Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

What time do you usually leave ?

We are going to VA and my DD is not a big fan of car-rides

Do you leave at bed-time and then if so, aren't "we" (the drivers) going to be totally zonked the following day ??

I am almost panicking myself enough into just flying , but I know thats silly to spend the $ ....

Help

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

I haven't taken a trip more than 3 hours, but my cousins drive down to FL twice a year with their kids. They leave around 7/8pm and they take turns driving through the night. While one drives, the other sleeps. Would that work for you guys?

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

first question - what makes DD not a fan of car rides? can you fix that in any way? get him some car friendly cd's, some dvd's, anything like that??? get him some special 'car trip' games or toys??

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We have traveled to NC 3 times and multiple 6 hour or so drives to visit my family.
We usually leave during the AM---when we go to NC we are on the road early--like 6am
I bring the dvd player, new activities (coloring, stickers, small cars etc)

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Stace...

Arent you and Billy used to not sleeping?

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Anytime we go on longs car trips - it is usually on weekends so no dealing with rush hour....but almost always leave at like between 7-8am and plow through it...although most of our trips are in the 3-5 hr range. When we did NC we left early - making stops for breakfast and lunch and even to stretch our legs (son was getting ancy so we stopped and let him run in some supermarket - haha - all we could find) along the way. some of the families who had rented the NC house with us did the overnight thing but the parents were exhausted for the next couple days til they regrouped.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

we are doing this in a week with DS. He is 7 months old & we are travelling 7 hours. We are leaving at his bedtime & will be driving through the night. DH is going to drive thef irst part of the trip & I will drive the remainder. While one of us drives, the other will sleep. I am having my MIL come the day we are leaving around 2ish so I can get a nap in before DH gets home.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

When we went to VA we left at 3am. DS slept in the car until breakfast time, so we stopped and fed him. After that he was a monster but we only had a few hours left to drive. On the way home we left at 10 pm and got home at 4am. DS slept the entire way home. I prefer leaving at 10pm.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

weve never travelled over 4 hours... but we travel to LI often (from upstate) and we have found that leaving at bedtime or a little earlier is best. DD is 14 months and she will sleep through the whole drive

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We visited my brother in Pennsylvania when DD was 9 weeks old. We left at 7 and got there at midnight. It was perfect.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

I drove to Maryland alone with Christopher on Thanksgiving weekend--and lived to tell the tale

I broke up the trip. I drove from here to SI and had lunch with my SMIL and SILs, then we drove from SI to Cherry Hill, NJ and had dinner with my BFF's family and then we proceeded to MD.

The worst part was the SI to Cherry Hill, should have taken an hour and a half and it took almost 4

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We do 7hr trips to Pittsburgh frequently. On the way there, we always leave around 4-5pm. That way, we stop for dinner around 7-8ish when he's getting tired of the car and then change into PJs etc, he falls asleep around 9ish and we arrive around 1am.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We recently drove from NC to NY over 2 days.

We left here at 10:30 am, just about 1/2 hour before she'd be wanting to nap. She napped about 2 hours, we stopped for lunch, and then we just had to make it the other 5 hours. Our portable DVD pictures SAVED OUR LIVES. It kept us sane!

There were points at which she got whiny (she's 16 months), but she was really good overall.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Posted by hbugal

Stace...

Arent you and Billy used to not sleeping?

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We go to TN every year which is about 16+ hour car ride with stops.

The 1st year with DD, she was about 8 months so it was great b/c she just hung out in her car seat but it did take a little longer b/c we were shot and kept pulling over to sleep.

The 2nd year was okay, DD was about 20 months and that was hard she HATED staying the the car seat, we gave her a portable DVD player which helped but we left in the morning which was horrible b/c she was up the entire time and didn't sleep at all.

This year we're going to leave around 8pm-9ish which is normally bedtime for her and pray that she falls asleep. If we drive through the night only stopping for gas we should arrive right around the time she would be waking up. Once we get there we plan to just hang out and re-energize for that day.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We drove over night to disney and other parts of Fl every yr. And yess we are shot the next day. But you only have a seven hour drive. I would consider leaving at 3 am since you can sleep first. Your dc will probably sleep in the car and then you can give him a bottle, listen to fun music and read books to him.

Unless you are staying with realatives where you can sleep when you arrive I would not drive over night. It is terrible to get somewhere in the middle of the night with nothing open and being unable to check-in.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We took a 24 hour road trip last Summer. We left at 8pm and took turns driving for about 6 hours a piece and slept while the other drove for the first couple shifts. We both got a fair amount of sleep and we were fine.

I would definitely recommend leaving close to bedtime. DD slept all night. She watched movies and colored when she was up and napped more than usual.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We're driving to Baltimore on Friday. We're leaving no later than 9AM as we have to be there no later than 3PM.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We drive to FL every March.
We have left "in the middle of the night..1/2AM".
It was OK.
This year we left at 7PM, stopped in NJ for dinner and it was perfect!
Kids slept til the next AM when we hit NC.
We got to FL (Boca) at 7PM that night.
Lots of pit stops and alternating sleeping.
My dad was also with us, so, we had 3 drivers.

You have a much shorter trip. I would definitley leave around 2 or 3AM. You could probably be in VA by noon (or earlier).

Have a great trip.

Re: Q for thsoe who have taken long car trips w/ DC's.....

We went to DC last month. We left about an hour before his normal afternoon nap time. For 3 hours, he was happy and sleeping. After he woke up, we drove for another hour or so and then stopped at a rest stop to stretch our legs. On the last leg, he watched the wiggles and I distracted him with puzzles, books, and toys. It was a great car trip!

On the way back, everything was slightly off and he was ok until the last hour. We drove the last hour in NJ Turnpike with a screaming toddler. That was not fun. We stopped but then he kept wanting to be out of his car seat. The last 30 miles was terrible.

We are driving back to DC next month. We plan to leave in the evening so DS can sleep the entire way. We plan to do the same when we come back.

I would recommend leaving around 7pm so you won't have to deal with rush hour traffic.

Message edited 4/17/2010 10:32:17 PM.