Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

I have our DS on a great schedule in my opinion. He goes to bed at 8 pm every night and gets up around 7 am every day. My DH and I are driving down to Fl. to visit DH's parents. We are thinking to leave at 8pm and drive straight through this way we don't screw up the baby's schedule. I drive 4 hrs, DH drive 4 hrs. and take turns we figured it out to be if we leave at 8pm we will arrive in FL. at 11am.

Anyone have any experience with driving to Fl. with a 6 month old?

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

I could be wrong and maybe you aren't from NY but isn't FL from LI like a 20-24 hour drive? If you do want to drive I would try to do the bulk of the drive when your DC will nap. You will want to make frequent breaks though b.c it isn't good to be in car seat etc for too long periods of time.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

We're "considering" driving down to Myrtle Beach because my IL's just bought a place there. We would do the same thing you're planning on. Leave right at bedtime and hope he sleeps most of the way.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

OK we have taken two long car trips already with DS- the first one was to Williamsburg when he was 8 weeks and it was a piece of cake. We travelled during the day and he slept the whole time. We took two long breaks to get him out of the car seat, feed him, change him etc...

Two weeks ago we went to Hilton Head SC and DS was 5 months. We left right around his bedtime and I figured he would sleep the whole time. Well he decided to stay up for part of it but was content. We stopped around 2am (so after 8 hours) in southern VA and stayed overnight. DS didn't do too well with that, but we travelled with my parents and they wanted to stop. Then we had about 6 hours the next day and he was fine with that. Took a long nap and we had a portable DVD player that we put on for him when he started getting cranky. It wasn't the greatest experience though. Lets just say I dreaded the drive home the entire time we were there

Oh and I'm not sure where you are driving from, but it took 13-14 hours to get to Hilton Head SC so I think FL is more like a 24 hour drive. I would suggest planning on stopping once on the way down- you're going to need a break from being in the car.

Message edited 3/11/2009 11:01:43 AM.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

My cousin and his wife just drove down to FL with their 2 yo and their 6 month old They did the exact thing you're thinking about doing....they left around 7pm and the kids slept the entire night. They stopped for breakfast the following morning and let the kids get out and stretch and then got right back in the car. They were in Disney around 2pm. The kids were fine.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

When my son was 6 months old, we drove from Texas to NY. We drove in the day time and my son slept most of the time. When he wasn't sleeping, he was playing. He would wake up whenever we stopped and then sleep again. He also slept at night, just like he normally does.

Personally, I wouldn't drive at night. I would start out in the morning, take breaks as necessary, and stop for the night somewhere. If you drive all night, you and your husband will be exhausted when you arrive. Sleeping in a moving car is not the same as sleeping in a bed.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

When DD was 7 months old we drove from NY to FL (Cape Coral area).

We left about 5 - 5:30 in the morning, stayed overnight in Georgia (I think) and then got up in the morning and finished our drive.

I didn't want to drive during the night.
DD was very content in the back. We did buy a portable DVD player and she watched tv part of the time. But she was fine, if she got a little cranky, we stopped at the next rest stop and stretched her out a bit.

As for food and diapers, we packed enough to get us down there and once we were there, we bought more.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

We are going to drive to FL in August, but plan to leave very early in the a.m. And stop at a hotel somewhere around dinner time and then start again in the morning.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

I did it twice with children. First time my kids were 5 months and 3 yrs and the next time they were 16 months and 4 yrs. I think overnight driving works the best. I mean, during the day we hit traffic and it made our trip soo much longer. 3 out of 4 times we drove at night and it was barable. The daytime was unbarable. That's just us though.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

We are actually leaving in a few hours and doing the same trip.
We are leaving around 1AM, stopping and staying over in SC tomorrow and will get to FL by Fri.
Last year we did this and DS was 14 months old. Our biggest mistake was not stopping sooner.
Your DS is younger, you may be OK.
DS may be awake when we get him in the car tonight, but, he may zonk out until we stop for breakfast in the AM.
I was hesitant about doing the trip again, but, DS is older now and we're giving it a shot.
My inlaws are down there. My aunt & Uncle are there. We're taking my dad with us too. Since my mom passed, we NEED this vacation.

My advice: Stop as much as you can.

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

Driving thru the night is the best less traffic we made it in 17 hours from nassau county to northern florida

Re: Do you think this will work? (Driving to Florida)

It took us 16 hours from nassau to disney (overnight). When we drove during the day it took us 23 hours in the car! That was a nightmare and my kids just could not take much more.