# 8 hr car ride w/2 month old...doable?



## GuavaGirl (May 6, 2008)

We're planning to visit some family with our 2 month baby and I'm just wondering if there's anything wrong with taking him on such a long ride. It's 8 hrs driving time (will take longer with stops, of course). He pretty much just falls asleep in the car and fusses when its time to eat. So far, he did pretty well on a 1 1/2 hr and a 4 hr car ride.

Any thoughts?


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## woodchick (Jan 5, 2007)

I wouldn't have any issues with that at all. Our road trip mantra is "pee while you can because we ain't stopping this car if the baby's sleeping!"


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## Amigagirl (Mar 13, 2010)

We did a 10 hr car trip to see my parents when our daughter was 2 months old. We were dreading it but she seriously slept most of the time and we stopped 2 x to feed and change her and once for me. It was easy-breezy. She is now 6 months old and we are supposed to go next month and I`m thinking that it will be a totally different experience as she wakes up in the car now on the way home from Costco, crying and upset. I think 2 months old though is a good age to do a longer trip like that....


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## wholewheatchick (Mar 1, 2009)

We just did an 11 hr drive with my sister and her 3 week old baby, and he was a champ! We stopped more often than normal, but I think we were all glad for the excuse to stretch our legs.







We also made sure to lay him flat on the (regular) seat whenever we stopped (after eating and diapering) so that he could stretch, too.


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## Mamabeakley (Jul 9, 2004)

I would do it if I could sit next to baby and nurse (all buckled in). My babies don't fall asleep automatically in carseats, though - they scream automatically unless nursed to sleep.


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## 34me (Oct 2, 2006)

My ds was 10 days old when we went 15 hours and 3.5 weeks when we came back.


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## LindsC (Dec 16, 2008)

That's a great age to do long drives if they sleep well in their carseat since they will most like just wake up to eat.


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## Plarka (Jul 1, 2008)

I've heard babies shouldn't be in a car seat more than 2 hours, so just make sure yous top a lot and get the baby out for a bit.

http://www.babycentre.co.uk/baby/saf...atsleepexpert/


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## KistheMum (Apr 20, 2010)

When our daughter was that age, it was a trek from Texas to New Mexico and then to Canada.

I followed the every 2 hours rule. It makes for a long drive time, but I didn't want to risk anything leaving her belted in for too long.

If I had to do an 8 hour drive with an 8 week old today... You could probably make it in one day, but you can basically figure on stopping for 45 minutes to an hour every two hours. I would rather arrive well-rested and with everybody in a good mood. I would split it into 2 days even if the second day was only 2 hours.


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## mamadelbosque (Feb 6, 2007)

Sure, why not? Hopefully he/she will sleep most of the time, and you'll just have to stop a couple times to nurse/change diapers


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## desertgirl01 (Nov 11, 2009)

We did trips that long a couple of times by that age. We typically stop every two hours or so, because we travel with dogs, and because my husband has a bladder the size of a walnut. For us, it is easier for me to sit in the front seat, since in the back with the baby, she'll scream because she sees me and want out of the seat so badly.


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## Ruby2 (Aug 18, 2009)

You can do it! I second the idea that it will be much easier if you just mentally prepare to stop every two hours for an hour or so. If you're trying to make it faster than that, it could prove to be a frustrating/stressful experience.

We did a similar trip a few weeks ago when dd was about 3 months. We perfected the technique of pausing so that the passenger could jump out of the car to grab something to eat or go to the bathroom while the other person circled the parking lot in the car... There was no way we were going to risk waking her up if it had only been an hour!


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## elmh23 (Jul 1, 2004)

We did a six hour drive when ds1 was 2 months old and it went great. He slept a good amount of time, didn't cry (but he never was a crier really.) We stopped more often then every 2 hours, but that's because we had a 2 year old and I was still having some complications from his birth.

My second son was born the same day as yours (happy 2 month birthday!) and I wouldn't hesitate to take him on the drive! In fact, it's a little weird to me not to be going somewhere right now


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## belltree (Mar 10, 2009)

It would have been absolutely terrible with our guy. He hate cars and carseats. Plus feedings were taking 30min plus at that time every 2hrs, no way would I have gone on such a trip.

But, every baby is different


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## mommy212 (Mar 2, 2010)

my 2 months old at this last christmas did great on our drive to atlanta, about 8 hours from here. He slept so soundly the entire time that we had to wake him up to eat and get changed. And he still slept at night! lol.


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## ASusan (Jun 6, 2006)

Our long trip with a 6 week old was also to Atlanta. We did stop about every 2 hours because that's how long a diaper lasted - and he needed to nurse. The main problem was my ever-leaking breasts. I brought plenty of small towels. The seatbelt contributed to a plugged duct.


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## MrsMcC (Feb 25, 2008)

I expected the worst when taking my 11wk old to Florida recently, but it went really well. She only cried 15 min the whole way down, b/c I couldn't find a place to pull over and feed her fast enough, and same thing on the way back, but a bit more crying (1.5 hours total), b/c we were driving up the scenic coastal hwy, and no place seemed safe to pull over. I didn't know about the 2 hour rule- hope I didn't do her any harm. What's the reason, does anyone mind to tell? We stopped pretty regularly anyway.


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