Road Trip Help

[mellym]

We are planning our first road trip vacation with the kids and leaving next month. We will have DH, myself, my mom and our three kids in the vehicle and traveling 17 hours, not including stops. We've never driven more than three hours so I have no idea how this is going to go. DD1 and DD2 are usually great in the car but now we have a baby to think about. We originally thought we would leave around 5pm and drive through the night since we could get 12 hours in while DD3 is sleeping (she sleeps awesome while driving) and hope DD1 and DD2 will sleep all night in their car seats. I'm having doubts because I can't sleep in a car and afraid we're setting ourselves up for a miserable couple first days trying to catch up from sleep. I'm also afraid of falling asleep while driving since let's face it, we're usually in bed by 10. It will probably be miserable trying to keep DD3 (9months) entertained in the car all day though now that she's mobile.

My brother's family is also going in their vehicle with my Dad. They did a 16 hour road trip last year and their kids did NOT sleep in the car seats so they want to leave in the morning and stay overnight half way. We both agree that we can leave at different times and meet at the beach house so I don't really care when they're leaving for our decision.

We are driving through the Smokey Mountains so also wondering if we should plan a stop to do a short hike to break up the drive and we can't check in until 4pm Saturday.

Option 1 is to leave 5pm Friday and drive straight through, arrive in Smokey Mountains around 8am, stop for breakfast and hike (or not since we'll be up all night!!), get back on the road and arrive Saturday afternoon.

Option 2 is to leave Friday morning and drive until 10 or 11pm, find a hotel to stay the night. Stop in Smokey Mountains for hike on Saturday morning, get back on the road and arrive Saturday afternoon.

Those of you that have done long road trips - what works best for you and why?

[justcheckingin73]

We just did a road trip to the beach that was about as long as yours. DH was adamant about driving through on the way out but we left right at rush hour and had additional delays that set us back 3 hours in total. We took turns driving and like you, I can’t sleep in the car very well especially for extended periods, plus I was worried about DH falling asleep. Finally around 3-4 am he had to pull over because he felt like he was going to fall asleep. At that point I took over and we got there in the early afternoon. We were able to bounce back pretty well after one good night sleep.

On the way back, we drove about 11 hours and then got a hotel room. I probably wouldn’t do a straight through road trip again. DH was pretty confident he could do it and with my recent international flights (which I can’t sleep on), I thought I could too but it’s just too much. Maybe we’re just old

DD was able to lay down to sleep and did OK but DS still has his high back booster (seatbelt) and had a harder time sleeping. He does well in that for naps but not extended sleep.

After my experience, I would choose option 2 especially with younger kids who aren’t guaranteed to sleep on the trip. 

[rere]

We always do day and stop in a hotel overnight. I don't sleep in the car and neither does dh. The kids always do ok with movies and phones. I've never done with a baby though.

[186momx]

I would go with option 2 but leave at 3 or 4am and then stop around 7 or 8pm and find a hotel with a pool so the kids can get it and burn off energy. Make day 1 a long day and then kill time and have extra stops on the final leg of your journey. The goal is everyone goes back to sleep with the early morning start and then you get out of pjs and have a nice breakfast around 9 before getting back in the car for the day. Plus if we got too whiny the pool bribe was great. As a kid we drove from Oregon to Chicago in 2.5 days we learned really quickly that when the baby was sleeping we didn't ask for food, bathroom breaks, as that would cause her to wake up and scream bloody murder because she didn't want to get back in. For the older girls I would make up roadside bingo or I spy. We had the rule you could only get a drink when you spotted a blue sign (that meant rest area/food stop in our book). But you could look for yellow signs for a snack or brown sign for a new toy to mix things up.

[justcheckingin73]

Yes, 186momx - we did roadside bingo too (at least the 8 year old and I did) and it was more fun than I thought it would be. ETA: I had actual road trip bingo cards that I got from target. 

[xctsclrx]

I did 14 hours solo with a almost 3 year old. Because I was dropping someone off at the airport we left at 7 am. Stopped every 3 hours for at least 15 minutes and more like 30.

I would have preferred to leave around 4 am, but DS did great.

When DH and I went on a 10 hour drive with DS we Left at 6pm. An hour before bedtime and after dinner. We drove 6 hours and slept at a hotel. This is also with a newly potty trained kiddo.

I personally don't have a preference, but I have to stop between midnight and 2. I think it will depend on your kids. How well they travel and how well you can pull all nighters

[covergirl82]

I split 16 hours over 2 days, if possible. I would start around 6 am (or earlier, if possible), drive until around 4 pm, then stop somewhere that has a pool so the kids can play and get some energy out. Then start out again around 6 or 7 the next morning.

I do not like to drive through the night. It's hard to tell if an area is safe in the dark, and I don't like to take a chance with my kids in the car. One time we stopped at a gas station with a McDonald's around 7:30 for gas and breakfast (we had left super early to get on the road) that I found just looking at Google maps. What I didn't see on Google maps was a "gentleman's club" across the street. There is no way I would have wanted to have been there in the middle of the night. I had another bad experience in ATL when I was with friends, and that completely turned me off from stopping at unfamiliar places for gas at night.

My kids have done pretty well on road trips with having portable DVD players, and they do take naps in the car.

