Overnight vs. Daytime Drive

[chrisw127]

I'm wondering if I could get some input on your experiences of driving with kids during the night vs. during the day. I have three kids: twins who are two and a 7-year old. They're pretty good in the car but it's a 10 hour drive. I'm considering putting them in the car at bedtime and driving straight through (after a long nap for me, presumably) and then switching off with my husband at around 2:00 in the morning.

I love to drive, so that's not an issue and I usually stay up late. I'm just concerned about how the kids will handle either scenario. I think that even if we do the day drive and get them up early (say, 4:00 a.m.) they'll stay awake the entire day.

Thanks.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We drive from Ohio, it's 14-15 hours for us, depending on traffic/stops/etc. We've done it both ways, and we very much prefer to drive down through the night. The last three times, we've left after school and we arrive at WDW around 6:00 a.m. It works so very well for us. This last time, we stopped for dinner at a restaurant once we crossed the WV/VA border, and the boys went to sleep not long after we got back in the van. They slept until around Daytona, so it wasn't too long of a trip for them.

My DH does the large part of the driving, but I took two turns the last time so he could nap. He works part time on midnight shift, and he's a full time paramedic, and he's used to be up and out at night.

 

[kim_o]

I also like to do it at night. It's a 6-7 hour drive for me. I tend to keep the kids up during the day, no naps...eat an early dinner, and get in the car around 6pm. They're usually passed out by 7 pm and stay asleep the whole time. Only down side is that they tend to be wired by the time we get to the hotel and getting them back to sleep is a little difficult ;-)

 

[chrisw127]

I also like to do it at night. It's a 6-7 hour drive for me. I tend to keep the kids up during the day, no naps...eat an early dinner, and get in the car around 6pm. They're usually passed out by 7 pm and stay asleep the whole time. Only down side is that they tend to be wired by the time we get to the hotel and getting them back to sleep is a little difficult ;-)

Kim, that's the thing I want to avoid. The last time we drove we got in at midnight and one of my twins was up all night! I figure if we get in at around 8:00 am, the only downside is that we can't check in until later in the day, but at least they can run around all day and be worn out by their usual bedtime.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

We have tried both driving at night and driving during the day. Our favorite is to leave right after work/school and drive about half of the way and stay in a motel for the night - they everyone is rested and ready the next day. But if $$ is tight we leave home about 3AM and drive straight through. Usually everyone is asleep except the driver until about 7AM -- it is so dark there is nothing to do for the kids except sleep.

 

[wmharley]

I hate night driving.. the only time we attempted to do it early once was at 3am. We loaded everything up to go to NC andwere out by 4am... My DD (2 at the time) thought it was an adventure and stayed awake for 9 hours before crashing...

i'm popping Redbull and other drinks and she's naturally awake.. ugh.

 

[polkadotsuitcase]

I also like to do it at night. It's a 6-7 hour drive for me. I tend to keep the kids up during the day, no naps...eat an early dinner, and get in the car around 6pm. They're usually passed out by 7 pm and stay asleep the whole time. Only down side is that they tend to be wired by the time we get to the hotel and getting them back to sleep is a little difficult ;-)

This is exactly what happened to me when I drove straight through (from NC) with my then-11-month old. We left around 3pm, after a couple hours of driving he slept like an angel, and then when we checked in to the hotel just after midnight, he popped his eyes open and was ready to party while I was completely zonked!

But I stink at night driving anyway -- I'm a morning person all the way.

 

[mupt02]

We haven't done the drive to WDW yet, but we have done several other long drives. For us, it works better to drive during the day. Yes, it takes longer, but it is much easier on the kids which leads to a happier trip for everyone. My kiddos don't sleep for long periods of time in the car. They want to see and experience everything so they fight sleeping. It's ok for naps, but not for an overnight situation. We plan on a day or two extra (depending on length), stop frequently and get a hotel each night.
I think it just depends on your kids. If your kids sleep well in the car, then you can probably get away with driving over night. If not, then driving throughout the day is probably your better option.

 

[indimom]

We tried the night drive in Dec. 08 from Indiana to Orlando. Apparently we are TOO OLD for this now, because we only made it till 1 a.m. and had to stop. We wanted to take shifts, but the napper couldn't nap and the driver was sleepy... Go figure. Trading off didn't help, we just traded problems... I doubt we'll ever try again.

 

[chrisw127]

I hate night driving.. the only time we attempted to do it early once was at 3am. We loaded everything up to go to NC andwere out by 4am... My DD (2 at the time) thought it was an adventure and stayed awake for 9 hours before crashing...

i'm popping Redbull and other drinks and she's naturally awake.. ugh.

That made me laugh so hard I dropped my sandwich. My oldest is like that!

 

[chrisw127]

We tried the night drive in Dec. 08 from Indiana to Orlando. Apparently we are TOO OLD for this now, because we only made it till 1 a.m. and had to stop. We wanted to take shifts, but the napper couldn't nap and the driver was sleepy... Go figure. Trading off didn't help, we just traded problems... I doubt we'll ever try again.

This is my fear--what if I can't stay up like I used to? The more I think about it, the more I think it might be better to get out at 3:30 or so and hope they sleep.

I'd hate to be passed out a rest stop.

 

[jturling]

I`ve done overnight from NC straight through and split overnight stay with 6,8,10 year olds and my parents.My favorite was split.We left around 3:00 pm.Stopped around 6:00 for dinner. Got to Brunswick GA around 10:00PM.Stayed in hotel.Next morning at Disney by 12:30.About 4 hours left.I`m no speed demon.

