Beach Vacation with a 1 Mo old

[earthmama57]

I've decided to go with my family to the beach this summer which will be around a month after my due date. The ride will be about 7 hours long. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to travel with a newborn ? I'm not so much worried about when we get there because I'll have lots of family members around to help but I want to make sure the car ride goes as smoothly as I can manage. This is our first child and I will be breastfeeding so any advice would be appreciated.  I don't want to scar my husband from taking any more vacations so early on  Thanks ladies!

[GISDiva]

I think the best advice is to assume that it will take you much more than 7 hours.    If you and your husband have no expectations about getting there in a certain amount of time, the trip will be much more enjoyable to you all.

All bets are off if you have one of those babies that hates the car seat.  I don't have any advice about that, mine would konk out in the car pretty easily.  If it were my son, he'd sleep a good chunk of the entire trip, but your mileage may vary.  :)

[Mama4life14]

I agree with what the previous poster said! No expectations will make it enjoyable! Hopefully your little one will sleep good and just wake up to feed every once in a while! The car usually always put my boy to sleep around that age. As long as he wasn't hungry or needed a diaper change!
But if your little one doesn't like the carseat it may be difficult. But don't stress. Just keep stopping as much as you have to and make sure you let your husband know that it could be the case
I found that when I stressed about something it was almost like my boy could sense my stress and it would just make things worse. So just stay calm no matter what happens!! Good luck with it and I hope you get some other good pointers! I pretty much just repeated what the PP said! Lol!

[1babysmom]

Yeah, just be mellow about it!  We've done 16-30 hour (round trips) driving with one month olds and I kind of enjoy it. :)  It just love going places with a tiny baby...I don't know why, but I do! (except with my DD1 who screamed bloody murder in her seat until she was 14 months old!)  But HAVING to go slower is actually kind of pleasant IMO.  

[LeighPF]

We did a 5 hour drive with a six week old and she slept, ate and changed at a pit stop and then slept. Easier by far then out two year old.

Remember that first babies usually come after their due dates. Are you still comfortable with the idea of doing it with a three week old? You may want to set up the expectation now that you will play it by ear.

[porcelina]

Totally depends on the baby! I have had two car screamers and I would have died before traveling with them that long in the car. Also, my first trip with my first was at 3 months (by plane) and I felt like I had made the wrong choice and really did not want to go. Depending on your birth experience, you may need extra time to heal. I agree it makes sense to try to play it by ear.
 

[sageowl]

With a baby that small, I'd be worried about exposure to strange germs (I tend to be a bit of a germaphobe--my issue), but other than that, I'd say go for it...you won't know until you try, but I find it always goes better than you think it will.

[Quinalla]

Yeah, as long as your baby doesn't hate the carseat, I think it will be fine as long as you expect to stop frequently for feeding and diaper changes. If you do get a carseat hater (mine was for ~11 months of so) then I would seriously consider canceling as we took one trip that was normally 5 hours one-way when she was ~6 months and it was a nightmare. We did not take another trip longer than 20-30 minutes until she got over her hatred of the carseat. I think most people will understand if you have to make your plans tentative and play it by ear.

Otherwise, since it is a beach vacation, just make sure you can keep your baby out of the sun with lots of shade options and a big sun hat and light clothing that covers as much skin as possible. Sounds like it will be lovely!

[LDoulaSteph]

I second what LeighPF said. Your baby may come after his/her due date so take that into consideration. Not so much for the baby but for your recovery process. You should be taking it easy for 6 weeks post partum to let your body heal. You will more then likely still have some post partum bleeding at 3 weeks PP so keep that in mind. With that being said the salt water at the beach will probably be an amazing healer to your tender nether region. Enjoy!!

 

[htcmom]

I would make room where you could sit next to the baby. You being near the baby may help keep him/her calmer and if the baby is screaming and you can't stop right then you can lean over the car seat and nurse the baby.

[mama_b]

Personally, there is no way I would travel with a baby that small.  I wouldn't even be recovered from childbirth yet.  If you feel great, go for it.  But I wouldn't set anything in stone.
 

[mariee]

I definitely would not commit to this until after you have had the baby and you see what life is like.  Could be great, could be full of challenges.  Might want to keep in mind that you will possibly still be bleeding (kind of annoying for travel) and that your baby could be born even two weeks past when you are expecting him or her.  7 hours is a loooooong drive.  We traveled by car at 3 months and stopped for about a half hour to an hour every two hours.  You can imagine how long it took to get anywhere!  Overall, it was fun, but I'd definitely wait and see if I were you.

[Philothea]

I agree that it could be ok for you or it could definitely be not even an option. I knew I was going to take it slow after labor (dd born May 2012) but I had no idea how difficult postpartum and recovery were going to be. Some women have an easier time, so I definitely dont want to scare you... but I had a natural delivery and I couldnt sit regularly for 6weeks. Driving to my dd's mw app was tortorous, no way could I've handled hours. Also, first time dd went in the carseat (to mw app) we discovered she hates traveling and still does to this day. Screams bloody murder and will stop breathing. im sorry to bring such negative news but I just wanted to tell you that there's a chance you might have a similar situation...but you also may very well not and you and your baby will be wonderful and have a beautiful time! . (I hope the latter is true for you!!) My SIL (6 kids) and mw said not to go anywhere in the first month pp bc of the risk of overdoing it and developing mastitis. I think thats valid, but I was willingly to risk it to go to a good friends' wedding, until I saw how bad my situation was. Just wanted to let you know my experience so you can make the best decision, but like I said (hopefully!) your situation could be very different!

[mama_b]

Originally Posted by Philothea 

I knew I was going to take it slow after labor (dd born May 2012) but I had no idea how difficult postpartum and recovery were going to be. Some women have an easier time, so I definitely dont want to scare you... but I had a natural delivery and I couldnt sit regularly for 6 weeks.

This was me after both births.  I had vaginal births with both, but for some reason it took me a really long time to recover.  Both times I felt like I had been hit by a truck, I was in so much pain.  I know moms who had c-sections that recovered faster than I did!  I don't know why it takes me so long to recover, I'm not really looking forward to the recovery period with #3.

[skycheattraffic]

I had a fairly easy recovery from a straight forward vaginal birth and I bled beyond 6 weeks. Around week 5 I passed a large bloodclot (size of a small pancake) and really freaked out, thinking it was placental tissue. I was really glad to be near my dr and be able to reach an on call physician right away. It turned out to be nothing dangerous, I just had to pass that clot before my bleeding really slowed down and eventually stopped. As a pp said, hopefully you will have an easy, uneventful recovery but be aware that you may need medical help (or you just may have questions) and be sure you have something lined up at your destination.