Thinking of driving down with an infant. Crazy?

[Kathy T]

Hello, all.
We are thinking of taking a late August trip down from NJ with our 5 year old son and 8 month old daughter. We know our son will be fine because he has made the trip twice already. However, has anyone traveled this distance with an infant before? Is it worth it? Any advice or suggestions?
Thanks!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Any advice or suggestions?

I assume that your son wasn't this young on his two previous trips ?
As long as one adult is prepared to deal with any issues that the infant may have while the other adult drives then you should be ok. However, if you're changing drivers to allow maximum concentration on the road, the resting driver will have to be prepared to stay awake to watch the young one instead of sleeping.
It's not an ideal situation but probably more cost effective than flying

 

[Schneewittchen]

You'll be fine. I started taking my kids on long road trips when they were about 5 - 6 months old. Are you going in one long run or splitting it into 2 days?

Use the extra absorbent night diapers while you're driving to help deal with avoiding leaks.
Sit the kids next to each other so your son can entertain the baby, be your helper, etc.

 

[tor29c]

The easiest cross country road trip I ever made was with a 6 month old. They still take long naps and are generally quite pleasant when awake. You'll be fine! Fine a great trip!

 

[Bryan Slater]

I have made the trip with my 8 month old son from Pa to Disney before. Try leaving towards the afternoon and try driving through the night. That way they are sleeping must of the trip. Have one parent sit in the back that way if something comes up someone is there to help. I another idea would try leaving a day early and stoping half way down. Maybe myrtle beach. That way you get the beach and Disney. Plus it's in the middle about.

 

[Kathy T]

I have made the trip with my 8 month old son from Pa to Disney before. Try leaving towards the afternoon and try driving through the night. That way they are sleeping must of the trip. Have one parent sit in the back that way if something comes up someone is there to help. I another idea would try leaving a day early and stoping half way down. Maybe myrtle beach. That way you get the beach and Disney. Plus it's in the middle about.

We were thinking of doing the drive through the night. Just hoping we can stay awake! Figured we could always stop, if needed. I'm just worried about my son not going to sleep.
Thanks for the advice!

 

[Kathy T]

Thanks for all the advice! I think we're going to do it!

 

[Lexie]

Hello, all.
We are thinking of taking a late August trip down from NJ with our 5 year old son and 8 month old daughter. We know our son will be fine because he has made the trip twice already. However, has anyone traveled this distance with an infant before? Is it worth it? Any advice or suggestions?
Thanks!

I think you will be fine! We are driving down with our 5, 3 and 11 month old in August from CT! We have done it with our older two (3 and 18 months at the time). We left right after dinner and drove through the night. They did great!

 

[DizneyPryncess]

We just got back from Disney with our 13 month old son and 4 year old daughter. We drove to Florida when our son was about 7 months old as well. All kids are different, so it's hard say how it will be for anyone else, but we thought it went great. We usually leave very early in the AM so the kids will sleep for a while. We stop for meals at sit down restaurants, for longer breaks, rather than fast food. The trip is split into 2 days, so we stop somewhere halfway. Dual DVD players in the car is a must for us. This is more for our daughter, as our son really doesn't watch much tv. He will watch Bubble Guppies though, so we have some DVD's of those. Mostly it's just sleeping, pit stops, and movies. I actually kind of enjoy the trip!

We took the autotrain on Sunday back from Florida to Virginia, and then drove home from there. It was a nice change of pace - I think we'll stick to driving until our son is older though. Good luck if you decide to try it!

 

[wdisneyw2000]

We have taken our kids at a young age as well you should be fine. look foreward to more stops, but every stop what helped us was letting the little ones get out & stretch & move legs that helps alot. DVD players or even music helps also for the long trips. Aug trip will be hot another tip that helped us would be as soon as you can at disney because they are bigger, get the mister fans they helped us alot & my disney kid's loved them. You might not like the kids getting soaked, or you might not care, either way when it helps keep them cool & entertained, makes for happier children. But we drive every year from Central PA & we did fine. Be sure to let the little ones out extra time on every stop to keep the blood flowing in the legs & it helps keep them from feeling cooped up. Enjoy your trip

 

[MKgirl85]

we are doing it in Sept from Mass to Disney with a 2 year old, it will be an experience im sure but we plan on leaving in the afternoon so hopefully it goes okay

 

[Belle_MTL]

My brother has done the drive from Montreal to WDW twice with infants and had no issues with either kids both times.

