Anonymous wrote:This fall, we are thinking of bringing our then 15 month old to a wedding which will be roughly an 8 hour drive from us. While we've done a few short trips with her, they've been between 2-4 hours, so an 8 hour one is a different animal, mostly because we're not quite sure how to handle her sleeping schedule. Any tips from those who have BTDT?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This fall, we are thinking of bringing our then 15 month old to a wedding which will be roughly an 8 hour drive from us. While we've done a few short trips with her, they've been between 2-4 hours, so an 8 hour one is a different animal, mostly because we're not quite sure how to handle her sleeping schedule. Any tips from those who have BTDT?

We drove to Boston right about that age. Left at night and drove through the night. It's been a couple of years but I don't recall any major issues; she slept through most of it.

Anonymous wrote:We'd really prefer not to drive through the night, especially since on the way back, we'd be driving east, and thus, right into the sun.

We're not totally opposed to flying, but the wedding is an hour drive from the nearest airport that has direct flights, so we'd have to deal with renting a car, etc. Plus, the concern is that we're much more limited in terms of stuff that we can bring, as opposed to driving, where we can throw whatever we need into the car. I guess if those are really the best two options, we'd probably suck it up and fly.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP -- while I totally understand the logic behind driving as much as possible while DC is asleep, is stopping somewhere overnight a bad idea? For example, if we left after DC fell asleep around 7 pm or so, and then drove four hours, that's obviously very convenient, but we're concerned that with all the shuffling of checking into the hotel, etc, DC will wake up, and since she'll be in an unfamiliar place, she'll be difficult to get back to sleep....or maybe we're overthinking it?

Anonymous wrote:This is OP -- while I totally understand the logic behind driving as much as possible while DC is asleep, is stopping somewhere overnight a bad idea? For example, if we left after DC fell asleep around 7 pm or so, and then drove four hours, that's obviously very convenient, but we're concerned that with all the shuffling of checking into the hotel, etc, DC will wake up, and since she'll be in an unfamiliar place, she'll be difficult to get back to sleep....or maybe we're overthinking it?

Anonymous wrote:Buck up your chin and get a little more adventurous. Don't be so scared to do anything. "Driving east, checking into a hotel too late..." Good lord. Are you ever going to have another one? Or a third? You'll never leave the house with your mindset!