Road trip with a baby who does not travel well

[*EJ*]

We are about to go away for easter and from what i'm aware of the trip will be about 7-8 hours in the car.

Now that it's getting closer i'm starting to get really nervous about it and i am really wondering if we are totally crazy even attempting it with a 4, 2 & 4mth old. The boys i think will hopefully do as well as can be expected with some toys and movies but i'm really worried about my 4month old.

Right from the beginning she has never travelled well. From a newborn up until now majority of the trips are with her screaming at the top of her lungs to the point where she is making herself cough. At 7weeks we diagnosed silent reflux so i'm assuming that was making her quite uncomfortable in the early weeks but car travel really hasn't gotten any better.

If she sleeps in the car it's a total of one sleep cycle and then she'll start whinging and work her way up to screaming. I've tried so hard to work in with her feeds and sleeps and it really just doesn't seem to be making a difference.

I'm going to take her to the dr's before we head off and medically i really don't know what he'll say but i'm not sure what else i can do... if anything...

Just wondering if anyone has any tips from expereince? I need them for driving around home just as much as going on our holiday

If money allowed i'd probably have flown with her while DH drove with the boys but the fligths were a rediculous price and we just can't afford it.

[ladybird11]

On our road trip to Melbourne when DD was 10mths old we made the actual trip over, part of the holiday IYKWIM.

Stopping at a few sites etc, give her the chance to have a crawl / roll around on a picnic rug etc. And we left really early in the morning so we could still complete the trip over on the first day (as we were only going over for 4 days). DD also went virtually back to sleep once we hit the road too - so that was quite good.

But once we hit Ballarat she lost it and the rest of the trip in was a bit of a hair puller, but rather it happen with only an hour left of the journey and not 4 hours .

Good luck!

[tellytubby]

I like Leesa's sugestion.
Make the trip, part of the holiday. Try not to rush, allow her time out of her carseat to look at the trees. Stop and have lunch, smoko.

My DD was very much the same, I found that things that wern't a toy, were awesome for the car.
We used things like... An unopened packet of samboy chips, they ruffle and make funny sounds, babies love it! Then when the interest begins to fade, eat the chips, and open the packet out, and quickly scrunch it up to a ball infront of her, repeat over and over. My DD freaking loved this! lol. A remote control (lol). Mobile phone. Potato masher. I had a bag in the car especially for long trips.

Oh yeah, and just try to relax! The more stressed you are - the more horrible the trip will be. Take a deep breath and just have a laugh when all else fails

HTH and happy easter!

[*EJ*]

Thanks ladies there is a few ideas there for me to try.

Leesa i do see what you're saying about making the trip part of the holiday it's makes sense especially with kids, i think i'll get DH onto doing some research about stops that the kids could get a bit of enjoyment out of along the way.

tellytubby i will have to try and find a few distrations like you said, it's a bit tricky though as DD is still so young but i'll try anything.

I think her reflux is playing up because car trips these last few days are terrible, she's screwing her face up and whinging when i'm strapping her in. I'm going to try get a dr appt tomorrow to see if we need to increase her dose again.

Thanks for the suggestions all this stressing and maybe she'll be an absolute angel for us, history doesn't suggest that but we'll see...

[tellytubby]

tellytubby i will have to try and find a few distrations like you said, it's a bit tricky though as DD is still so young but i'll try anything.
..

Give it a go, my DD wasn't much older than yours (maybe even slightly younger) when we discovered the samboy packet, lol.

[luna moth]

Snap... we're doing the same thing - eeeeek! I know our little girl is much much better at highway driving than city driving, although today she fell asleep in the burbs, but like you, just one sleep cycle. We're planning to just do that - drive til she sleeps, then stop for a play when she wakes up.

We also have a huge range of texture toys and taggie type things, sometimes they buy us a few minutes. We're going to give a new carseat a go too.

Hopefully by the end of 14 days road tripping she's better at it!

[*EJ*]

Tellytubby will defininately give the chip packet a go then

Audax lets just hope for the best hey?? Pack all we can think of that might work and just relax and enjoy.

I was having a chat to DH about the trip tonight and we're trying to put together a few idea/stratagies for the long drive

[luna moth]

I'm thinking one of those mirror type things might be good. Where do you even get them?!

[*EJ*]

Yes true, i have one on her floor gym, maybe i'll take that. Otherwise just search the toy stores for mirror type toys.

I've had DD's zantac dose increased so hopefully we see a decrease in her grumpiness and the dr pretty much just said the same as you ladies in that to just use distraction. He mentioned kids often get better in the car once you can turn them but DD is way too young to turn yet. We'll just have to grin and bare it and make it as fun as possible. Thanks all xo

[starangelk]

EJ - check the recline of your car seat, while yuor DD can't be turned yet (we haven't turned our DD at 10 months either) apaprently there are a few recline positions for some seats so that might help. I also second the idea of night driving, not so good for you and DH but at least one of you can sleep while the other one drives and the kids may settle more easily as well. A mirror is fabulous as is toys hung from the handrail just inside the door of the car. We've got a long caterpillar thing and then a lamaze toy hanging off that and she loves to chew on the dangle arms and make the crinkle noises etc. A kids CD can also help, it's amazing what a happy upbeat song she is used to hearing at home will do for them. Music is fabulous for mood changing. Other than that, just constant breaks..........easier said than done I know. Good Luck!!

[tellytubby]

How was the trip?

[*EJ*]

Hi tellytubby the trip as a whole was great thanks for asking

Little Miss handeled it quite well. The trip there was much better than we expected and she slept and whinged quite a bit less than i'm used to. We stopped and let the boys run around and also to feed and let her have a strecth too. We left at 6:30 and arrived at our destination at about 3pm i think. So what should be a 7hr drive took us about 2 extra hours when allowing for stops.

On the way home was a bit of a different story. Lots more unsettledness and heaps of distractions that didn't always work. I think she was just overtired from a big week. I think on the way home it took about 3 or so extra hours. All was good though we did our best and it was just coaxing her through until we were finally home.

Loved the holdiday and would do it again as soon as we get the chance. Thanks so much for your help