Babies and Travelling....

[Xero]

Okay, so my biological mom lives in South Carolina, I live in Pennsylvania. It's about a 13 hour drive down there. She wants us to come down to see her for Thanksgiving for a couple days and we don't have the money right now for plane tickets, where Eli has been on a plane before. Eli is very good in the car, but I don't know what would happen if I made him go in a car for 13 hours. I'm not sure he could take it, but of course I've never tried. I'm afraid of what it would be like.

Has anybody else ever done this? Eli is 14 months old now, and he likes to move around a lot, and he can get impatient. So I'm wondering, if it were you, would you do it? Would you take him on a car trip like that if he was your kid? If you've done it, what was it like? If you were going to do it, how would you go about keeping him happy in the car for such a long time? How do you make it a pleasant experience for everyone? Is that possible? Would it be bad for him to go on a trip like that? I just want some input if you guys don't mind. Thank you.

 

[Music-dad]

K was always quite good in the car...longest was 8 hours so far, if you have a portable dvd player bring it, coloring books, a few toys, munchies, juice etc. Plan ahead incase you need a few stops along the way...

I guess you'll really never know until you try.

 

[Xero]

Yeah, I suppose you're right. I had all those things in mind. So you don't think it's a bad thing to try it out then? I was kind of worried taking a 14 month old that long in the car would be like bad for him or something. We plan on stopping pretty often, letting him get out and run or whatever for a few minutes. I really want to go, and my family really wants to see us, but it's got me really worried.

 

[Music-dad]

I think he'll be fine...with a little luck he'll sleep for a few hours, K always does. I can't think of any reason not to go...I always bring some baby gravol, good incase they get sick in the car and helps them sleep.

I have to keep K away from dairy before trips or she will be sick guaranteed.

Stopping along the way is good, although keep em short or your 13 hour drive will turn into 20.

 

[Xero]

Baby Gravol? What's that I need to know this!! lol. I've never heard of it and it sounds useful. Yeah, we're hoping to leave retardedly early so that he sleeps through a good portion of it.

My mom will be driving with us so we have to stop often, she's disabled and takes medicine that has her needing to stop for the bathroom often so yeah. But trust me we'll be trying to keep it short lol. Don't want to drag it out.

I get car sick very bad so I'm going to try to take something, though it will probably put me to sleep. Know of anything besides Dramamine and the like? That stuff really knocks me out and I hate it. How do you even know if it works if you're asleep the whole time it's working? lmao

 

[Music-dad]

Baby Gravol? What's that I need to know this!! lol. I've never heard of it and it sounds useful. Yeah, we're hoping to leave retardedly early so that he sleeps through a good portion of it.

My mom will be driving with us so we have to stop often, she's disabled and takes medicine that has her needing to stop for the bathroom often so yeah. But trust me we'll be trying to keep it short lol. Don't want to drag it out.

I get car sick very bad so I'm going to try to take something, though it will probably put me to sleep. Know of anything besides Dramamine and the like? That stuff really knocks me out and I hate it. How do you even know if it works if you're asleep the whole time it's working? lmao

Gravol is for motion/car sickness, it settles the stomach...you may want to get some regular strength for youself...it also makes you drousy, so you will sleep after you take it.

 

[Dadu2004]

We skipped taking Delaney to Myrle with us this year because we didn't want her in the car for the 12 hour trip. We'll take her next year though. It's a rough trip for adults, let alone a child.

 

[Xero]

Yeah it does suck for adults. My family lives in Myrtle Beach. It's a beautiful place, isn't it? I agree it would be rough. I just wish it could be easier, or we had money for the plane because not only is my mom there but so are my very old grandparents who are too tired to travel and my aunts and uncles and cousins and they hardly ever get to see Eli, and if you could just see how happy they are to see us you would know what I mean... I feel awful but I just don't know if we can do it. If I could just come up with frickin plane money. I'm really gonna look into it, but I might end up driving. Maybe starting at night so Eli can sleep as much as possible.

 

[Xero]

Gravol is for motion/car sickness, it settles the stomach...you may want to get some regular strength for youself...it also makes you drousy, so you will sleep after you take it.

I'll have to look into that. It would be comforting to know I could keep him from feeling sick. Also, I wouldn't mind him being a tad drowsy. ha.

 

[Music-dad]

I'll have to look into that. It would be comforting to know I could keep him from feeling sick. Also, I wouldn't mind him being a tad drowsy. ha.

Yup...that's the stuff you need...works great for K...

 

[Trina]

Personally, I'd break the trip up into two days with frequent stops. Pack lots of drinks, snacks, change of clothes, diapers, wipes, etc. Also, stash some new and different toys that you can pull out when he gets antsy. Story tapes and/or a DVD player can be very helpful, too.

