Long Car Journey with 14 month old

lovethymini

Personally I wouldn't do it either.

Last year when ds was 7 months old we travelled from Reading to Isle of Man. We left about 8pm after putting him to bed at 7 as normal (he wore his travel sleeping bag to minimise his disruption transferring to the car) drove about 3 hours, stayed at a hotel, then another 2 and half in the morning, then on a boat.

Our whole journey was planned to be the easiest for baby. If I wanted to see rellies a whole 16 hours away, I'd push to meet halfway, if it's for christmas or something, I'd consider hiring a cottage for us all, or something like that. If they didn't want to do that, I'd set up skype and a webcam.

ella_ella_ella

lovethymini wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't do it either.

Last year when ds was 7 months old we travelled from Reading to Isle of Man. We left about 8pm after putting him to bed at 7 as normal (he wore his travel sleeping bag to minimise his disruption transferring to the car) drove about 3 hours, stayed at a hotel, then another 2 and half in the morning, then on a boat.

Our whole journey was planned to be the easiest for baby. If I wanted to see rellies a whole 16 hours away, I'd push to meet halfway, if it's for christmas or something, I'd consider hiring a cottage for us all, or something like that. If they didn't want to do that, I'd set up skype and a webcam.

Completley agree, it seems very unfair to put a small child through that because they WANT to make the jorney. I realise the OP cant seem to afford the flights, in which case either save, cancel or make arrangements for them to come to you. I stand by my original post of it being cruel unless the jorney HAD to be made and HAD to be made by car in which case I would of suggested ideas/tips for bordom and comfort for the LO.

Bettyboop

We have driven to France and Austria a few times.... and with two kids in tow. The first time my son was 8 months old and the second time 11 months old. We bought an in car DVD player to keep them happy and they took turns watching DVD's. We stopped regularly. The first day we do most of the driving and stay in a hotel to break the journey. Perhpas that's an option for you.

Bettyboop

Viper_7 wrote: »

as said it's not 16 hours driving, there has to be breaks.
If I knew someone who was going to do that, I'd report them to the police and social services.
And people wonder why there are so many accidents.

Even if sharing half the driving, it's just not safe, even as a passenger one still gets tired and eye strain.

How about meeting the family half way at a venue. - again cost considerations.

I'd be more concerned for the cost of the child rather than the cost of the travel.

:rotfl:, lots and lots of people travel by car many distances with little ones. For example if you lived somewhere that didn't have an airport is that a crime? That't your opinion. We have done many long trips. We are sensible, take turns, get plenty of rest before, have snacks in the car, stop regularly and ALWAYS book a hotel half way. I think social services would certainly think you were being silly.

dondo

Me and my family (girl of 2 and a half and son of 10 months) live in yorkshire but my side of the family are up in Scotland and my wife's family are down in Cornwall- so quite a geographic spread and a few long journeys.

The journey up to /down from Scotland is about 4-5 hours depending on stops etc. and what we do on that is take the kids to a soft play centre in the morning to give them a bit of a run around (well for my 2 year old anyway) have a bit of lunch then off up north.

For the journey to/from Cornwall- we normally break that journey with a stay at a Premier Inn - only thing is that with 4 of us in the room my daughter doesn't settle too well. Earlier this year we tried the journey back in one. We left Cornwall about 4/5pm after tea and then stopped at some services about 8pm to get changed into PJ's and do milk and stories and got back home about midnight and that went OK- my son slept for the vast majority of it and whilst my daughter took a while to get off to sleep she wasn't being awkward or anything- we just chatted and read stories etc.

We do have an in car DVD player which we use to keep them occupied (not for all of the journey just for certain parts) and that really works well.

We are off to Cornwall next month and are planning in ddoing it in a oner there and back but the plan is to stop about lunchtime at a soft play centre so the kids can have some fun and that the journey doesn't seem such a pain.

Not sure if that helps at all or not

RoxieW

I would not do that sort of a journey with a young child. They will be very uncomfortable sat in a wet or dirty nappy unless you are planning on stopping every hour to check? They will also need regular drinks, snacks etc and will be very uncomfortable and bored.
We travelled 3 hrs in the car with a stop half way and that was enough!! I'd give family a miss or let them come to you tbh.

bestpud

:eek:

RoxieW wrote: »

I would not do that sort of a journey with a young child. They will be very uncomfortable sat in a wet or dirty nappy unless you are planning on stopping every hour to check? They will also need regular drinks, snacks etc and will be very uncomfortable and bored.
We travelled 3 hrs in the car with a stop half way and that was enough!! I'd give family a miss or let them come to you tbh.

You check your child's nappy hourly and change as soon as it gets wet!

If she poops they'll smell it, or she may tell them at 14 months, but if it is just wee then a change every hour is really not necessary.

mrcow

RoxieW wrote: »

I would not do that sort of a journey with a young child. They will be very uncomfortable sat in a wet or dirty nappy unless you are planning on stopping every hour to check? They will also need regular drinks, snacks etc and will be very uncomfortable and bored.
We travelled 3 hrs in the car with a stop half way and that was enough!! I'd give family a miss or let them come to you tbh.

It's a one year old kid!

If they are dirty - you'll be smelling it! You don't need to be "checking" anything.
If they are hungry, then they can eat something.
Or drink.

One year olds are able to spend more than 1 1 /2 hours in a car They don't get bored - just sit next to them and let them read or play with toys.

Woby_Tide

bestpud wrote: »

:eek:

You check your child's nappy hourly and change as soon as it gets wet!

If she poops they'll smell it, or she may tell them at 14 months, but if it is just wee then a change every hour is really not necessary.

I did wonder myself


We travel from the South Coast to the North West about 2 or 3 times a year. We've pretty much always just set off when they are due to sleep at 7pm, they tend to stay awake for the first 30 mins or so looking around then sleep. On a good run we'll normally be there by 11ish and transfer them to bed, via a nappy change. Now they are a bit older 2 and 4, we tend to set off a hour earlier and they can watch a bit of a DVD before sleeping.

The worst times we've done it has been during the day. Driving 2 hours, stopping for an hour and the same again just doesn't work. W ehave more trouble persuading them back in after that than them staing in one place asleep for 4-5 hours.

16 hours though...not a chance. Even with breaks and stopovers I can just see once you finally do arrive it being just as bad due to tiredness then looking forward to the reverse journey. I'd prefer to pay for the inconvenience of flights/car hire.personally

Nicki

mrcow wrote: »

It's a one year old kid!

If they are dirty - you'll be smelling it! You don't need to be "checking" anything.
If they are hungry, then they can eat something.
Or drink.

One year olds are able to spend more than 1 1 /2 hours in a car They don't get bored - just sit next to them and let them read or play with toys.

I did think that the post you are referring to was OTT, but nonetheless 16 hours of driving is a lot more than an hour and a half, especially at that age. I still feel the baby will be sore and uncomfortable after that period of time in the car. The adults will too but at least they will understand why they are doing it and have had some choice in the matter. I have two kids aged 8 and 9, and to be honest I wouldn't consider a 16 hour drive with them, much less two 16 hour drives a few days apart, in Christmas traffic, and they would be much easier to entertain with DVDs, snacks and drinks than a baby.

What are the guidelines for the maximum period a baby of this age should be in a car seat, does anyone know? I know that younger babies shouldn't be left in a car seat for more than 2 hours at a time because of their poor muscle tone and the risk of damage to the spine. Whilst a 14 month old can sit for longer, I'd be surprised if it was recommended that they sit for as long as OP is proposing.