Sleep during long car ride

[jswerczek]

We are taking a trip this weekend and it will take about 5 hours to get there. I am struggling with my ds schedule. We have decided to break up the drive on the way there, driving about three hours one night during bedtime hours and two the next morning during a nap. My baby has yet 11 week old has yet to stay awake during a car ride. Coming home we will have to do the whole trip. If we drive straight through, stopping only once to feed, I fear he will sleep the whole way and really screw up his schedule. Does anyone else have a problem with this?

We took one trip when he was about 6 weeks old and after we stopped to feed and got back in the car I tried to keep him awake but it did not happen. It seems that no matter where he is in his EASY schedule he will zonk in the car.

Any suggestions for long car trip?

Thanks!

[cwolff]

I would love to hear the answer to this one, because in 2 weeks, we are making a trip to Lake Tahoe which is approx. 8 hours away.  My DH refuses to do it at night, so I'm going to have to be super entertaining to keep her awake in the car after eating.  I'm not looking forward to how it will screw up her days/nights either.

[Deb_in_oz]

see how he does on the way there - if you give him a couple of small toys to play wih during awake time and maybe play some kids music for a while.
if he really has a hard time stayuing awake at all my only suggestions are

1) you just go with his flow and trust that he will sleep only as much as he naturally wants/needs and get back on track at home(with the interruption of a feed breaking the sleep cycle at least into "naps" instead of a 5 hour block. i would take a little time during the feed break to really wake him up so at least he is starting from a very "awake" place before getting back in the car

or 2) you sit in the back seat with him so you can be directly involved in "keeping him awake" as much as you  deem necessary.

good luck!

[sandraorion]

When Adrian was 8 weeks, we did three and a half hour trip in the late afternoon that he ended up sleeping through. I really feared what his night would be like. But to my surprise, he went down normally and slept as if he didn't have that gigantic nap. (He is a 45 minute napper.)

Since then, he always sleeps well during the travel, being it on a plane or in a car, which I consider a blessing.

So, don't stress too much about it. He had 11 weeks to form good habits, one day won't spoil it. If he ends up sleeping for the most part, enjoy the ride. Keep him up a bit later when you get there and put him down normally. The next day, stick to his routine and he will be fine.

[Holly n Harvie]

This is also something that I have questions on. We are doing a trip from Sydney AUS to Calgary AB Canada. That is 13 hours on 747 to LA and 5 hrs on smaller plane to Calgary. THEN.... after 3 days there we will be driving from Cal to Kelowna B.C. 9 hour drive.... Harvie will be 6 months old then........... i am truly dreding this.... should I?? I figured I would just do my 4 hour EASY like usual and just hope that when we get to Canada that he will just pick up like normal.... am i dreamin here??? :?  :?  :?  :?  :?  :?:  :?:  :?:  :?:

[jswerczek]

Thanks for all the advice. I think that after we stop to feed we will stay put for awhile and give him some activity time. That way it does become more like two naps instead of a big chunk of sleep.

I know I will regret saying this later, but I can't wait for him to be able to stay awake in the car! It is hard because I live atleast 30 minutes away from anywhere we need to go to run errands (no grocery store in my town ) and I always seem to be fighting the EASY schedule. I try to go during nap time because I know he will sleep in the car, but then when we are shopping and running errands, it gets in the way of his nap. I try to get back home before the next feed otherwise I find myself feeding when I'm out and about and then he sleeps the 30 minutes home right after the feed. Anyway, I am sure it won't last forever!

I can't even figure out how to take a music class because the times seem to be when he will either be eating or sleeping. And since the class is a drive away, it doesn't seem to work out. Hopefully, by 6 months, when he is on the 4 hour EASY it will be easier to go places.

Thanks~

[Erin M]

Jennifer-
We've taken several long car trips with DD since she was born (5 hours and longer) and while she pretty much did sleep the entire time, it didn't mess up her nighttime sleep at all.  My sister and her son were also making the same trip one time and had exactly the same experience.  In my very small world of experience when they're this young it doesn't seem to make a difference.
-Erin

[Deb_in_oz]

Jennifer- i know you want to do things like classes with lo but do not worry abot that stuff yet - even if they can stay awake in the car it can be difficult to fit in a drive, class, feed and drive until they are awake fora longer stretch (like 2-3 hrs awake time).  I found we had the best luck with classes and still sticking to EASY when dd1 hit 7-8 mo or so and we could play around with her routine a bit more.

[Tru's Mommy]

I just did a 11 hour (straight) cartrip last month with my boys.  Tru is almost 2.5 yo. and Rowan just turned 5 mo.  I stuck to a 3-hr. feeding schedule with Rowan and either stopped to bf or gave him a bottle in his carseat if we wanted to keep going.  He is not a good car napper, and will only sleep 30 min. at a time.  So, there were a ton of little naps throughout the day.  Yes, by the end of the day he was a bit of a mess.  I was the dog and pony show for both boys, and it was exhausting.  30 miles into the trip, my 2 year-old actually asked, "Are we there yet?"

We are doing a 5-hour trip in October and it will seem like a breeze compared to 11 hours!!

Just bring rattles and things for your lo to look at.  You'll probably want to sit in the backseat and provide comfort if he gets fussy.  Sounds like he's a good carsleeper, and you'll be fine.