should we fly or drive w/10 month old infant?

[kylie&haley'smom]

our dd will be 10 months when we go to wdw in nov. we can't decide if we should drive or fly?? would she be able to handle being in a car seat that long? any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nicholas 25]

If you are comming from TX I wouldn't drive with a 10 month old that distance. We took our boy to disney for the first time at 10 months. It was a 2 hour plane ride which we scheduled to be around a nap time for him and gave him a pacifier or bottle for the take off and landing. No problems as long as you plan. He is now 2 1/2 and going on trip 4 on sunday. good luck

 

[laceemouse]

We have four kids and have driven all over the place with them at all ages. We moved up here from Florida and have driven back there to visit several times. Driving from Texas sounds like a piece of cake to me, one day only!!!! It all depends on your time and money, and the temperment of your child. From personal experience I can say driving is really not that bad, but I don't like to fly anyway!!!

 

[Denine]

We drove in January with our then 3-1/2 month old and again in May with our 7-1/2 month old. We have a little over 1000 miles each way.
You just have to know your baby and be prepared for longer rest stops.
We are driving again in October and December.

We do not like to fly.

 

[CEDmom]

I personally would fly on any trip that would take long than 8-10 hrs to drive. We flew back from Hong Kong (16 hrs) with DD when she was 10 mo so flying with a baby doesn't faze me.

 

[K and K's Mommy]

We have always flown with our kids to Florida (and once to Alaska). They have both always been fine. That said, we just drove the 15 hours this past April. It was much better than I expected, and I loved having a cooler in the room and lots of breakfast and snack items. However, I am going to recommend flying to you because at ten months the baby will still be turned backward. I would think she might get very bored which with my kids always means cranky. We watched a lot of Wiggles on the car DVD player! You know your baby best. If you think she would sleep a lot, driving is doable.

 

[disneysteve]

We drove with our daughter when she was 5-1/2 months old, and several time since then. 17 hours of travel time plus an overnite stop each way in the Carolinas. She has been great each time. Be sure to make a stop every 2-3 hours and let her get out and stretch and play a bit. What we did (which your dd is probably too big for) was take out the center row of seats from our van - put down some carpet - and brought her exersaucer. At rest stops, we let her roll around a bit and play in the exersaucer. She had a ball and tolerated the trip just fine.

If you like to drive, go for it. It saves money plus its far easier because you can bring along all the stuff you need when you have an infant (diapers, food, wipes, toys, etc.) without having to worry about packing everything for the plane.

Steve

 

[Desnik]

We have driven down with our daughter when she was 9mo, and many times since. A child that age has lots of stuff you need to bring with you!!! With driving you could bring whatever you need and not worry about lugging it around an airport with the baby, stroller, carseat, etc, etc. No worry about damaging things, or broken baby food bottles. We always drive and DD never has given us a hard time. Your 10 mo will probably sleep alot on the drive and you can stop at the rest areas to stretch and play. We always reccomend driving, we love it and you really save $$$$$. Having your own car and carseat while there also helps. You can drive through the night that way baby will be sleeping for the longest part of the drive, if you and hubby can stay awake driving and taking turns. Or, you can drive all day, then sleep over one night in SC or Georgia and then a shoter drive the next day to WDW. Just bring lots of toys. You could bring a cooler with drinks and lunch and have a picnic at one of the rest stops. Even though your DD will be still facing the back in her carseat, she can still look out the window "sight seeing". My DD loved looking at the cars passing at that age. You and hubby can take turns sitting in the back with her, maybe reading her stories or just playing with her.
I say go, drive and have a great time!!!

 

[phamton]

Originally posted by laceemouse
Driving from Texas sounds like a piece of cake to me, one day only!!!!

Well the mileage one way from Houston to Orlando is around 1000 miles, hardly a days drive. Brownsville, TX is around 1300 miles and El Paso, TX is 1700 miles form Orlando. We've driven several times to Orlando from Victoria, Texas and we are only about 1100 miles. Luckily, we'll be driving it for the last time as we are moving to Orlando in 3 days. And I've already changed my location on my profile in anticipation.

Bev