10.5hr Roadtrip with 10 month old at night?

[Canadian_Mom]

So DH wants to make a road trip (10.5hr) for his family to see our 9 month old DS in a few weeks.  We were thinking about driving at night, as DH can't get enough days off work to make the driving into a couple of days.  Has anyone driven this long with a 10 month old?  Is it possible?  I am kind of worried because if we are doing a long drive during nap time he will only nap 40 minutes, so I am scared that he won't be able to get into that deep nighttime sleep (he STTN usually).  I also am not all that excited about the trip because I know that his extended family has very different childrearing views and are quite vocal about it in a negative way.  Finding it hard to be motivated to go.  Is what we are thinking possible, or are we just crazy? 

[Canadian Mommy]

It is possible but it will be some work, I flew with DD for a 10.5 hr flight, she was in her car seat for most of it, other than changes and all, I think if you are willing to drive at a time he is used to sleeping it might just happen! About the in-laws and their childrearing opinions, do what I do, say oh I haven't tried that yet, but I really don't want to mess up his routine so we can enjoy this time here and not have him cranky! Maybe when I am at home I will give it a try... so just be polite and don't get into their games. I know it's hard but you have to remember this is important for Dh and also for DS to be involved with his extended family! In the end it really is your call,
 Good luck !

[mokey_cat]

We have just returned from holiday which involved a long drive (9 hours but we did most at night then the last few hours in the morning).  My DD is older but we on the way there we put her to bed as usual and left 1 hour later hoping she wouldnt wake when we lifted her out of the cot and into the car (we sometimes do this when at friends houses late and it works  ).  She did wake for 30 mins or so then slept on and off for the journey.  She would wake upset cause she didnt know where she was but would fall asleep again.  DD will only ever sleep for 30 mins in the car during nap time too.  Anyway, our return journey was a lot better.  We bathed her, into her pjs and popped her into the car and gave her milk in her car seat and left at 8pm.  She had had a busy day so was maybe a bit more tired than usual but she fell asleep right away and slept until we got to our hotel 6 hours later.  She would defo have stayed asleep cos she hardly even woke when we put her into the cot at the hotel.  I think it made a difference letting her fall asleep initially in the car because she knew where she was and was not as confused as the 1st journey.  We did the rest of our drive the next day only because I cannot drive at night without being really sleepy and the full 9 hour journey was a bit long for DH on his own.

Good luck.  It is possible and we would have had a great return journey with DD asleep if only I could have done more of the driving!!  But she did sleep 6 hours which I was so impressed with.  I actually think it might have been easier when DD was younger as she now wants out of her car seat as soon as she is in it but was more willing when she was younger lol.  And good luck with your extended family - everyone seems to have different views about raising children but you know you are doing best by your LO and that is the reason he sleeps well etc so dont let them get to you.

X

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks for the input!
Glad to see that even if they short nap in the car seat there is the possibility that they might have a half decent night sleep.
Interesting idea about doing the milk in the car seat just before leaving.  That might save a few minutes and help DS realize that the car seat is ok to sleep in.  Oh, and lots of play in that last A time
Did you have any "stops" while you were driving? We will need to stop for gas etc, and DH was thinking to try to put a blanket over DS to help keep out the light?

[MummyToBen]

Yes, definately try the blanket - we use one if we need Ben to have a decent nap in the car - and it works a treat!  Normally he would only sleep 20-30 mins uncovered - but takes a full 2 hours when the light is blocked out

xx

[mokey_cat]

On the outward journey, DD woke when we stopped for coffee and petrol, and was a but upset and wanted out of her car seat for a while but fell asleep after maybe 30 mins of driving again.  On the way back she never woke at all!!  We stopped for something to eat, petrol and also topped up the oil.  We were opening and closing doors etc and she did not stir at all at any stop.  I think she had maybe gotten a bit more 'used' to sleeping in the car since we had already did the long outward journey. 

When she was younger we also put a blanket over her to keep out the light so I would say its worth a go!!

X

[Canadian Mommy]

We just came back from a 4 hr trip and I have to say doing the bed time routine and then giving the bottle in the car is exactly what we did! It worked great, I did cover her as the lights were bothering her and she slept until we got home, woke up for the move but slept her regular sleeping hours until this am. Good luck and safe trip!

[Canadian_Mom]

Thanks for the suggestions ladies, we are leaving in a few days here and I will let you know how it went!

[mum101]

Yep we did an all night drive with DD 3 and DS 5 months. He slept well through the night and woke once for a feed.  DH and I shared the driving, the only downside was when both of us where tired and stopped the car to nap, DD and DS woke up and got grumpy at us!  So we had to slowly keep going.
We all had a nap the next day and were back to normal.  As we were driving in a warm climate, I often checked on their temps and to make sure he wasn't squished in a bad position. 

[koe2moe]

great info!!  Trying to plan a 10.5 road trip also.  Was thinking about doing the most of driving on one day, stay somewhere overnight and then finish it off probably 2-3 hours the second day.  I got some other tips from here that as long as we stop to stretch legs, eat, drink, etc every 1 or 2 hours, then it's fine to do it during the day.

For those of you who did night driving, did you and DH get very tired the next day and need extra rest?  And what about your LOs?  Were they more tired the next day? 

How did you get them to sleep in the destination??  If it's more appropriate, I would start a new thread   sorry for hijacking this thread.  I'm just concerned about where DS should sleep?   TIA

[Canadian_Mom]

Hey all, so the trip wasn’t too bad.  On the way down it took DS 40min to first fall asleep (he was excited for the trip!) and slept for 7 hours but woke up every 45 min to cry for a bit.  So he had a three nap day that day to catch up.  On the way back DS slept for 5hr straight (even through a “pit stop”) woke up for an hour crying off/on then slept for another 3hr.  Since we were home then it was easier to do better naps and he had one 2.5hr nap and another 3hr nap with a 12hr night (I guess he was tired   ).  We did use the blanket idea for pit stops and going through large towns which seemed to work.

Koe2moe - You were asking about how we handled the driving at night? Both DH and I work shift work so we are kind of used to being up all night.  We were going to split the driving, but then reconsidered thinking that one of us should try to get some decent sleep incase DS was really crabby (which he wasn’t).  DH (and I) had a good nap when we first got there, and then he pretty much slept all day when we got back.

As for where to sleep, DS sleeps well in the playpen where ever we are.  We took the camper with us as he has slept in there a few times this summer and figured that would give him some consistency.  Most of his second naps were in the carseat while we drove (easier to get more visiting done), but his last nap is usually a short 45min one anyway.

Thanks for all the suggestions and support!

[koe2moe]

Hey Nadia!  Thanks for the update and good to know it went so well!!  And also for the info about driving.  We have decided to do daytime drive and do it all in one day and the next 2 days can just take it easy to let DS catch up on sleep or whatever.  If it doesn't work out well, then we'll do night drive back  

Thanks again :*

[mokey_cat]

Glad it went well Nadia