We normally drive down to FL to spend Christmas with my parents at their beach house. I absolutely love going there. This year we will have a baby in the mix. At the time we'd travel, the baby will be around 8 weeks old. I've heard it's best to travel when they are super young like that vs when they are older. Either we go this year or stay in NC this year and drive down next year when the baby is a little over a year old. It's an 8 hour drive. We wouldn't fly as we bring our dog with us as well. Which age would be better to travel with? My parents don't care and will come to us if we want, it's just that I really love going down there and getting to be on the beach in December!
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To have an easier drive, 8 weeks. To have more fun watching your lonat the beach, next year. Eta: essentially you'll stop to feed your newborn but they'll most likely be quicker stops than with a toddler!
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I suggest having one person fly and one person drive with the dog. Or break up the trip and spend the night somewhere along the way. You will be stopping every couple of hours at least to feed and change the baby, maybe more. The drive will take at least 12 hours if it normally takes 8.
At 8 weeks old you can't even use the drive-overnight strategy because they are not yet STTN.
Eta: If you do the split drive/fly, then the person flying can just travel with a diaper bag. I would do the soft structured baby carrier + diaper bag backpack combo, possibly even skip the stroller, and sail through the airport. If your parents can pick you up at the airport with a car seat, you will be in great shape. And then your husband can bring all of your other gear in the car!
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8w for sure!!!
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@ElbieKay: I like this suggestion!
My LO was pretty fussy even that young. And even I get pretty cranky on an 8 hour drive! If you don't have one person fly, can you wait and see what your LOs temperament is? Also at that age my LO HATED the car. But so many other babies sleep like a dream in the car (so I'm told). But do you need to decide early so your parents can book flights?
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My only hesitation on having one person fly is that if your baby comes late and isn't 8w by the time you have to travel then he/she won't have been able to get vaccines yet. I wouldn't be comfortable flying with a baby before the first round of vaccines.
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@Truth Bombs: I agree.
Also, I would prefer the 1'yo because my baby was not a mystical sleepy newborn. She was wide awake and cranky, she screamed even in the car!
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for ease of travel: 8 weeks. for long drives, i would have couple bottles ready (i did this even when i EBF) because having to stop when you're totally not ready and all baby needs is to eat is the pits (aka: stuck in horrible traffic and can't get off the freeway!!)
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My LO is only 4 months now so I can't speak to traveling with a one-year-old, but drives with the baby are easy!
We made a drive down to my parents in south Georgia at 5.5 weeks and then returned home at close to 7 weeks. The normally 5.5 hour drive took 6 hours.
We also drove from northern Indiana to Atlanta, Georgia at 3.5 months. That 10.5 hour drive took 11.5-12 hours instead.
Oh- and both trips we were traveling with our lab mix too!
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8 weeks for sure!
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@birdofafeather: Ha, I used to drive my husband crazy by refusing to bottle feed on the road! But I haaaaaated pumping and did not want to spend my precious supply on anything other than work, plus pumping in the car just sounded overwhelming and mortifying. We had a lot of arguments about that.
It's funny. I have zero issue nursing in all kinds of public places and in front of pretty much anyone. But add horns and suction and machines to the mix and I instantly feel awful and embarrassed by what I'm doing.
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I think it depends on the LO - sorry I know that's not helpful! With my son it would have been infinitely preferable to do it at one year compared to at 8 weeks!
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Just for this year, I'd put the dog on the plane and have everyone fly, but that's because I can not bear anything longer than a 3 hour drive.
Or, if you do drive, I'd just plan on it taking twice as long, and possibly having to stay overnight halfway. Then, when it goes so much better than that, you have a victory to celebrate!
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My DD hates the car. She screams like she's being murdered so I would fly or hope that she'd be better around a year!
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We did a similar drive at 8 weeks (7 hours). I don't know if this would work for you but we left at night. Best decision ever. LO slept from 830 to 2:30 am. Brutal for us? Sort of. I mean nights at that age weren't great anyway. But she loves motion so literally she woke up when we pulled into our parents driveway. We did it again at 5 months and we had the same experience. The next day was rough but at least we had another set of hands at my parents house.
(The best part was zero traffic on 95.)
I also flew with her by myself at 8 weeks. Not terrible at all. In fact it was easy. The hardest part was getting the beco carrier on and off at security by myself. She was unimpressed by the flight; slept the entire time. -
8 weeks for sure! Traveling with an infant under 9 months is a "breeze" compared to when they're mobile and over 1!
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I would not have physically been up for a car ride that long at 8 weeks postpartum. Full Disclosure - I had lots of complications from pregnancy that lingered postpartum, and I was a super not confident first time mom back in those early days.
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I have done road trips with the kids a lot, and I vote 8 weeks, just because you get a lot more naps out of them at that age. I mastered the art of breastfeeding them while they are strapped into the carseat, which is handy for road trips. If I was taking a 1 year old, I would split the trip into 2 four hour segments, and drive during nap time. We very frequently drive 4 hours to my parents with my 2 year old and 5 month old and while things can get pretty hairy, it's not unbearable for 4 hours.
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Mine have always hated the car seats, so at 8 weeks in a car seat for 8 hours sounds like torture. If you are nursing, you'll have to stop every two hours to feed too, so that will add to the drive. I vote for you to fly. I have flown with little babies, and they are the EASIEST to fly with.
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@ElbieKay: in an act of desperation, I once tried to dangle my boob in front of DD while basically stopped on the freeway. It was terrible. I have also hand expressed into a bottle in order to stop the screaming so we could keep driving. So I'm a fan of having the bottle ready!
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It was definitely easier for me at over 1 year old, but this akk depends on the LO as others have said.
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@Foodnerd81: We can and plan to wait to see the baby's temperament before we officially commit either way. My parents would also drive up so there's no worry about having to book plane tickets. We could make the decision as close to a week or two before Christmas. And I'm going to formula feed so I think that works in our favor for feeding on the road.
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I think it depends on the baby...
For us, although 1+ is more stressful b/c they are mobile and vocal, DD also wasn't a great sleeper/eater when she was younger so it would've been very stressful to me that she has to take multiple naps, eat around the clock still, etc.
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I've traveled when DS was little and older. The nice thing about them being younger, is they will sleep most of the time. Once DS got older, we just brought books, toys, and the IPad for entertainment since he'd only sleep part of the time. We would stop every few hours for a break, but it always worked out so we were stopping for a bathroom break or to eat. I have had no issues with traveling so far, so either or for me.
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@ElbieKay: I'm the same. Can mostly nurse wherever/whenever but can't pump in front of anyone ever.
We took our LO at 12 weeks on a 6 hour drive to my parents house that turned into 6.5 hours but 3.5 of that was pure screaming. It was the evening. DH is traumatized. The trip home wasn't anywhere near as bad, she was 14 weeks and we drove in the morning.
The next time it came time to make the trip to my parents house again LO was 7 months old and I chose to fly. It was a breeze.
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