 

[emma'smom]

I think I'm too old to do the drive all night thing. We would be falling asleep---

We drive to Hilton Head from Ohio every summer (12-14 hours depending on stops) and we've gotten into the habit of leaving really early in the morning (I like to leave by 4am, but my dh always pushes for 5:30ish). Anyway, once we're on the road---the kids sleep until breakfast time (so you get 4 or 5 hours under your belt) before it even seems like the day has started and then arrive late-afternoon at the destination in time to get checked in and settled.

 

[aksivers]

We just drove from NC and have children 2 and 8. We left at 730 pm stayed the night in Savannah, ate and got back on the road and were at disney by lunch time. On the way home we left at 8am and got home at 5pm on a Sunday. The kids were so tired from their week at Disney they slept from 12pm until we got home. We thought about going straight through overnight and we do that often when we drive to CT but know how tired we are the next day. We also brought Disney movies for them to watch in the car and lots of activities. Stickers and books for the two year old, DS and books for the older one-it helped to pass the time.

 

[xdanielleax]

We leave NC around 2am. It is about an 8 1/2 hour drive. Last time we stopped at Cracker Barrel for breakfast around 7am and then drove on and arrived at POP by like 1130. It was perfect for us and we are doing it that way again this year. My hubby does all the driving so he's just going to go to bed around 6 to get some extra rest. My daughter slept pretty much the whole way last time. I'm sure she will again.

 

[crysplefty]

We too have a 10 hr. drive to Disney. Last year we took our toddlers to Disney for the first time. They are very good in long car rides and very rarely take naps during the day, so they always fall asleep during our long trips. Last year our kids were 3 and 10.5 months and we decided to leave in the evening and drive as far as we could before the drivers of both vehicles were tired. It didn't work that way because our 3 year old started crying since he could not get comfortable while he was sleeping. So most of our trip was driven the next day. We leave in 6 days to go again (the same time we went last year). This time we are leaving at 2am and driving straight through only to stop to eat and to potty.

 

[stsomewhere]

We tried the night drive in Dec. 08 from Indiana to Orlando. Apparently we are TOO OLD for this now, because we only made it till 1 a.m. and had to stop. We wanted to take shifts, but the napper couldn't nap and the driver was sleepy... Go figure. Trading off didn't help, we just traded problems... I doubt we'll ever try again.

This is our problem, too.

 

[Becky2005]

I'm of the camp for getting up super early to start the drive say 3 AM vs. attempting to drive through the night.

My kids have been great travelers, so it's never been an issue. The only hard part was when they aren't really old enough to realize why they are having to be in their car seat AGAIN & don't realize there will be an end to it.

I just don't want to deal with wide awake children while I'm ready to fall over asleep. I also don't like to drive at night. I don't mind driving in the dark while it's getting lighter, usually in familiar areas since we are leaving our neighborhood, etc... vs. driving while it's light & then getting darker and as it gets darker I'm getting into more & more unfamiliar roads, etc...

My kids *easily* fell right back to sleep when we woke them up to get going last time. I think the oldest stayed up for a bit but she most definitely slept a lot of the trip too since it is pretty dark & they are still pretty groggy starting.

We have found that works best for us. We always have to split it into 2 days, so next time we are thinking of leaving after work & stopping earlier than we normally do. It will make the 2nd day a much longer drive but we may be able to squeak in arriving a day earlier (i.e. leave Friday night, drive all day Saturday to arrive late Sat. night versus our leaving at 3 AM Saturday & arriving on Sunday morning).

 

[DVCJones]

I'm of the camp for getting up super early to start the drive say 3 AM vs. attempting to drive through the night.

My kids have been great travelers, so it's never been an issue. The only hard part was when they aren't really old enough to realize why they are having to be in their car seat AGAIN & don't realize there will be an end to it.

I just don't want to deal with wide awake children while I'm ready to fall over asleep. I also don't like to drive at night. I don't mind driving in the dark while it's getting lighter, usually in familiar areas since we are leaving our neighborhood, etc... vs. driving while it's light & then getting darker and as it gets darker I'm getting into more & more unfamiliar roads, etc...

My kids *easily* fell right back to sleep when we woke them up to get going last time. I think the oldest stayed up for a bit but she most definitely slept a lot of the trip too since it is pretty dark & they are still pretty groggy starting.

We have found that works best for us. We always have to split it into 2 days, so next time we are thinking of leaving after work & stopping earlier than we normally do. It will make the 2nd day a much longer drive but we may be able to squeak in arriving a day earlier (i.e. leave Friday night, drive all day Saturday to arrive late Sat. night versus our leaving at 3 AM Saturday & arriving on Sunday morning).

We do the same thing, but we leave from MA. We like it because everyone is well rested and ready to go. We also love having the whole day on Sunday.

We ONCE did the 24 hr. ride straight through and we will never do it again. The kids slept great, however we were so tired and had to deal with kids who were extreme excited and ready to go go go.

 

[Legendofthehawk]

Hope it's not too late to chime in!


I've been doing long car rides since I could remember.. (my dad would drive from Chicago to 'Bama- 10-11 hours). We just did a long car ride with a 1 year old in 07.. We also left at night. Right after dinner, so he'd sleep through most of the trip which was fine. My DS has always been good in the car. Woke up every four hours to stretch, but nothing else.

This time around, we are going to be leaving at around noon. We have my DS, and my DD who isn't a good car traveler. But if we leave after lunch and the kids being ran around, they will likely take a long nap in the car. Stop for dinner, more running. Back on the road and straight through.

Last time with stops it was around 20 hours. We didn't get to Disney until 6, and it killed the day.