When will you go on your first vacation?

[Raene]

We have friends 12 hours away who want us to visit before winter. Is taking a 3 month old on a 12 hour car trip an awful idea? We can definitely stop midway for the night if needed.

I don't remember what it's like to have an infant...love to hear from others.

[texaspeach]

I've talked to friends about this because DH and I like to road trip. Apparently traveling with a less than 6 month old isn't too bad! You ahve to stop more for feedings and changing diapers but if you're willing to take your time it's a good stage to travel. We probably won't be taking our first road trip until March, when baby will be about 7 months old. We have a planned retreat every year around that time.

[mama*pisces]

Hmm. Well, in your favor, I think that a 3 month old is still in that sleepinga lot stage, so she might be sleeping for large chunks of the trip. But personally, I don't think I would do it. I know dh wants to visit his grandmother in NC around October or so: that's roughly 2 hours away, and I'm feeling apprehensive enough about that....can't imagine doing a 12 hour trip with an infant. I guess it just depends on your comfort level though.

[sunshynbaby]

I'm going on a 5+ plane ride at the end of October for my brother's wedding. I posed the question on another forum here, and the consensus seemed to be that traveling with a young infant is much easier than when they are older and walking!

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...php?p=13431380

[Coconut Chronicles]

We'll be definitely traveling overseas for Christmas to spend time with some of my family and possibly in November for a wedding (but that trip is not for sure) so I am interested in hearing what others have to say also.

[brooklynbabymama]

Easier to fly than drive. Bean would get tired of her carseat and since she never took a bottle or pacifier and they really aren't into toys that young, we would have to stop the car repeatedly or I had to sit in the backseat and try to distract her. But flying with an infant is cake, they couldn't care less where they are as long as they have mama...we flew to Rincon when she was 3 mo and she just slept in her Psling both ways except when I woke her to nurse for altitude changes.

[railyuh]

We'll probably travel around Christmas, but I think we'll fly versus taking the 18hr drive. I just imagine that drive would take a loooong time if we have to stop and nurse a lot. Of course every baby is different, but DS was nursing every 1-2hrs at that age so an 18hr drive would just be impossible. At least on the plane I can nurse whenever.

[Mamatoabunch]

We took a quick trip w/ our youngest two last year when Eiley was 2 months. We drove and stopped to nurse along the way. It wasn't too bad. 11 hours each way.

[ombrooklyn]

we're traveling to see family in Oct. pretty sure we'll drive so we can take the dog. It's a long drive. We'll make lots of stops and I think it will be pretty simple.

[Abraisme]

This totally depends on your child.. My son loved to be in the car, so it was never a problem. I drove 10 hours with just him and I when he was 7 months old. My son is 5 now and has always done really well in the car (we've taken many 10-12 car trips). However, then there's the child that HATES THE CAR! My best friends kid wouldn't make it more than 5 minutes before screaming every time. You'll just have to wait and see...

Also, flying with an infant is different than driving with one. It's pretty easy to fly, but not always as easy to drive. Again, totally depends on your baby.

We plan on taking an international trip when Olivine will be 3 months old. I have no problem flying with a baby.

[Pernillep]

We are flying to Europe when baby is about 2 months and did the same with DS1. No big deal. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had thought it would be.

[Jilian]

We took DS1 on a 12 hour car ride when he was exactly 3 mos and it wasn't bad at all. He was my high needs baby too. We just stopped a lot to nurse and stretch our legs and change diapers. He was our good car baby though so that made a world of difference. He'd always sleep in the car. DS2 on the other hand LOATHED the car for about 4 mos and car rides were complete hell. I guess it mainly depends on how your baby does in the car.

[Talula Fairie]

Depends on the baby. At that age, I think my kids were pretty good in the car, so just as long as you're prepared to make a lot of stops to feed the babe, it should be alright. BUT if you have one of those babies that screams in the car? That's going to be a loooooooooooooooooooong miserable trip. My kids were not. pleased. about the car as very young infants, especially #2.

[thorn]

we're planning a trip to michigan for christmas. it's about a 12 hour drive, hopefully it won't be too bad! he'll be just turning 4 months old.

[Ceili]

We're considering going away for Christmas, but I'm waiting to make that decision based on how the new little one does in the carseat. Ds was fine in the car as long as he was full and dry and if it's the same with this one, we'll be on the road. Even if one of us has to ride in the backseat much of the time, at least we have DVD players back there to keep us entertained.

[Flower of Bliss]

We took DD1 on a 5-6 hour car drive (each way) for a wedding (my cousins) at 4 weeks old! I don't remember it as a hard trip. We stayed at my moms house and pretty much our entire extended family (my siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and DH's siblings) got to meet her. I think it was way less stressful than having all of our siblings (I have 5, DH has 3) come meet her here, even slowly over a period of several months.

We then went to another wedding (DH's brother's wedding and DH was the best man) at 7 weeks old. That one was about a 10-12 hour drive, which we split into two days, and stayed at my mom's house for 2 nights about half way there. It was a much more difficult and stressful trip, but not because of the drive itself. That was just the difference between my in laws expectations of babies (all formula fed) versus my family (all breastfed). Also, we were staying at a hotel and dealing with family drama.

We proceeded to do about once a month trips to our home town, a 5-6 hour drive, for about the first 18 months or so of DD's life. We went to more like every other month as the trips got to be draining for us and for DH's vacation time. During this pregnancy, we went at Thanksgiving (I didn't know I was pregnant yet, but I was a mess), Christmas, and then not again until Easter, and haven't been back since. I've missed going.

I clearly remember one very rough drive very early on, though I'm not sure which drive it was. We were trying to drive late at night after DH was off of work (which we'd always done pre-baby), but DD kept crying and we'd stop and nurse and as soon as I put her back in the car seat she'd cry again. I started to fear that we'd have to stop at some hotel for the night. Once we figured out that evening and night time, when DD did her normal cluster feeds, was a bad time to drive, it's gone much more smoothly. I know lots of people drive at night so the kids will sleep. We drive in the early afternoon so DD will sleep.