Driving distances at night

[Anonymous]

My parents just rented a beach house which will likely take us 3.5-5+ hours to get to depending on traffic. My 3.5 YO is fine in the car for like 2 hours max, and then gets whiny, bored, and not to mention we have to stop to go potty every hour. I am thinking about doing the drive at night on Friday - leaving at like 7:30pm with DD in her PJs and a pull up, so she will hopefully fall asleep and we just carry her to bed when we arrive. Then, we would come back Sunday night around the same time.

I am just not sure if this will work, and then it will be worse because she will be tired and cranky from not sleeping. DD doesn't typically nap in the car even on longer rides, and when she does fall asleep it is never for more than an hour. Plus, it gets dark pretty late now so wondering if the light will keep her up?

Anyway, are others successful with this, and is it better than driving during the day?

[Anonymous]

This is what we've always done when driving to Rehoboth. We aim to leave around DS' normal bedtime, i.e., 8pm. Sometimes he'll fuss, but not too bad. He usually falls asleep within 30 minutes and stays asleep.

[Anonymous]

I always prefer driving at night/early morning just to beat traffic, even if your kid is awake and whining, 3 hours is better than 5+. It also depends on your kid, we have friends that tried this and it didn't work at all. Can you transfer her to the car when she's already asleep? If you think the light will bother her wait until she's already asleep and leave later than 7:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My parents just rented a beach house which will likely take us 3.5-5+ hours to get to depending on traffic. My 3.5 YO is fine in the car for like 2 hours max, and then gets whiny, bored, and not to mention we have to stop to go potty every hour. I am thinking about doing the drive at night on Friday - leaving at like 7:30pm with DD in her PJs and a pull up, so she will hopefully fall asleep and we just carry her to bed when we arrive. Then, we would come back Sunday night around the same time.

I am just not sure if this will work, and then it will be worse because she will be tired and cranky from not sleeping. DD doesn't typically nap in the car even on longer rides, and when she does fall asleep it is never for more than an hour. Plus, it gets dark pretty late now so wondering if the light will keep her up?

Anyway, are others successful with this, and is it better than driving during the day?

It all depends on your kid(s). My kids WILL NOT fall asleep in the car at night. Ever. No matter what time it is. They are great riders, though, so we leave as early as we possibly can and drive all day.

The only way to know if this will work is to try it. In your shoes, I would time it so that the drive is 3.5 hours and then just do it. Get her some books and stickers and whatever else to keep her entertained. If she doesn't get car sick, you might want to try a movie/shows.

[Anonymous]

Op, I assume you have another adult with you, husband? Then yes give it a try, no never travel late at night with a child if you are alone, I'd say.

[Anonymous]

I do this all the time with my almost 4 YO. Works great. But seriously, she can't hold it for more than an hour? Maybe cut back the fluids while on the drive so you make better time. My DS usually doesn't need to go any more often than I do unless he's drinking a lot of water for some reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I do this all the time with my almost 4 YO. Works great. But seriously, she can't hold it for more than an hour? Maybe cut back the fluids while on the drive so you make better time. My DS usually doesn't need to go any more often than I do unless he's drinking a lot of water for some reason.

I was going to say the same thing. My kids can easily go a solid 4+ hours without stopping. Longer if they falls asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My parents just rented a beach house which will likely take us 3.5-5+ hours to get to depending on traffic. My 3.5 YO is fine in the car for like 2 hours max, and then gets whiny, bored, and not to mention we have to stop to go potty every hour. I am thinking about doing the drive at night on Friday - leaving at like 7:30pm with DD in her PJs and a pull up, so she will hopefully fall asleep and we just carry her to bed when we arrive. Then, we would come back Sunday night around the same time.

I am just not sure if this will work, and then it will be worse because she will be tired and cranky from not sleeping. DD doesn't typically nap in the car even on longer rides, and when she does fall asleep it is never for more than an hour. Plus, it gets dark pretty late now so wondering if the light will keep her up?

Anyway, are others successful with this, and is it better than driving during the day?

It all depends on your kid(s). My kids WILL NOT fall asleep in the car at night. Ever. No matter what time it is. They are great riders, though, so we leave as early as we possibly can and drive all day.

The only way to know if this will work is to try it. In your shoes, I would time it so that the drive is 3.5 hours and then just do it. Get her some books and stickers and whatever else to keep her entertained. If she doesn't get car sick, you might want to try a movie/shows.

yup greatly depends on the kid. My kids sleep great in the car, day or night. Cousin's kid will pretty much never sleep in the car, doesn't matter what time of day it is.

[Anonymous]

We do this for cross-country flights and it works fine. My kid will sleep though. Sounds like it will either work or not for you, but even if kid stays up you we avoiding a miserable drive earlier in the day. Make sure your kid is tired (go to the park for the afternoon) and has a full belly.

[Anonymous]

We do this every Friday in the summer - we leave at 7:30 pm and the trip that takes four hours at 4 pm takes less than three hours.

[Anonymous]

make sure you have another driver. driving alone late night gets dangerous.

[Anonymous]

My kid went through a period of not sleeping in the car, it was not fun. As parents though we'd much rather get up a little early and on the road then as opposed to driving late at night. Driving at night you also need to move your (hopefully) sleeping child from the car to a bed, which also never went well for us.

As another poster pointed out have another driver or plan out hotels on the route incase the driver gets tired. Driving tired is worse than driving drunk.

[Anonymous]

My toddler has never slept for longer than 30 minutes in the car. So yeah, I'd never do this. But I do think the only way to find out if it will work is to try it out and see how she does...

[Anonymous]

Does your kid like watching videos on the iPad or DVD? If your kid doesn't sleep in the car, you could make it a "special treat" that he gets to stay up way past his bedtime and watch movies while you drive. My kid would be all over that, though chances are she'd pass out at some point.

[Anonymous]

I don't do this. Too many drunks and tired/distracted drivers on the road at night. Especially a Friday night. Increases your risk of a bad accident.