When DS was little my parents lived 12 hrs. away. The trip was do-able but not in one day. We turned it into a family adventure by doing it in two days, stopping frequently and staying at a hotel. It was fun!

That said, it also depends on the child. My DD was a very fussy and high maintenance infant and toddler. She hated being in the car. We would have never dreamed to take her on such a trip. Well, actually we did try once and it was a nightmare. She screamed and fussed almost the entire time. Needless to say, we didn't visit Grandma and Grandpa often back then. LOL!

 

[Music-dad]

That's great advice from Trina, if time allows for the extra day, I'd do that...(2) approx 8 hour trips (stops included) with a hotel stay overnight.

You also have to consider the ride home.

 

[ElliottCarasDad]

We've taken several 8-9 hour trips with our son over the past year and a half. Just have a lot of snacks and toys and point stuff out to him out the windows. Taking a lot of breaks helps but be ready for a battle after the first few. Putting Elliott back in his car seat after the 3rd or 4th stop was like trying to put a cat in a bathtub!

 

[Trina]

We've taken several 8-9 hour trips with our son over the past year and a half. Just have a lot of snacks and toys and point stuff out to him out the windows. Taking a lot of breaks helps but be ready for a battle after the first few. Putting Elliott back in his car seat after the 3rd or 4th stop was like trying to put a cat in a bathtub!

Yes, BTDT! Great analogy! LOL! There were times when I was totally spent after wrestling a toddler back into his/her car seat. Not fun. Unfortunately, some parents decide to let kids ride out of their car seat at that point, which of course is a huge NO-NO. Not only illegal, but more importantly, VERY unsafe.

 

[Trina]

That's great advice from Trina, if time allows for the extra day, I'd do that...(2) approx 8 hour trips (stops included) with a hotel stay overnight.

You also have to consider the ride home.

Thanks, MD. BTW, adorable little kitty cat you have there!

 

[Dadu2004]

Personally, I'd break the trip up into two days with frequent stops. Pack lots of drinks, snacks, change of clothes, diapers, wipes, etc. Also, stash some new and different toys that you can pull out when he gets antsy. Story tapes and/or a DVD player can be very helpful, too.

When DS was little my parents lived 12 hrs. away. The trip was do-able but not in one day. We turned it into a family adventure by doing it in two days, stopping frequently and staying at a hotel. It was fun!

That said, it also depends on the child. My DD was a very fussy and high maintenance infant and toddler. She hated being in the car. We would have never dreamed to take her on such a trip. Well, actually we did try once and it was a nightmare. She screamed and fussed almost the entire time. Needless to say, we didn't visit Grandma and Grandpa often back then. LOL!

When we went down, we did it in 2 trips, but 1 trip on the way back. Xero, a good place to stop for you (since we live in the same general area) would be Wytheville, Virgina. It's about the half way point. But again, we didn't have the child.

 

[going2thebeach]

We drove from Brooklyn, NY to Orlando, FL when Brayden was 14 months old. We tried to drive the majority of the trip @ night. He'd sleep the whole time. There were a few rough patches, but all-in-all, it wasn't horrific. We had a portable dvd player and lots of books. It's do-able, but I think it's much better if you drive mostly @ night.

 

[Trina]

We drove from Brooklyn, NY to Orlando, FL when Brayden was 14 months old. We tried to drive the majority of the trip @ night. He'd sleep the whole time. There were a few rough patches, but all-in-all, it wasn't horrific. We had a portable dvd player and lots of books. It's do-able, but I think it's much better if you drive mostly @ night.

Driving at night isn't for everyone. DH and I never tried it because we know neither one of us would be able to stay awake. And then what do you do when you get to your destination exhausted and have a wide awake baby?

 

[Xero]

Wow thanks for all the great advice everyone. Unfortunately, stopping at a hotel isn't an option though I would like to. BF only has so much time off school, so that would leave very little time to spend with my family. It's a good idea though and I wish I could do it that way. BF and I could definitely drive at night. We could sleep during the day some, and then take turns.

That's the idea we had. We want to leave right when it was approaching his bed time, so he would fall asleep in the car and sleep most of the way there. It would be perfect. And yeah I totally had the idea in mind of having a hard time getting him back in the car after stopping lol. I figured it would be like that. But he'll be ok. And when we get to our destination we'll be able to sleep even when Eli is up because we'll be at my mom's and she'll babysit him while we lay down.

Hopefully that will be the way to go, and I really REALLY appreciate all the input. Thank you.

 

[steaveshawn996]

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