Long Car Journey with 14 month old

pollyanna24

Is it going to be a nightmare? She is only 8 months old now and we do our best so that we are not stuck in the car for long periods of time, but we want to visit family at Xmas and flights plus hire of a car is going to add up to a lot.

It's about 16 hours non stop, but obv we will stop having a little one.

Nicki

I wouldn't want to attempt it! She'll be very sore and uncomfortable after that length of time in a car seat, even with breaks, and don't forget its not one journey but two - assuming you plan to come home via the same route after a fairly short stay.

Are there no other ways of doing it? Could you for example fly to as close as you can get, then maybe take a train to the nearest big town to where you are going, so you can all at least move around a bit, and spend some time entertaining her, and she can lie flat in her pushchair if she wants to sleep, then hire the car for final leg? Otherwise the only practical suggestion I can make is to try to do the bulk of your travelling by car at night, when she will hopefully sleep, and have lots of breaks during the daytime travelling, and be prepared for the fact that there might be a lot of crying in the back seat, and a very unsettled little girl for a few days after you arrive there and arrive back home.

Viper_7

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Is it going to be a nightmare? She is only 8 months old now and we do our best so that we are not stuck in the car for long periods of time, but we want to visit family at Xmas and flights plus hire of a car is going to add up to a lot.

It's about 16 hours non stop, but obv we will stop having a little one.

You'd obviously have to stop at least every 2 hours anyway regardless of the little one,
and for a good 15 minutes at the very least.

So your 16 hour non-stop journey is really 18 hours, so I also hope you'd be taking it in turns, and to be honest, you shouldn't even entertain it. Even long distance drivers are not permitted to put in such hours, and they are professionals.

davetrousers

pollyanna24 wrote: »

and flights plus hire of a car is going to add up to a lot.

It's about 16 hours non stop, but obv we will stop having a little one.

So, there is a flight required followed by a car journey, that adds up to about 16 hours?

Where are you going? How long is each part of the journey?

Poppy9

davetrousers wrote: »

So, there is a flight required followed by a car journey, that adds up to about 16 hours?

Where are you going? How long is each part of the journey?

I was going to ask that too as I didn't think the OP meant a 16 hour drive.

tiamai_d

We had to take DS2 down to leeds on a regular basis when he was this age. It was 4 hours non stop (6 hours with stops) each way and we found that it wasn't that day that was bad, but the following few days. We were all cranky, tired and stiff.

Are you planning on stopping half way over night or doing the full 16 hours in one go? I can't see how you would manage it all in one go unless you have all ready factored in rest stops, toilet stops, nappy change stops, food stops etc.

Make sure your car seat is comfy and that it can lie back if possible, plenty of changes of clothes for lo (it's nice to get some fresh clothes on after sitting in a car for so long), toys, fresh air, a clean up kit (just in case, towels, spray bottle of disinfectant, cloths etc).

Idiophreak

Poppy9 wrote: »

I was going to ask that too as I didn't think the OP meant a 16 hour drive.

The flights, plus the cost of a hire car, would be expensive - so they want to drive the whole way. Which is 16 hours.

Come on people, try to keep up

Poppy9

Idiophreak wrote: »

The flights, plus the cost of a hire car, would be expensive - so they want to drive the whole way. Which is 16 hours.

Come on people, try to keep up

Blooming heck. 16 hours driving would surely cost as much in petrol as 2 low cost flights.

Nicki

Idiophreak wrote: »

The flights, plus the cost of a hire car, would be expensive - so they want to drive the whole way. Which is 16 hours.

Come on people, try to keep up

OK now I understand! The OP wasn't clear.

On that basis, I personally would say no way to the drive. If I really couldn't afford the flights, I'd ask the rellies I was visiting to either contribute to the costs of the flight as they weren't having to travel to me, or I'd ask them to pay some or all of the cost of the flights as my Christmas present.

To subject such a young baby to such an ordeal when there is an alternative which would be much better for her is just selfish imho.

OrkneyStar

That is a long drive. Can you not book into a hotel o/n halfway ? This need not cost a lot as places such as Premier Inn/Travelodge often do cheap deals (their brekkies are £6-7 per person and are great, but you could opt to stop at a Tesco/Asda etc cafe if there was one near ?). That way you could do two 8 hour drives (with say 3-4 breaks in between).
DS at 13 months managed fine a 273 mile journey with breaks in between. If you are lucky LO will sleep, but you still need to stretch your legs and also let her do the same.

Poppy9 wrote: »

Blooming heck. 16 hours driving would surely cost as much in petrol as 2 low cost flights.

Depends on where you are flying to.
It costs us in diesel (300 ish miles) plus ferry for 2 adults about £150.
It would cost us at least 3 times that for us all to fly, and then we would need to hire another car (plus faff of carting buggy, bags, car seat etc.)
If you can do a decent mpg diesel/petrol need not be that much. Not actually sure how far they are going, just the time so hard to say for sure.

mrcow

pollyanna24 wrote: »

Is it going to be a nightmare? She is only 8 months old now and we do our best so that we are not stuck in the car for long periods of time, but we want to visit family at Xmas and flights plus hire of a car is going to add up to a lot.

It's about 16 hours non stop, but obv we will stop having a little one.

Where are you going to and from?