 

[DiSnEyF@n]

I think you will be fine! We are driving down with our 5, 3 and 11 month old in August from CT! We have done it with our older two (3 and 18 months at the time). We left right after dinner and drove through the night. They did great!

Did they sleep all night???

 

[WDWDreamer4]

We have driven to WDW from PA for the last 7 years. Our oldest will be 7 this year. We have done the drive with a 5 week old in 2009, that was because we missed the auto train. However he did great and we stopped so I could nurse him about every 2-3 hours. Last year we had DS 6, DD 4, and DD 13 months. The baby fell asleep around 10 PM and slept the whole ride! We leave right after dinner, let the kids watch some movies and then around 9:30-10 stop for potty break and after that it is lights out. All the kids did great! The easiest has been when the kids were around 6-12 months cause they weren't nursing as much but would sleep long stretches and 12-18 months, when they were done nursing and slept through the night.
Good luck you can do it! And it saves so much over flying!

 

[buseegal]

driving thru the night doesn't work with our youngest grandson as he will not sleep in carseat. not Disney but at our last Christmas trip to Tn at 2 did not sleep at all the whole night. his 3 brothers slept the whole trip. finally fell asleep in his stroller walking around Dollywood. and we were driving from Pa

 

[DrummerAlly]

I think you're all insane. God bless you all.

We live in MA and drive to southern NJ regularly. 6 hours is the limit for my 3 year old and 1.5 year old in the car. After 6 hours everyones cranky regardless of how much they've slept, eaten, etc. and cranky kids makes for cranky adults. You force yourself to stay awake all night, and your kids get there rested and you're exhausted - how the heck do you rest?

My husband and I are obviously travel weaklings.

 

[Lexie]

Did they sleep all night???

Yes!!

 

[ScarletBegonias]

We drove from Maryland when our DD was 15 months again this April when she was 22months. The DVD player saved us!! She loved it and it gave her something to do when she got bored. We take bags of toys, and snacks and she does extremely well in the car. We get her our every stop and let her run around a bit. She doesn't like sleeping in the car seat, so we stop before it gets too late and get good rest in a hotel.

It can be done as long as your have kids that don't mind the car!

 

[Scoppin]

I have been debating between driving from Ottawa, Canada and flying. Driving would save me some money but would have to stop once or twice along the way. We do have a DVD player in the van which gets used a lot on trips of 5-8 hours. this would be a longer trip. We also generally pack a number of snacks and sandwiches when we do these trips. But getting out to stretch is a good idea. I would not be able to drive all night as I would be the only adult. But my two are a little older, 8 & 10, and they will sit in the back together so they can entertain each other. Flying I was thinking of staying at a hotel before and after the flight in order to be close to the airport and have somewhere to park. So, an extra hotel stay or two would be a lot cheaper than flying.

There is a couple of up sides if driving. I haven't told my kids of the trip as of yet. We are going in September. I am trying to keep it a surprise for about as long as I can. Driving I could probably keep it a secret until we get to WDW gates. The other is, also thinking of renting a car while there to go to Busch Gardens in order to allow my daughter to feed the giraffes if she can't at AK.

The down side is my daughter has not flown yet and really wants to go on a plane. Maybe she would be happy with 'just' WDW.

 

[Scoppin]

Okay this is going to be a strange question, but remember this is coming from a Canadian. Since I have been thinking of driving down to save a little money on the trip for the trip, it has come to my attention that I would pass through a number of tolls. Here is my strange question, do the tolls only take American coins? This may sound strange but I know the quarters are made differently and sometimes they work in pop machines and sometimes they don't. Just wondering if I need to start saving up America coins.

Thank you for any responses.