Tell me about car trips with infants

[pamela]

I stopped to nurse. It gave me a good break because I hate car trips and they need frequent diaper changes anyway. Just stop whenver she needs to eat or have a diaper change.

I thought driving home from the hospital 2 hours was going to be bad with a newborn, turns out he slept the whole way (which crazy mama constantly checking that he was ok, hard to do RFing).

[barefootcontessa]

When we have travelled with a young infant (either just me or me and DH), I pump while I drive and then give the baby a bottle or have one of my older kids do it. I hate stopping on long trips. Of course, you will have diaper changes that require a stop, but stopping to nurse for 20+ minutes is not appealing to me.

[moonstone523]

We took our 7 week old on a 5 hour road trip for Thanksgiving. My advice is to time it during her nap time. We left in the morning since she normally (used to) sleep for a few hours. We had to stop to nurse every so often. I sat in the back with our daughter.

The way home wasn't as smooth as we left in the afternoon. I knew it wouldn't be which is why I suggested we leave in the AM on the way there. H didn't want to leave early on the way home, so we had to stop many more times to nurse and soothe.

Even so, it wasn't so bad. She slept most of the time and if she was awake I was playing/singing to her.

[chickens987]

We did 3 hours at Thanksgiving. Going, we left at a pretty crappy time (interrupted her nap to get her in the car) so she fussed for a little and then slept. We stopped about halfway to nurse and diaper. On the way home we didn't have to stop at all - she just slept the whole way. I've found she generally sleeps well in the car, so even if she would normally have to eat she just slept right through the feeding, which was fine since she's gaining well and my supply has already regulated..

another idea in case you hadn't considered - if she has a long night stretch, maybe you could leave Thursday night when she would normally go to bed? you could drive the whole way then and put her right to bed when you get home. That could be a terrible idea though

[dochas]

Dec 14, 2012 8:05:42 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

Early Wednesday (12/26) we will be driving what is normally 3 hours to my husband's extended family gathering. I am thinking if we leave at 7 DD will probably just need one long break. But obviously we know we may need to stop more.

How old is DD?

I would nurse just before leaving and then try to go the whole drive. Are you thinking it will be more than 3 hours? If it's 3 I don't see why she would need a "long" break. Certainly not more than 1 stop. Definitely plan to travel during a nap time. On the longer drive home maybe plan to stop for lunch or a late breakfast. You can nurse in the restaurant and again just make one stop.

For the relentless crying shaking the car seat and singing on the top of my lungs sometimes helped.

[Deleted]

We've taken a 10-hour car trip with DS twice, at 6 weeks and 7 months. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND bringing your pump and feeding a pumped bottle. Nursing DS in the car was a nightmare both times. Both times I was like "why the FUCK didn't I bring the hand pump and give him a bottle?!?!" When he was 6 weeks, he was still nursing for an hour at a time. That was ridiculously uncomfortable in the car, and DH had nothing to do. If I had a pumped bottle, DH could have fed DS while I ate lunch or vice-versa. When DS was 7 months, he was so distracted in the car he wouldn't stay latched, so I ended up engorged and he was cranky and hungry.

How often is DD nursing? When DS was her age, he nursed every 3-4 hours. So if I nursed right before we walked out the door, he could probably make your 3 and 2.5 hr trips in one shot without stopping. The 5 hour drive would need an hour-long stop halfway through for feeding and diaper change.

I wouldn't feed a pumped bottle in the car seat. It's not the right angle for drinking, and if LO spits up well then you've got a gross car seat with no good way to clean it. Park somewhere, take DD out, give the bottle, burp, change her diaper, then resume your trip.

ETA: To tell you about our experience, the trip at 6 weeks was super super easy. He slept the whole time. We stopped every 3 hours or so to nurse, so I think we stopped twice for about an hour each time. DH was bored to death during that hour, but otherwise the trip was fine.

[mrshandy]

I would nurse prior to the trip.

Your LO will probably sleep most of the way.

Depending on how little your LO is, it's definitely possible to nurse and drive. Just stick a boob in their mouth while they're in the carseat. I did this mostly because I was too lazy to pump.

[Deleted]

Dec 14, 2012 8:51:27 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Depending on how little your LO is, it's definitely possible to nurse and drive. Just stick a boob in their mouth while they're in the carseat. I did this mostly because I was too lazy to pump.

Just reading this makes my boobs hurt.

[Deleted]

Road trips with DS were fine. I had a hand pump and if I wasn't driving I'd use that at some point. Longer than 2 hours or so and we would stop, get food and I'd nurse him and change his diaper.

