Long Road Trip with Infant and Toddler
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Anonymous
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DH and I switch off holidays each year between his family and mine, and this is our year to go visit my family down south for Christmas. It would be about a 12-13 hour drive normally. We have a two year old (who will be almost three by then) and will have a two month old. We also have two small dogs.
Typically, we've flown down to visit, but this time we'd have to buy the toddler a seat and tickets are usually around $350 to $400 during the holidays. It's also quite expensive to fly with the dogs (depends on the airline, but usually about $125 for each dog each way, or $500 total). So we were thinking of driving it this time. We have a very roomy minivan with plenty of room for two car seats and the dog crates. We could also split the trip into two days. All in all, my guess is that, even with staying overnight in a hotel and paying for gas, it would save us about $1,200 to $1,500. BUT, I've never taken a road trip this long with an infant or a toddler. I'll have to stop and breastfeed every two to three hours and will also have to walk the dogs from time to time. And if this infant is anything like my other kid, it might hate the car seat. I THINK the toddler would be okay as long as we gave her the iPad (we don't do this often, but it's useful during long trips). But I really don't know if that would even satisfy her for that long. What would you do? Has anyone ever taken a road trip this long with and infant and/or toddler? Should I just suck it up and pay the extra money in exchange for the relatively short plane trip? BTDT advice appreciated! |
Anonymous
| I'm guessing some people might ask if my fam can just come to us since we have an infant, but that won't work. My family down south consists of my mom, stepdad, sister and brother in law, their two small kids, and my father. It would be much more expensive for them to all fly up, plus we'd have nowhere to put them and they'd have to stay in a hotel. |
Anonymous
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We did 6.5 hours with our twins when they were 6 months old and our 2 dogs. It was fine. They napped some of the time and one of us entertained them the rest of the time or gave them bottles. They were ready to get out of their car seats when we arrived, but they didn't have any major fussing or anything. On the way down, we left around 10 and arrived around 4 because of the timing for the rental house. On the way back, we left around 4 and they slept most of the way home.
Look up some parks or somewhere nice to stop along the way. Or maybe leave later in the day and drive some of it at night? |
Anonymous
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When we took a road trip last summer with a 2 year old and 2 month old it took 50% longer than the "actual" drive time because of potty stops, food, nursing, etc. It was horrible.
Honestly, partly because of that, we don't travel for the holidays anymore. People come to us. We may resurrect at some point, but now is just not a good time in our lives for family traveling. |
Anonymous
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Do you plan to nurse? If so, that will be seriously and completely awful with a 2 month old. You will be stopping to nurse ever 1-2 hours and a baby that age might nurse for 30-45 minutes.
I would stay home next Christmas because you'll have a new baby. Problem solved. |
Anonymous
We do this twice a year and have done it since older DS was a young infant - now have a preschooler and infant. Takes about 12 hours total with stops. I've brought my pump in the car so we could do a combo of stopping to nurse and bottle-feeding (with baby in his carseat and me sitting next to him feeding him the bottle). I spend most of the ride in the back with the kids but during their long naps I'll sit in the front with DH. I prefer to do it in one stretch rather than breaking it up with an overnight. The worst part for us is ALWAYS packing and getting out the door. We also found that planning where we'll stop for lunch is key - for years we would pack lunch and stop at a rest stop, but then we'd need an additional stop for gas. Now we plan it so we only have to stop three times. This will likely change now that our older DS is potty trained, but we found it was very doable. Maybe we are lucky in that our kids were always good car sleepers and didn't make much fuss. |
Anonymous
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Can you do the drive overnight? Or skip it this year and visit when tickets are cheaper? Or get a pet sitter for the dogs and fly?
I've done many a road trip with my infant and toddler, but never more than 6 or 7 hours, save one solo 9 hour road trip with a 2 year old and 2 month old that I am still recovering from 3 years later. It might go just fine, but it might be a complete disaster. Now that my kids are preschool and older long drives aren't a big deal but an infant and toddler is a whole different ballgame. In your shoes, I'd either try to skip it this year of suck it up and pay to fly knowing that by the next time the trip rolls around your kids will be older and better able to handle the ride. |
Anonymous
OP here. As I said in my original post, yes I plan to nurse. My first kid didn't nurse every one to two hours. More like every two to three. But yes, it definitely poses an additional challenge! |
Anonymous
OP here. Overnight is not a bad idea. We've looked into a pet sitter before but it's about the same cost as just bringing them with us. The idea of skipping this year just makes me really sad but it's definitely something we'll have to think about. |
Anonymous
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Why not stay home this year? Seriously, do Christmas just the four of you and visit your family later in the spring or summer. The combination of two month old infant and holiday traffic and possibly bad weather...just stay home. You will likely want to spend Christmas in your own home at some point anyway.
Find a place to board the dogs. |
Anonymous
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To those who have suggested staying home, it's obviously a possibility. It just makes me really sad. I love my fam and miss them, and always love spending the holidays with them. Would like to make it work if possible.
And to those who have suggested finding a pet sitter or boarding the dogs, we've looked into it and it's no cheaper than just flying with them. They're not hard to fly with. They each have little carriers and go under the seat and don't make a sound. It's just expensive--but again, no more expensive than boarding them. |
Anonymous
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We did a what was supposed to be 12 hour trip with our infant at around 2 months old and my then 3 yeard old and honestly it was hell. The trip ended up being more like 15 hours as we had to keep stopping.
I do think you should try and stop overnight or look at flying. Both our families live down south so we always have to travel for the holidays. We plan to puchase plane tickets this go round because it's just too uncomfortable driving. Maybe when they are older we will attempt to make it a roadtrip again. |
Anonymous
(And in case it wasn't obvious, 13:06 is me, the OP  )
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Anonymous
You know this means nothing, right? Also, you know you have to take the baby out of the car sear to burp him/her while driving? Are you willing to do that? However, if you know and accept that you will have to stop every two - three hours for the baby and the dogs, go for it. 12-13 hours will turn into 15-16 (or more). My kids are 3 and 5 and I still build in 25% extra time when driving. If I did this, I would do an overnight. |
Anonymous
OP here. Ha, yes, having already raised one child to toddlerhood, I am aware that you have to burp them. And no, I would not do it while driving. I would stop, nurse, burp, and then get back on the road. I am aware that it would extend the length of the trip. I am simply trying to figure out whether the additional time is worth the $1,500 we would save. |