Tips for Infant Car Trips (Mom-to-Mom #18)
June 3, 2009 by Angela White, J.D., breastfeeding counselor
Filed under Mom-to-Mom, advantages of breastfeeding, mothering, travel
This latest installment in the Mom-to-Mom question and answer series deals with advice for families planning a car trip with a baby. After reading The Value of Traveling with Your Baby, reader Christina asked the following question:
I am actually taking my first trip with my 4 month old this weekend to a wedding. It will be a 7 hour car drive – any advice for the car trip? And on a tangent – any advice for breastfeeding in a dress or am I doomed for separates?
Great question! When my first daughter was four months old we drove from Boston to Detroit and the trip went really well. Car trips with a baby take just a little advance planning. Hopefully other readers will chime in with their advice, after I get started with these tips:
1. Build in extra time for the trip. I have learned from experience that car trips with an infant generally take one and a half times longer than usual. Unless you’ve got a champion “car sleeper” whose tendency is to sleep whenever the car is in motion, you must build in time for additional stops. Diaper changes, nursing sessions, and much needed break time add up faster than you first think they will. So that 7-hour car trip might well take 10.5 hours. If it takes less than that you will be pleasantly surprised, but if it takes that long or longer at least you will have anticipated that and do not have to feel pressured or stressed out.
2. Plan your departure time accordingly. Not only do you need to build in extra time for the trip, you also need to determine the optimal time of departure. If your baby sleeps well in the car at night, then perhaps you want to consider starting out shortly before bedtime. If your baby is like mine and despises being in the car in the dark, you naturally want a morning departure. The key is to maximize the amount of time the baby will sleep in the car. So leave when the baby will be happy for a bit as the adventure starts, and then have sleep time in the car.
3. Make sure the car seat is safe and comfortable. Does your baby need a head rest or a rolled up receiving blanket so that car naps don’t cause a stiff neck?
My baby in her car seat
4. Bring the favorite toys and some new ones too! Of course you wouldn’t leave without baby’s favorite blanket, chew toy, or pacifier. It can help to have some new toys to introduce when your baby gets bored with everything else. For older babies who can eat solid foods, food can become excellent entertainment. Cheerios, grape quarters, bits of cheese — anything that can be doled out one by one to draw out the entertainment value!
5. Music can be a lifesaver. A few of my favorites are the folksy The Sun Upon the Lake Is Low
6. Never stop the car when the baby is sleeping! Plan gas stops and food breaks for when the baby is awake. Don’t be forced to stop when your baby is sleeping or you waste that precious time!
7. Consider the best seating arrangements. If someone besides you can drive, then consider whether it will be better for you to be next to your baby in the back seat, or if being able to see you just makes your baby want to get out of the car seat.
8. Go with the flow. If you’re traveling with another adult as well, it’s important that you both are on the same page about the time you think the trip will take, where you plan to stop for diaper changes and nursing sessions (i.e., is your partner prepared to stop as soon as the baby is crying, no matter if it’s not at the rest stop you were aiming to reach?), and what you will do if the baby simply needs a break from driving. The more the both of you are willing to go with the flow, the more pleasant the trip will be.
As for nursing in a dress, you’ve got four options: (1) buy a nursing dress, (2) wear a wrap dress or one with a loose neckline or arms holes that can be pulled to the side for nursing, (3) wear separates, or (4) wear a regular dress but be prepared to go someplace private to hike it up or unzip it to nurse. I’ve done all those things at different times and find I prefer the options that allow me not to have to leave the action, especially for a wedding!
Mom-to-Mom Advice
I’d love to hear what others have done to help make car trips go smoothly. Did you find the trip took longer than expected? What advice do you have? Leave a comment!
Planning a few stops to walk around can be very helpful. Whenever I am about to leave town, I always have a list of a few more items that we need from Target for the trip–instead of going the day before the trip, we go DURING the trip. That way, we all get out of the car for a little walk around. This is really great during the winter months when it is too cold and/or dark out to play at the reststops! I have also used this time to send my husband in with the list, while I stay in the car to nurse the baby. Also, it works great because how many times have you gotten 10 miles into your trip and you think of ten more items you have forgotten!
All of those are great tips. We’ve gone on several 13 hour road trips with my 1 year old daughter throughout the past year to visit my in-laws and for the most part they’ve all gone pretty smoothly. Make sure you have lots of wipies and an extra outfit on hand because for some reason babies tend to have explosive diapers at the most inopportune times!
As far as nursing in a dress goes, I bought a product called “Burp N Slurp” (just google that name) that is perfect for dresses and nursing in public in general. It works with most tops and dresses, especially ones that are a little bit more loose. Good luck!
Good tips! We were pleasantly surprised that our recent 9 hours trip only took about 10 1/2 hours with baby (7 months). We stopped at a fast-food restaurant with a play area, DH and I ate outside, we set a blanket down and let her play and kick out some energy. I think that helped a lot.
A wrap dress can give you some nursing leeway if you don’t want to buy a nursing dress–but still difficult to nurse discreetly without complete coverage with a blanket or otherwise. I was going to nurse my DD during the church service, but she started fussing so we just went into a stairwell and did it there.
Just looking at the picture of your daughter. Is she rear-facing? If so, I’m under the impression that for rear-facing, the straps should be at or lower than the shoulder level. Your daughter’s straps look too high to me. I could be wrong, but that has always been true of the seats I used, though I never used a Britax rear-facing. Hope you don’t mind me mentioning it, but I just happened to notice!
Trish, thanks for the info! I checked and the same is true for Britax rear-facing. I’ll take a look when I put my daughter in today and see if they still need to be adjusted.
Check out this one from Banana Republic.
This brown one from Shappy Apple is so sophisticate.
I like this button down (they call it tuxedo) dress.
I love the print on the Koi dress, so nice for a wedding.
I’ve also had success with low cut dresses by putting a tank or stretchy chemise underneath. I can lift the chemise and wiggle out of the low cut.
Just stay away from anything that says “shift dress.” That’s always code for “I have to pull this dress up to my neck and expose my entire body to feed my baby.”
I just wanted to tell you that I noticed that the straps on your daughter’s car seat might be too high. When a car seat is rear facing the straps should be either at or below the shoulders. When the seat is forward facing the straps should be either at or above the shoulders. Over 90% of car seats are used incorrectly. We had a family member seriously injured from a car seat being used incorrectly. Just wanted to have you check yours.
Thanks Diana! I have checked and the straps are appropriate now. Thank goodness nothing happened while I had them improperly placed!