It will be fine! My brother and SIL drove from MN to MD with a 3 month old and it only took them a few extra stops. Just look up rest stops, restaurants etc in advance.

[mrshandy]

Dec 14, 2012 9:01:10 GMT -5 @supergreen said:

Dec 14, 2012 8:51:27 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

Depending on how little your LO is, it's definitely possible to nurse and drive. Just stick a boob in their mouth while they're in the carseat. I did this mostly because I was too lazy to pump.

Just reading this makes my boobs hurt.

It's hurt more in your back. It's an awkward position. But the plus is it gets you out of having to drive since your boobs always have to be available.

[badtzmaru22]

I would pump while DH drove, and skip the burp at the age of your DD. My kid eats much faster now, so we just stop at rest areas, and she's been fine. Sometimes she gets bored now, so one of us will sit back there with her. The worst is when we come home late, and DH and I just want to go to bed, but DD needs an hour or so to play and crawl around before she's ready for bed.

[celiacmom]

Dec 14, 2012 8:51:27 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

I would nurse prior to the trip.

Your LO will probably sleep most of the way.

Depending on how little your LO is, it's definitely possible to nurse and drive. Just stick a boob in their mouth while they're in the carseat. I did this mostly because I was too lazy to pump.

Even though this sounds like a great idea it is not safe at all. If there was an accident the mothers weight could crush the baby due to the force.

[6fsn]

I would plan to leave at nap time and just go until the baby wakes up crying. I was pretty lucky because 3 hrs was nbd with my kids. They would just sleep.

No way in heck would I nurse while the kid was in the carseat and we were driving. Pulling over costs and extra 30 mins and is safer for everyone.

[londoncalling]

At 11 weeks we did 12 hours for a wedding. I both nursed her to give both of us a break and a stretch, usually at our meal or rest stops for us, and I pumped once and gave the bottle when we were in heavy traffic with little ability to pull off the highway. Both ways worked.

If the trip normally takes you 3 hours, mentally prepare for it to be at least 4 hours with the longer stops for diapers and nursing. I always find myself getting annoyed that we aren't making as good of time as we used to, and have to remember there are more reasons to stop and more tasks to do while stopped now.

[barefootcontessa]

Dec 14, 2012 8:24:02 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

I am assuming if you give a pumped bottle you can just feed it to them while they are sitting in the carseat (well my husband would). Do you just forgo burps?

None of my babies have burped much. I will pat them for 5 minutes and nothing 95% of the time. So yes, I forgo burps in this situation.

[pugz]

yeah I would not BF while the car was moving....I know someone that was killed when she unbuckled herself and was moving to the backseat. Car blew a flat at that moment and she was thrown and broke her neck, died instantly. Stay buckled, always.

We just did an 8 hour drive with Squirms. Had to stop 4 times so it was an 11 hour trip altogether. She needs to be changed before she will eat (or finish eating the bottle.) So when she got fussy and hungry we stopped at the nearest gas station/rest stop and changed her, fed her, changed her again, and then got back on the road.

[dochas]

Dec 14, 2012 8:54:40 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

Dec 14, 2012 8:45:52 GMT -5 dochas said:

How old is DD?

I would nurse just before leaving and then try to go the whole drive. Are you thinking it will be more than 3 hours? If it's 3 I don't see why she would need a "long" break. Certainly not more than 1 stop. Definitely plan to travel during a nap time. On the longer drive home maybe plan to stop for lunch or a late breakfast. You can nurse in the restaurant and again just make one stop.

For the relentless crying shaking the car seat and singing on the top of my lungs sometimes helped.

She is 3 months old tomorrow. The main reason I want to plan on a stop is she still eats every 2 hours on average and goes through a ton of diapers. But since we are using disposables there is a small chance we could make it the whole way. I just don't want to count on it.

Mine also ate that often, but usually fell asleep in the car after a while so for the 3 hour trip you really might make it. We regularly drove 2-3 hours on the weekends and I never had to stop to nurse. Nurse and change right before you go and put some diaper cream on if you use it - I think you can make it!!

[Deleted]

Those drives are all short enough that you shouldn't need more than one stop; if she sleeps, you might not stop at all. We always stop to nurse and change. My parents live 3.5 hours from here; we've made the trip quite a few times and never stop at more than the halfway point. An hour is just a nice nap, so not likely to be a problem. DS slept better in the car than anywhere, so even the 7 hours of driving to my brother's wasn't a big deal. It's harder now he doesn't sleep as much, but we still make it with 2 or 3 breaks. It's not like we're pulled over every 20 min or anything.

