First time driving - 3yo and 6mo

[AfricanLodger]

We have a 3 year old and 6 month old (at time of travel). Our 3 year old has been to Disney 6 times so far but we've always flown. This time with a baby, airline costs, car seats, etc. we decided to drive. Its 14 hours for us. Our kids are amazing in the car and rarely get antsy. We travel 7 hours to the beach every summer with no issue. However, for a 14 hour trip... How many stops is "safe" to do? By that I mean, I see a lot on the 2 hour rule where kids need to be out of their car seats every 2 hours. That would make for an insanely long and painful drive. I like to drive for as long as possible without stops, just food and gas when needed. I believe our kids would be fine with that, but does anyone have any thoughts on if its safe to stay in the car seats that long? Or does anyone have experience to share?

 

[KVH]

Just to be clear, the two-hour rule is a TOTAL within a 24 hour period.

 

[jbharr1]

when i drove with my twin 1 year olds, we just listened to their cues. made sure to get them out of the seats when we stopped. we did not force stops at certain intervals. if they were sleeping or content and there was no reason to stop we kept driving.

 

[AfricanLodger]

Just to be clear, the two-hour rule is a TOTAL within a 24 hour period.

So that would mean driving only 2 hours every 24 hours?

 

[mort1331]

How many times do you stop on your 7 hour drive. Are you planning of driving straight, or stopping for a night. Maybe look at 8-10 hours 1st day, then shorter drive 2nd day. Only you know your kids.

 

[nw6675]

I travel like you do - as long as possible and then gas, potty, food at once when possible. When DD was those ages, she let us cued us as to what was needed. Mickey's Verry Merry Christmas playing on loop helped, too. We barely had to make any extra stops.

 

[jo-jo]

Is the older child potty trained? That will decide how often you need to stop.

Are you planning on driving right through or stopping overnight?

 

[Rory607]

How often does the 6 month old eat? And how often does the 3 year old go to the bathroom? Your stops will likely be based around those things, honestly. The baby should not be fed in the car seat while you’re driving. We used to do 12-14 hour drives straight before kids. But once the kids came along it was too much. We always stop overnight now on long drives. When they were that age, we would often leave at 3 or 4 a.m. so we could get on the road and drive a larger portion on the first day.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We have a 3 year old and 6 month old (at time of travel). Our 3 year old has been to Disney 6 times so far but we've always flown. This time with a baby, airline costs, car seats, etc. we decided to drive. Its 14 hours for us. Our kids are amazing in the car and rarely get antsy. We travel 7 hours to the beach every summer with no issue. However, for a 14 hour trip... How many stops is "safe" to do? By that I mean, I see a lot on the 2 hour rule where kids need to be out of their car seats every 2 hours. That would make for an insanely long and painful drive. I like to drive for as long as possible without stops, just food and gas when needed. I believe our kids would be fine with that, but does anyone have any thoughts on if its safe to stay in the car seats that long? Or does anyone have experience to share?

no matter how baby is fed remember they have to be in carseat when car is moving. going to need to plan on at least 30 minutes per feeding from what we found at that age. those trip what seemed like double the time to get anywhere traveling

 

[AfricanLodger]

We plan to stop overnight once. I think we can easily drive through bed time from 7pm to 2am while they sleep then get a hotel room. But is that ok for them to be in car seats for like 7 hours straight?

Both of them can sleep 11 hours overnight no problem. I just worry about being in a car seat in one position for so long.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We plan to stop overnight once. I think we can easily drive through bed time from 7pm to 2am while they sleep then get a hotel room. But is that ok for them to be in car seats for like 7 hours straight?

Both of them can sleep 11 hours overnight no problem. I just worry about being in a car seat in one position for so long.

remember it is not 7 hours straight. they will need either potty breaks or diaper changes, out for eating and any other breaks. what are the kids going to do in hotel room if they sleep in car then you get a room for your break? also at that age we found stopping in early afternoon stop at a park or swimming or something active then bed at hotel. when we drove until bedtime the kids had slept enough during the day in the car that they were not tired and we did not get much sleep or rest because they did not sleep in hotel room

 

[AfricanLodger]

remember it is not 7 hours straight. they will need either potty breaks or diaper changes, out for eating and any other breaks. what are the kids going to do in hotel room if they sleep in car then you get a room for your break? also at that age we found stopping in early afternoon stop at a park or swimming or something active then bed at hotel. when we drove until bedtime the kids had slept enough during the day in the car that they were not tired and we did not get much sleep or rest because they did not sleep in hotel room

No, it is 7 hours straight. They will probably fall asleep in the car around 9pm and will sleep the entire 7 hours without waking up and easily transfer to a hotel bed and sleep until 8am. My kids sleep 11 hours straight like a rock. I just don't know if that's healthy/safe to leave them sleep in a car seat for 7 hours straight that way.

 

[Rory607]

No, it is 7 hours straight. They will probably fall asleep in the car around 9pm and will sleep the entire 7 hours without waking up and easily transfer to a hotel bed and sleep until 8am. My kids sleep 11 hours straight like a rock. I just don't know if that's healthy/safe to leave them sleep in a car seat for 7 hours straight that way.

