What do you think about a road trip with a 7-month old?

[femalephish]

NAK

I am going to Florida (from Maine) to visit my inlaws in Febuary. I really hate to fly so I was thinking (if DH can get an extra week off work) that it might be fun to drive down. My DD will be about 7 months old when we go and it would take about 2 days to get there, if we drive all day, or 3 if we take more time.... What do you think? Would that be more fun/harder than flying with a baby?

Thanks!

[ihugtrees]

I would think it would be harder than flying, but I haven't flown with DD yet. We have taken several road trips...1 was 2.5 hours each way, in the same day. The other two were 5 hours each way, but split into two days, so a night to rest in between. The last one was 7 hours one way (we just moved) and it was horrible. My almost 6 month DD hates being in the carseat that long, and for a week or two after each of these trips, she has cried each time I put her in the car seat (she calms down after a few minutes, if I give her a toy, but it still sucks.) We had to stop several times throughout each of these trips to comfort a crying DD, and it drug the trip out so much...felt like we were in the car FOREVER!

I just feel like, if you fly and it sucks, it's only a few hours, versus a big long trip. But then, there's the fact that you are 'bugging' other people on the plane if you have a crying baby. But, if you drive halfway, and have a screaming baby, if you turn around and go home, you still have just as far to go. You're stuck. I would never drive that far if I could fly with the experience we've had so far.

Also, I've heard its bad for babies to be in their carseats longer than an hour or two because of their growth/spine.

I will be flying with DD in January (from FL to Washington State) so I guess I will have a better idea of which is better then!

[Biscuits & Gravy]

If I had the option I would fly. A few hours of misery for you vs. 3 days of misery for a baby? To me that is a no brainer. We drove from NC to FL a couple of months ago. It should be about a 9 hour drive, but we broke it up into 2 days. Even then we had to endure some unhappy baby time, and that was with big brother in the backseat to talk to. I am flying in 1.5 weeks w/ my 3.5yo and the almost 1yo, by myself. My DH is driving with the dog. Why? Because driving that distance with the baby would have been more torturous than me flying alone with the 2 kids.

[lifeguard]

I'd definitely choose fly if I had the choice. Driving with a baby who wants to be active just is long for everyone & it most definitely will take longer than usual. With a younger baby maybe, but not at that age.

Unless you really enjoy a leisurely pace of travelling with plenty of stops to stretch & play.

[Jessnet]

I have a serious fear of flying so I drove from Texas to North Carolinia with my (then) 6 month old - by myself! We survived, but then I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE road trips. By Alabama we were in a grove; it took us 4 days. We stopped ALOT. I planned our stops around gymborees and other play places like that. I also learned to stop at places like Target to walk around - the dressing rooms gave him a place to play and roll around on the floor and nurse comfortably while I was "trying on" clothes.

...come to think of it, I did come home with way more clothes than I left with....

that being said, I did end up [I]begging[I] my husband to fly out and drive back with us.

[mckittre]

Flying sounds much easier than driving. Is there a train option? My baby (9 months now) dislikes road trips in a car, because he has to be strapped into the carseat the whole time. Trains are much more fun, allow wiggle room, meeting other passengers, crawling down the aisle, sleeping on mom's lap, etc...

[SarahElizabeth]

When i visited my family last, it was via car. I don't drive, so my brother drove down to pick me up, and my mother brought me back.

The way up - with my brother - was awful. He has a tiny car, so we had to lower two of the back seats to fit suitcases in, which meant I couldn't sit in the back with DS. My brothers satnav sent us through central london (TRAFFIC!) which made the journey about twice as long. We wanted to make up for the time we'd lost, so we only stopped for feeding/nappy changes/toilet breaks. About half way there, DS got MAD. He did not want to be in the seat any longer. We stopped every 15 minutes, and as soon as I got him out, he was happy. But try to put him back in? No luck. We finally just admitted defeat and did the last 50 miles with the radio up and all three of us crying. Not the happiest trip.

The way back, there were - can you believe it? - three infants in the car. DS, and my twin sisters who are a bit younger than DS. It was not as bad, surprisingly. There was a minor hiccup where DS kept trying to pull one sisters hair, but we just rearranged them. They all slept most of the way.

Long story short, I'd pick flying if it were an option, but road trips are survivable.

