What's the farthest you would drive with a 20-month old?

[Anonymous]

We're trying to come up with vacation ideas for next summer. DD will be 20-22 mos depending on when we go. We want to drive, but not stop overnight. If it were DH and I, we would make a 12hr trip in one day no problem, but I'm assuming this is a no go with a toddler. So what's the farthest you would drive in one day with a 20 mo old? 3 hrs (delaware beaches)? 6 hrs (we could make the outerbanks)? 8+ hrs (could we make the sc beaches)?

[Anonymous]

It really depends on how your child is in the car. Some children can go lengthy trips, others scream if the trip lasts an hour. Personally, I would do 6 hours but probably not more than that in one day with a 20-month-old, but our kids don't mind the car.

[Anonymous]

I'm about to do a 9 hour trip with a 17 month old. She's pretty good in the car, but I expect the trip to take more like 11 hours since we'll be stopping more frequently to let her get out than I would if I was alone. I'm hoping for a good 2-3 hours uninterrupted when she takes a nap. We've done 10-12 hours before with her but you don't get as far on that as you might expect.

One suggestion, particularly if there are 2 adults, is to think about doing much of the driving while DC is asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It really depends on how your child is in the car. Some children can go lengthy trips, others scream if the trip lasts an hour. Personally, I would do 6 hours but probably not more than that in one day with a 20-month-old, but our kids don't mind the car.

Completely agree. Plus, if you are willing to take lunch breaks (in addition to stopping for gas) that might buy you some extra mileage. Although I am not advocate (a whole new thread), some parents survive long car trips with those portable DVD players for the kids.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it really depends how your child is in the car. We just did the drive to Cape Cod this summer with our 14 month old and made it all the way to Providence, RI in about 10 hours (including stops and traffic in CT - grr!). While our son got fussy, he didn't have any real meltdowns. We also have a 3 year old and we did the drive back from GA with him when he was 22 months. We did it all in one day and it took about 10 hours with a couple of stops. We did bring a DVD player once on a long drive and my older son was not interested at all - we just give him lots of books and a couple of new toys (usually something that plays music) and he is OK.

[Anonymous]

It really depends so much on the child. DC is terrific in the car and had no problems with 3- and 4-hour trips a little younger than that, so it wasn't a worry to drive him to Boston - broke up the trip both ways but he never fussed.

I understand that some children don't especially like even a one-hour car ride. I know parents who will drive at night for that reason.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it depends on the child also. We recently took a trip from VA to TX this summer w/ our 8mo. old and 2 1/2 yr old. Of course we stopped overnight, but drove at least 12 hrs. per day. I'll tell you though, a DVD player in the car worked wonders. Also, having a mini van helped a great deal w/ space and being to move around. While one of us was driving, the other sat in the back to either rest or take care of the kids. We pretty much stopped only when getting gas or food, during which we changed diapers and let kids stretch. Just be sure the bring the usual necessities - toys, books, snacks, drinks...

[Anonymous]

enjoy the diaper days too.. it makes the ability to drive longer easier.. (I'm not saying I miss DC with diapers- but this was the only "convenient" aspect)

[Anonymous]

you might go nuts, but it's pretty easy on the kid if you go during the night so he's just sleeping the whole time.

[Anonymous]

The farthest I can go with a 20 mo. old - a round trip to the mall. My DS just discovered the thrill and freedom of running and hates being confined in the seat.

Sometimes at the end of a long day or play and "running" I can get more than one car drive worth of chores done. Special "car only" toys sometimes do the trick, sippy cups with "car only" juice, and me singing songs also help, but not enough for me to feel brave enough to make long car trip ventures.

I hope this phase passes soon.

Good luck with the future trip.

[Anonymous]

Our kids are regular travellers so they are used to long car trips. We drive to New England several times a year (about 11 hrs) and have also gone to Daytona Beach in one day and from here to Nova Scotia (28 hrs!) over 3 days when our kids were toddlers. Like others said, it totally depends on your child's endurance as well as your own ability to listen to kids' music for that long!