PLEASE READ: Advice needed for upcoming beach trip with a long drive

[McGucks]

Our LO is 14 months.  MIL and her family rents a beach house every summer and we have to go (they do pick up the tab, for which I am grateful--I doubt we'd go otherwise).  The longest car ride we have done with him was a little over an hour, and this trip is something like 8 hours if we were to drive straight (which I know we can't do!).  I am working on my attitude about it--I am not a person who likes to travel, am not comfortable at beaches, there are some family relations that are pretty strained, I am still doing a lot of BFing (which also means I can't take my anxiety/depression meds), etc.  Fortunately, DH is very supportive of my needs & I don't think anyone will criticize the BFing (they better not), so that's good.  That's just a little background on why I am anxious about the upcoming trip    However, I think our little guy will probably really enjoy it, so that's a positive thing!  Any suggestions on what to take/not take, or any other words of wisdom?  This is a private house at a secluded beach, so I don't really need to worry about tourist-y stuff.  TIA for your wisdom and experience.

[newmamalizzy]

I was just wondering how you plan to do the drive.  For us, I think it would work best if we planned the bulk of the trip during the night.  This is how we did an 8 hour drive with DD when she was 9 months and it worked relatively well.  Could you, for instance, leave at the crack of dawn and plan to get 5 - 6 hours in, then stop for breakfast and playtime and start up again for the last 2-ish hours around the time your LO might nap? 

Oh, and we recently bought this, and I think it would be pretty helpful on a beach trip, especially if you want some nursing privacy right there on the beach. 

[LynnS6]

We drove from Oregon to Colorado over several days when dd was 15 mos and ds was 4 1/2.

Plan on stopping every 2-3 hours. Get up relatively early. The worst times for us were driving late afternoon when everyone was tired and cranky. So, if you can leave at 6 am (pack the car the night before) and drive, you'll be there by 4 -5 pm, even with a stop every 2-3 hours. I'm assuming your little one is walking, so make sure the stops have plenty of time for running.

Bring a new 'activity' for about every 15 minutes, and rotate through them every 2 hours. So, you need 8-9 things for your child to do. They can be books, toys, snacks, whatever. I went to Goodwill and got some 'new' toys for the ride. Simple is better.

Don't be afraid to bribe your child for the last 2-3 hours. Eventually, he's going to resist getting back into the carseat and you can then bribe him back in with a sucker or some juice (or whatever is novel and yummy for him).

Expect to sit in the back with him for the 2nd half of the journey.

Bring music that he likes and play it.

Can't help you with the relatives, but don't be afraid to go off by yourself.

Finally, it's a bit too late, but are you sure you can't take your depression anxiety drugs? Who told you that? I took meds for anxiety/depression while breastfeeding both of my kids - they're 7 and 10 now and doing very well. I didn't take short acting stuff like Xanax and I didn't take sleep meds. But there are SSRIs that are quite safe for breastfeeding. I'd encourage you to look into that if you think you need the meds.