The only way it sucks is if your baby hates the car... my nephew once cried for 4 hours while DH drove in Australia. But we had to get there, and he hated the car, so he had to cry.

[pugz]

I sat next to Squirms on our drive. I hung toys on the handle of the carseat for her to look at and grab. I held her pacifier in til she fell asleep if she was fussy. She slept a ton

[gibbinator]

I find that most drives take about twice as long as they normally would once you factor in feeding and breaks. So a 3hr drive takes 6 hrs, a 4hr drivr takes 8 hrs etc.

Ds has a limit of 4hrs in a carseat driving time per day before the screaming begins

[jackpackage]

Dec 14, 2012 11:04:30 GMT -5 @msstarry said:

I think a big problem is my daughter still has no schedule. She normally takes a 2 hour nap after getting up around 6-7, so that is our best bet for a nice stretch. But sometimes she wants to be up all morning... at least she is usually pleasant and one of us can sit in the back with her and shake stuff to make her smile.

IMO, it was easier to take road trips with ds before he had a schedule. Now, we are rushed to get home before 7, because he becomes a beast. I've had the same issues as you with pumping, so I find it much easier to just stop and nurse him. We pull into a empty parking lot and I nurse him in the front seat. We change him in the back seat (H's job!) It's kind of a pain, especially now that it's cold and we can't keep the door open, but I still prefer that to bringing him into a bathroom. We usually stop 30-45 mins at a time.

[Willis Jackson]

I think I have ptsd from our road trip when DS was 5.5mos. It was horrible.

[catbus]

Dec 14, 2012 9:55:40 GMT -5 celiacmom said:

Dec 14, 2012 8:51:27 GMT -5 mrshandy said:

I would nurse prior to the trip.

Your LO will probably sleep most of the way.

Depending on how little your LO is, it's definitely possible to nurse and drive. Just stick a boob in their mouth while they're in the carseat. I did this mostly because I was too lazy to pump.

Even though this sounds like a great idea it is not safe at all. If there was an accident the mothers weight could crush the baby due to the force.

Agreed, except I don't think it sounds like a great idea at all. It just sounds uncomfortable and unsafe.

[starlily]

I FF'd, but of course we stopped whenever the baby needed to be fed. On a normally 6 hour drive, it added about an hour extra for two change/feed stops.

I made this drive by myself with DD when she was 4m, 6m, and then on a monthly basis since she was 9m. She spends most of the time sleeping.

[Deleted]

I think your plan sounds fine. We were crazy and took DD on a ten hour drive when she was 3 months old. It turned into a fifteen hour trip because of all the stops and breaks we had to take for her. I do not recommend!!! lol.

[arch01]

we did a 10 hour trip when DS was 6 months old. it went well. he had just started refusing to BF; i sat in the back with him and we played when he was awake, i pumped in the car and i had already prepared bottles in a cooler. we stopped only to change diapers.

[satama]

We have done multiple road trips with both kids as infants. Ils are also two hours away, so we do at least that far all the time. Longest we have gone is 10 hours. We had a 6 month old and a 2 year old for that one and only stopped twice. We drove overnight for that one though.

We also did an overnight drive with just a ten month old, no stops.

Worst was a three hour drive with DS1 at 3 months. It was my mom and I and we had to stop 3 times so I could nurse him and it added an extra hour and a half.

Most of the time if it is 3 hours or less the baby will sleep the whole way for us or at least two hours and we stop once to feed and change. I have only fed bottles in the carseat a couple of times, we usually just take a break and I nurse the baby. I always bring my boppy too and usually nurse in the car.

Good luck!

[drloretta]

We did a weeklong road trip when DD was 4 months old. We make some diaper and feeding stops, and it really wan't that bad. DD would get cranky when she got tired, but would then lapse into sleep. I sometimes sat in the back to entertain her and soothe her.

[Ashley&Scott]

We always stop & nurse, M would lose it if we tried to bottle feed while driving. He hates the bottle & isn't a fan of the car seat, both would be a scream fest for sure. He needs the breaks.

Usually we can go an hour before stopping He'll typically nap 1-2 hours of a trip, that's it. Someone always sits in the back with him. Our trip at 10mo was easier than 4mo. Good luck Starry!

[MadamePresident]

I'm glad you asked we are getting ready for a 5 hour drive tomorrow with a 10.5 week old. I'm hoping she will sleep for most of the way there.