I would probably ask your pediatrician, honestly. My youngest was a terrible sleeper through toddlerhood, so once he fell asleep in the car and then woke up, it was over. He would never transfer to bed and fall back asleep.

We had one particularly bad road trip when we didn’t plan our stop for the night and then couldn’t find an available hotel room anywhere. So we just had to keep driving straight through all night. We finally made it home and my H and I were beyond exhausted, but the baby was up for the day, lol! It was about 4 a.m. and not fun at all. After that we always made a reservation in advance so we didn’t end up in that situation again.

 

[AfricanLodger]

I would probably ask your pediatrician, honestly. My youngest was a terrible sleeper through toddlerhood, so once he fell asleep in the car and then woke up, it was over. He would never transfer to bed and fall back asleep.

We had one particularly bad road trip when we didn’t plan our stop for the night and then couldn’t find an available hotel room anywhere. So we just had to keep driving straight through all night. We finally made it home and my H and I were beyond exhausted, but the baby was up for the day, lol! It was about 4 a.m. and not fun at all. After that we always made a reservation in advance so we didn’t end up in that situation again.

We've been blessed with some incredible sleepers. Good idea about pre-planning a hotel stop. We were going to just go as far as we can and figure it out lol

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We've been blessed with some incredible sleepers. Good idea about pre-planning a hotel stop. We were going to just go as far as we can and figure it out lol

I would not count on what happens at home holding while traveling. I would make a few trail runs of having them fall asleep in car and making sure your plan is going to work. both of my girls were great sleepers at home but not with falling asleep in car. it was a big difference

 

[Anna131517]

We almost always drive to WDW. Depending on where we were living the drive has been 10-15 hrs. With a 14 hr drive you should plan on two days each way, stop every 2 hrs. Now you don’t need to do an equal number of hours each day. You could knock out 4 hrs after work the first night and finish the rest the next day, or only leave three hrs for the second day and get there by early afternoon the second day, but 14 hrs straight with kids those ages is a recipe for disaster. Also, do NOT drive through the night. It’s more dangerous due to tired and drunk drivers, and when you get there you will be exhausted and the kids will be wide awake. Also, we tend to drive during daylight because sometimes our kids get freaked out by the dark and the headlights (especially if they’re rear facing) and driving down I-95 in the dark with all the interior lights on is just weird.
Other tips - pack snacks and water bottles / sippy cups for everyone. Have vomit supplies (yeah we had to buy a new car seat and supplies to disinfect our car 2 yrs ago) and change of clothes readily available. Pre book your hotel rooms (1 yr we had to drive 2 extra hrs to find a hotel room), get an EZ pass and check out the EZPass express lane schedule if you’re driving around Washington DC.

 

[MamaMermaid]

I would probably ask your pediatrician, honestly.

Agreed. I'd be nervous to let them sleep in the car seats for an entire overnight.

 

[sponica]

I'm less concerned about the 3 year old being in the seat that long, because they generally have neck support. But I'm also a person that stops every 2 to 3 hours (i need to stretch my legs even if I'm driving).

I'd be more concerned about the 6 month old because infants are at a higher risk of positional asphyxiation. But also my kids at 6 months old were still eating during the night, you'll probably have to stop to feed the baby.

I second the recommendation to have a vomit bag ready...nothing beats the time when I was driving home from my grandparents alone at christmas time and my then 3 year old puked all over the place. In the middle of nowhere northeast CT...

I'd break the trip up into 2 days and only travel during the daylight hours. In the event you do need to de-vomit a car, it's easier to do when the sun's out than when it's dark and miserable and you're in some shady gas station parking lot...

 

[AfricanLodger]

I'm less concerned about the 3 year old being in the seat that long, because they generally have neck support. But I'm also a person that stops every 2 to 3 hours (i need to stretch my legs even if I'm driving).

I'd be more concerned about the 6 month old because infants are at a higher risk of positional asphyxiation. But also my kids at 6 months old were still eating during the night, you'll probably have to stop to feed the baby.

I second the recommendation to have a vomit bag ready...nothing beats the time when I was driving home from my grandparents alone at christmas time and my then 3 year old puked all over the place. In the middle of nowhere northeast CT...

I'd break the trip up into 2 days and only travel during the daylight hours. In the event you do need to de-vomit a car, it's easier to do when the sun's out than when it's dark and miserable and you're in some shady gas station parking lot...

The 6 month old has been sleeping 11 hours through the night without eating since 2.5 months and the pediatrician is happy with his growth so the eating isn't a problem. There will be someone in the back with them the whole drive. But yeah, I worry about spine problems from being in the seat for too long. Wanted to see what others do and if they ever had issues with that.

 

[sponica]

The 6 month old has been sleeping 11 hours through the night without eating since 2.5 months and the pediatrician is happy with his growth so the eating isn't a problem. There will be someone in the back with them the whole drive. But yeah, I worry about spine problems from being in the seat for too long. Wanted to see what others do and if they ever had issues with that.

My kids also toss and turn at night, the older one sleeps like the dead but she still moved A LOT in her bed at that age and I'm not convinced she would have slept well overnight in a car seat. My second one is the lightest sleeper in the world, and probably would be awful in a trip like this.

I feel like whenever we're convinced our kids will do x, they do y instead but we've planned for x and not y....