1000% drive through the night. If you drive during the day you turn an 8 hour drive into 12 with stops and breaks to run and play. Overnight you get an extra day of vacation and your kid won’t need to get out and play. If it is awful you can always stop and check into a hotel. We do 12 hour drives every summer. We finally got smart and pay for an extra day at our rental so we can roll in at 5 am vs puttering around till 12.

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing is, a year or two from now you'll be looking back with nostalgia on roadtrps before potty training....ask me how I know! Between my 3yo and 5yo, we stop pretty much every hour now.

We just put our 3 and 5 year old in pull ups on trips haha

We did a 15 hour drive with my 18 m/o and 4 y/o last summer (didn’t stop overnight because of Covid). We left super early in the morning (like 5 am) and kids were sort of out of it until we stopped for breakfast around 8 am. I had tons of snacks and a new, wrapped car-friendly toy for each kid (like water wow, etc) every hour. We stopped a lot. But 8 hours sounds totally doable to me.

I also don’t get the driving into the sun concern? Is that because of sleep?

Anonymous wrote:The funny thing is, a year or two from now you'll be looking back with nostalgia on roadtrps before potty training....ask me how I know! Between my 3yo and 5yo, we stop pretty much every hour now.

Drive overnight!

The funny thing is, a year or two from now you'll be looking back with nostalgia on roadtrps before potty training....ask me how I know! Between my 3yo and 5yo, we stop pretty much every hour now.

It sucks (and I'm a mom who's VERY into traveling/going with the flow with kids). If the COVID situation is aligned with your risk tolerance and the adults are vaccinated, I'd fly, personally.

The smoothest 8+ hour roadtrips we've done are ones where I sit in the back and basically emulate the kind of parenting I hate: constant snacking and entertaining.

But it can be done!

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.

So you leave around 8pm, you drive until midnight, partner drives 12.30-4.30. You're home and you both take a nap. You take the morning shift with your child, partner takes the afternoon, both do evening together, then everyone gets a good night of sleep.

We used to drive for 3-4 hours after dinner, stop at a hotel and then restart in the morning. It worked GREAT a few times, terrible once. The hard part was that we couldn't let the kid cry. (Well, we could have, but we didn't want to be THOSE people at a hotel). We haven't tried it again but are thinking about it for this summer's travels! We loved (pre-pandemic) getting up and having a leisurely breakfast, getting wiggles out and getting on the road again. And then we arrived mid-day at our destination ready to have fun instead of worn out at like 7pm.

The key really is to make sure the kid doesn't wake up too much. Have one parent get the room and travel crib, etc. ready and then bring the kid in. I recommend thinking about a hat or something to put on the kid when walking in b.c hotels are bright! (This is a fact I only noticed when ferrying my baby into a hotel at 1am.) Or carry him in in his car seat if he's still in a bucket (ours goes up to age 2). AND have a separate overnight bag for you and the kid, so you don't have to unpack everything for everyone (take anything actually valuable with you, though). Bring your usual white noise machine. Also, try to get a bigger room. Suites in the middle of nowhere are pretty inexpensive.

Anonymous wrote:

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!

I agree. Just plan on making stops if necessary.

+1

We've done long trips both ways. Driving through the night is WAY easier, because you don't mess with your child's sleep cycle, and you don't need to stop nearly as often. When driving during the day, we have one parent sit in back with DC so they can entertain them (and keep them awake) and stop every ~2 hours to stretch their legs. I'm not sure if you're opposed to screens, but putting on a couple episodes of Daniel Tiger can help bridge the time too.

I've done long drives like that several times with a four-year-old and 18 month old and my suggestion is to leave really early in the morning. When we did that my kids would be half-asleep for the first few hours and were pretty quiet and content. This way you get a 2-3 hour stretch of driving done in the morning. Then you can stop for breakfast/brunch for a break, drive another 2 hours, stop for lunch and then finish up the drive. You'll get to your destination way ahead of bedtime so you can settle in and keep the bedtime routine the same. After breakfast and lunch let him walk around outside for a bit so he gets to stretch his legs and get some fresh air.

Driving during the day means you can't control when/if naps happen but I found that my kids were pretty tired by the journey that they would sleep well at night once we got to where we needed to be.

Also pack lots of snacks, a few fun books, and some toys. I've done it by myself with both kids and while it was exhausting for me its not that bad overall.

Check the status of rental cars where you are going. I was just reading about a shortage post-pandemic.

I'd consider leaving really early in the morning, like 4am. And hope the toddler goes back to sleep after the transfer into the car (change her diaper first!).

Then you can stop mid-morning to stretch/long break etc, eat lunch, then back in the car and hopefully she'll sleep some more.

Anonymous wrote:I would fly. I absolutely refuse to sit in a car for more than two hours. Especially with a baby.

What do you do when an airport is not near your destination?

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!

I agree. Just plan on making stops if necessary.

jsmith123 wrote:

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!

Given the age of this child, I'm guessing the parents haven't had a lot of opportunity to travel. The more you do this type of thing, the more comfortable you feel, but the first time can be daunting!

+1. New parents are fore capable them they think. OP, I think you should go for it.