[mellym]

justcheckingin73, both of our older kids are still in high back boosters so I do worry how long they'll be able to sleep. They've always been great for naps in the car but this is different.

[ilovelucyvv]

I would need to stop overnight. That much time in a car and lack of sleep would make me cranky

[waverly]

I don’t drive well for long periods of time and I don’t sleep in the car. I would drive during the day and stop at a hotel at night about half way. There are far more adventurous people than me. I also don’t bounce back well from a night of not sleeping at all.

[phdmomma]

Driving through the night is awful for the adults the next day. We had a horrible experience when DS was 2, and I’ve declared never again. Whenever DH brings it up as an option I tell him that I will fly and meet him there.

[erinshelley21]

We did a 13 hour trip last October when dd was almost 7 months old.

We broke up the trip down to AL into 2 days. I picked a town about 7 hours in for us to stay at, so we left at 12pm and arrived shortly after our normal dinner time, slept, got up and ate a decent breakfast and then hit the road to get us to our destination at check in.

Drive home we went straight through and left at the kids' bedtime. DH and I are both the type of people that when vacation is over we dont want to waste any time getting home. I also didnt want to spend 4 days of our vacation time traveling. We drove in 3 hour shifts I think and it took about 16 hours to get home. We stopped for breakfast when the kids woke up and made it home around noon I think.

When ds was 10 months old we made the same trip. We left at 11pm thinking that would just be fantastic. It wasnt. I couldn't sleep in the car so I was tired and cranky, DH drove all night so he was tired and cranky, and ds was well rested and full of energy. It's one thing to be tired from driving when your destination is home but being tired from driving in an unfamiliar place with children is not my preference.

[sdlaura]

I’m no help - my kids are about the same age as yours and I would never ever attempt 17 hours because I’m a giant wimp and I don’t like long drives myself I would worry about the same thing you are - the reason I’ve never taken a red eye flight with the kids is that I worry the trip would be no fun if I didn’t get much sleep the first night. The longest drive I’ve ever done with my older kids was 6 hours (and that’s because a flight got cancelled) and I just drove 3 hours with the 13 month old last weekend and it was no fun.

[judyblume14]

I'm going to be oddball and say that I would personally go with option 1 for my family. Our vacation spot is about 8 or 9 hours away, and we much prefer driving through the night because our almost-2 and almost 4-year old sleep well in the car. At night. But during the day, they only have patience for a couple hours at most. So I'd prefer to drive through one night and one day, as opposed to driving through 2 days.

In your situation, our trip would look like this:
5pm Friday, head out, making sure kids have a car snack
8pm Friday, stop for a bedtime potty break (kids would already be in their PJs when we left)
Drive through the night, taking turns to sleep, only stopping for pee and coffee breaks when absolutely necessary.

8am-ish Saturday, stop for breakfast and to let the kids wiggle. Probably at a playground. The adults would be too tired for a hike. Maybe go into a few shops or something, jsut to pass time.
12pm Saturday, get back in the car for the last leg of the trip, praying that kids will nap for at least half of it.

Editing to add that Saturday evening would be shot because the grownups will be wasted tired. So, early bedtime for everyone. But everyone should be ready to play on Sunday.  i'm assuming you're staying a whole week, right? No one would drive 17 hours for just a few days, right?

[mellym]

sdlaura, trust me - I wanted to fly! I'm giving in to DH's wish for a road trip after 10+ years of him talking about it. The furthest we've gone with our 9 month old is 1.5 hours so I think he's in for a rude awakening.

erinshelley21, that's what I'm afraid of being so tired when we get there and cranky but hoping I can sleep a little bit in the car. We also have three drivers to take turns. That's why DH keeps pushing for the overnight, but he can sleep anywhere!

judyblume14, what kind of car seats are they in? Do you bring them pillows or anything special to keep them comfortable and asleep overnight? Those are the exact times we are planning if we head out overnight. We plan to keep Saturday night low key since we can't check in until 4pm, unpack and go get groceries, pool time, head to bed early. Yes, one full week there.

[judyblume14]

mellym , Both of my kids are rear-facing. The almost-4yo is in a Graco Extend2Fit, and the almost-2yo is in a Graco 4ever.
No pillows in the car seat for us, but they do each have a blanket (or two) and about 76 stuffed animals/babies.

[greenmonkey1]

We've done 17 hours with a 3 year old and a 1 year old. DH is not a night driver and I didn't want to do that part alone (twice) so we split the drive and stayed overnight a little over halfway. We booked hotels for both down and back so that we weren't stuck trying to find something in an area we didn't know. Also we were able to get hotels with indoor pools so the kids could get some energy out after being in the car all day.

Honestly we drove in 2-3 hour stretches, sometimes 4 hours, before we had to take a break. DS1 was just potty trained so we had to take extra care to make sure he did not have an accident. We have travel pillows my sister made, basically a long tube (like a thinner bolster pillow), that might work for your kids in highback boosters. My DS1 will sleep in his highback, but it is always in such an uncomfortable (and likely unsafe) position.

My sister and her family (kids would have been 5 and 3) did the trip overnight, but both my sister and my BIL will cover the night shift. It worked for them because of work schedules, but sister would prefer to split the drive on at least one of the up/backs.