Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

DH and I were both approved by our jobs to take off July 4th week so we'll be on LI from the 3rd through the 11th!!!!! We have a wedding on the 10th so we were just going to come for a long weekend but i'm SO excited we're coming for the whole week.

My IL's are also going up for this wedding and they are driving. They want us to drive with them. They have a brand new minivan (hooked up!) that we are going to take up, but i'm still worried about how DD will do. She's SUCH a good baby but is at that stage where all she wants to do is crawl around and cruise, etc...

We are going to drive through the night so hopefully she'll sleep the first 8-10 hours or so (you think???) and then what... do we stop every few hours and spend some time out of the car? The total drive will be prob about 18 hours and we're planning to drive straight through. Bad idea? Anyone have any experience driving with an almost 1 year old?

We are flying home so it's just the drive up.

Oh and anyone up for a GTG that week?

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

We've driven/flown with DD (and now DS) at all ages of babyhood/toddlerhood.

DD was fine up until about age 14 months. Even then, she was good, just wanted to get out and stretch a lot so I would plan a lot of stops along the way. I would choose rest stations so she can move around a lot outside.

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

We drove to SC (Hilton Head) with DS when he was 11 months old. It was 17 hours. We left at his bedtime, so we drove a bulk of the drive (we drove straight through) at night during his bedtime so he slept. The rest of the time, we brought LOTS of toys, the DVD player with Baby Einstein and Elmo. Stopped frequently for lunch and what have you.

It really was 100Xs easier than i had expected it to be!

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

This wasn't as long as your drive, but over Memorial day weekend we drove up to Ithaca with DD, she was 17 mos...it wasn't as bad as I thought...she was honestly a trooper... through it all..we stopped a lot so she could wak around get some energy out, eat, change diaper etc...we had a portable dvd player for her...when she started to get antsy we started singing and dancing for her she loved it, and I sat in the back with her for a little bit...

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

I think its a great idea to drive while she sleeps.. you could wear you out as much as possible then let her sleep. I find that car sleep is always deeper and longer than crib/home.

When I moved to TX with AJ I always stopped around every three hours.. change of diaper, something to eat, let her stretch her legs if you will. She wasn't crawling then but the was into reaching and sitting up on her own.

I found that a lot of malls have little kid friendly areas. Sure I sanitized her head to toe afterwards, but at least she got out and stretched.

I'd spend about a half hour out of the car. I was in no hurry though. I got a lot of leeway by bringing looney tunes on DVD for her and got a small portable DVD player. I dont let her watch TV while I drive but this was an exception given we were on the road for 4days!

toys, snacks and movies. It stretched my time between stops. But 3hours is as far as I could go (unless she was sleeping) because I felt bad for her sitting there. Who knows if she's wet and sitting in pee getting a sore? Diaper rash, etc. A full load diaper you can feel but a single pee? Nope... I stopped every 3hours like clock work.

I planned the stops so we'd know where I'd pull over and called ahead to some of the malls to verify the play area. If none exisited, I'd just walk the mall. Find a little sitting area and let her play there.

Have fun

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

I would love to GTG! Sad that we both have to go up to NY for it to happen
We're driving tmrw - gulp! We're doing it over three days because between the baby and a dog - not up to straight through - no way!

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

We do a lot of long drives with our kids since they were that age and younger and up to age 3---they usually sleep

I am glad you are flying back since I dont think i would do a car there and back

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

Thanks everyone! Xelyndra... I think that's a great idea to stop for 1/2 hour or so while she's up so she can crawl around somewhere. Not sure DH and his dad will be all for that idea, they like to just GO and get there as quick as possible. We'll see how she does...

Melissa - thanks for the neck pillow idea.

Re: Talk to me about driving a LONG distance with an almost 1 year old!!

We drove 7 hrs. to MD when my DD was a year old and she did great! No problems at all. We had snacks and toys and she was happy just playing in the backseat and staring out the window. She was awesome the whole trip.