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My parents are a five hour drive so we have done the drive several times with our one kid, between ages of a few months old to most recently at 22 months.

If dh and I were both going, in the beginning we left at bedtime and transferred. She was usually fine. We would be pretty tired though and she still woke up at her normal time.

If I'm alone I don't like to drive so late, so I just leave around 10 am. She usually ends up napping earlier than usual (like will fall asleep at 11 instead of 1.) then we stop for lunch and stretch our legs. Then get back in the car for the last hour or so. That last hour is always the worst part because she is done with the car but I feel a lot better driving during the day.

Is traffic better or worse at a certain time?

I would not even consider the 3 am thing. You'd be so tired all day!!

No way I would do the middle of the night thing. We got the kids up super early to catch a 6am flight once and they both stayed awake the whole car ride and at the airport. It was awful!

I voted middle of the night because it worked well for us, but on second thought would change my vote. Our drive was closer to 11 hours, so we took turns sleeping and driving and the day was almost over when we arrived, so we didn't have long until we got to sleep again. For just 5 hours, I think leaving at night sounds good.

We do 3.5 hour drives with our 2 month old and 2 year old, and we leave shortly before bedtime (since they're happy in the car for a bit) and then drive until we get there. Bedtime is 8, so we leave at 7. We are doing a long road trip this summer, and we are planning on only driving from 6:30 pm until we get tired.

I would personally never drive at night but I know others who would. I travel to visit my parents 5 hours away with both kids a few times a year and I usually shoot for leaving right before morning/afternoon naps so they are worn out. They usually get a good 2-3 hour car nap and then I pack a lunch for them, they eat it, they read some books or watch a movie on the iPad and we are there.

I would not do the wake up early trip. When we visit my ILs, taking the only flight that gets us back to our house before LO's bedtime means we have to get up at 4 am to drive to the airport. We woke her up, checked her diaper and walked straight to the car, but she never fell back asleep and then didn't nap because we were traveling. It was miserable.

I would probably leave at nap time, stop for a snack around 3.5-4 hrs into the drive so my LO could run around for awhile, then finish up the last hour.

We have a 5 hour trip to where my parents live. We leave right before E's second nap or about an hour before bedtime

@Foodnerd81: Yep!

Bedtime on Thursday night is your best bet!!! I drove from LA to Vegas in Feb with 3 kids on a Friday afternoon and it took *7 hours* due to traffic and stopping twice for food and breaks (baby was 9 months). My 6 year old and 3 year old did great, but were super tired and had their moments after the whole ordeal. We left at 3p and got to the hotel at 10p

I wanted to do the bedtime thing, but due to something my eldest had at school that Friday and my mom's schedule (she was meeting us there Friday night) we just couldn't.

All my other mom friends leave on Thurs nights for Vegas and that's my plan next time we go. Have FUN!!

I would leave right after lunch. That way maybe they stay awake for an hour or so - then sleep for a few hours - then when they wake you will almost be there.