, but I don't think screaming for hours does anyone any health favours, either.

I'd also plan to swap who has to drive with the baby every stop, if you're in two cars.

[thatgirl2478]

Sept 26, 2014 12:06:31 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Sept 26, 2014 12:02:06 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Put a small white noise machine in the car seat with the baby ) like the travel sleep sheep next to there head as loud as possible.

isn't white noise plus road noise too much?  I think even as an adult that would overwhelm me. 

Never was for me (as the driver, as the passenger it was a different story).  DD loved it (she had the giraffe version of the sleep sheep).  I could see how it might be for some people.  Remember the sleep sheep whatever does have a timer on it so it eventually shuts off.

DD was 3 mo old when I drove with my mom 12 hrs to Gettysburg.  It wasn't THAT bad, she mostly slept, but when she got fussy and we couldn't stop, I would hop in the back with her which would help settle her down.  It's harder now that she's 3...

[magpie]

We did a 9 hour trip on the road at that age. It ended up taking maybe 11 or 12 hours (so, not double). We stopped every 2-3 hours to feed, change/stretch/hug. I also spend most of the drive riding in the back seat so that I could play with her or pat her on the shoulder (she liked that for falling back asleep). My pedi recommended listening to audiobooks, because the steady voice was soothing or something (not really sure, but honestly, we always used to listen to audiobooks on long roadtrips before DD, so it was kind of a relief to be told to keep at it!). I found that it was helpful to have a little lunch tote/cooler with bottles of pumped milk accessible. There were a couple of times when she woke up hungry and it wasn't really a safe spot to pull over for a pit stop, so I fed her a bottle that way. She likes cold milk though.

[simpsongal]

Definitely leave at night and be prepared for anything. We took J to an Orioles game around 4 months - hit 2 hours of traffic. I'm not going to lie - it was a God awful experience. DH sat in the back next to him trying to calm him but he just screamed. And he is generally a very happy baby.

This was the middle of the day though - night probably would have helped. He also hates his car seat (we never used it for walks or naps).

[zarapipe]

We've don't it multiple times. We will be doing 12 hours again at xmas with both girls. Dd2 will be 3 months.

I prefer to drive straight through. Stopping overnight makes it so much longer imo. No One Sleeps GOOd IN A Hotel, your stopped, takes forever to get in and out etc. I would drive through, stay strong, drive through some cries if it's not too bad and plan on it taking 14 to 15 hours. I would make mini goals in my head...let's drive 2.5 hours. If we got that far and she was happy I would say 10 more miles then we will stop, etc.

[shelbyann]

If you don't need to be the driver, sitting in the back with the baby might help keep him calm.

We did a 6-hour trip with DD a couple of months ago and instead of stopping to BF every 2 hours, I just sat in the backseat, pumped a bottle (my H was driving) and fed it to her en route. We did one stop for a diaper change. She is terrible in the car generally but slept decently on this trip.

[Deleted]

Sept 26, 2014 12:06:31 GMT -5 jjwritergirl said:

Sept 26, 2014 12:02:06 GMT -5 @savestheday said:

Put a small white noise machine in the car seat with the baby ) like the travel sleep sheep next to there head as loud as possible.

isn't white noise plus road noise too much?  I think even as an adult that would overwhelm me. 

DS loved it. It was the only thing that calmed him when we drove.