[tabrizia]

I just got back from two long trips with a 7/8 month old. We drove from Maryland to Orlando and back and then about 3 weeks later we drove from Maryland to Georgia and back. It was doable, but the biggest problem was with stops there was no good way for DD to get to move around. At a rest area I wasn't putting her on the ground to crawl around, and at a restaurant I really wasn't going to do it either. So she was basically stuck in the car seat or in arms while we were driving, which made for a long day for her, since she is so active and likes to crawl and cruise about.

Other then that though it wasn't too bad, we did about 7 1/2 hours of driving both days on the way to Disney, and 5 1/2 hours driving (well more on the way home because of traffic) a day on the way to Georgia. We did take it a bit slow so that both DD and DS who is 2 1/2 weren't cooped up all day, since they did need some way to release all the energy from being stuck in a car for hours.

That being said, flying would have been easier, except we needed to bring too much stuff to fly. At least with flying it only takes up one day, rather then multiple days.

[Comtessa]

Originally Posted by mckittre

Flying sounds much easier than driving. Is there a train option? My baby (9 months now) dislikes road trips in a car, because he has to be strapped into the carseat the whole time. Trains are much more fun, allow wiggle room, meeting other passengers, crawling down the aisle, sleeping on mom's lap, etc...

I second this option. We decided to take the train rather than drive on our last vacation with our 6 month old - she HATES the car and would never have tolerated the 10-hour drive, and I hate flying.

The train takes as long as driving (sometimes a bit more), and costs as much as flying (sometimes more) but it is worth every minute and penny, IMO, when you're traveling with a little one. There's enough space to walk with the baby, sit and look out the windows, let her roll around on the ground if she wants, etc. People tend to be friendlier on trains than on planes. (Maybe because nobody's in a rush - they're all settled in for the journey.) Traveling with DD was wonderful because everyone on the train stopped to talk to her and play with her - it made the time go by really fast.

One thing to consider, if you have the extra cash: we splurged on a sleeping car for our return journey, which was a lifesaver when DD got tired and cranky - we could shut the door and save the other passengers' ears. Plus, meals are included in the price of the sleeper, which is nice. Plus I felt much safer (not to mention more comfortable) sleeping next to her on a pull-out bed in the sleeper car than I did sleeping with her in my arms in a coach seat.

It's totally worth it, IMO, to avoid the trouble/expense/exhaustion/stress/carbon footprint of car travel if you have a train option.

[JessieBird]

I would probably choose to fly if I had the choice but I've also done long road trips and train trips with DS since he was born and we've had tons of fun on all of them.

Our longest road trip was from the far west side of Quebec all the way to Prince Edward Island. It was 15 hours pre-baby and 2.5 days with an 8 month old. It took longer than we expected but we had a blast. This is what really helped us: put the front passenger seat as far forward as possible and tip it forward (closed as if you are climbing into the back of a two door car), then sit in the back passenger side with baby's car seat in the middle. You can interact with baby the whole way and the parent who is driving won't feel as much like a chauffeur because, with the front seat down, the car is opened right up. DH and I took turns driving and hanging out in the back with DS was so much fun that we were fighting over who got to be with him (usually we fight over who gets to drive!).

If you drive, I have one piece of advice - know your route and plan to stop for the night earlier than you think you need to. We made the mistake of driving till 7 pm only find that every hotel/motel for miles around was booked for a big bicycle race that weekend. It took us till 1 am, stopping in every single town, to find a hotel with a free room. We had to laugh about it and still managed to make a fun adventure out of it.

[dex_millie]

I think flying would be alot easier. You would only have to sit for a few hours unlike the car which she would have to be stuck in the car seat for over a days worth of time.

I have flown many times with a baby and for longer distances than going state to state would be(I fly mostly to the caribbean along with having to change flights inbetween). At least on a plane you can hold them, play with them, nurse them properly. Having to be in a car seat at all times in a car just seems like more stress on the baby.

We also are planning to drive to FL for Christmas it will be a 14 hour drive but we plan to start at night so they will be sleeping for most of the ride(I have a 3 year old and DD1 will be 9months). We are driving because my SIL has started to have a fear of planes so we are going down together.

[major_mama11]

Whew... we did an 8-hr road trip w/ DD at 8 mos, and it was ROUGH! We took lots of breaks so she could be out of the car seat, but then she would scream even more getting strapped back in. I would avoid long road trips if possible, unless maybe it was driving at night so babe will sleep.