Tips For Drive Down to DW?

[HLAuburn]

Unless some great airfare deal comes out, it looks like we're going to be driving down for our Nov trip. I'm not concerned about DD 5 since she does great in the car, but I'm a little worried about the baby, who will be 11 months. The drive is about 8 hours for us.

We were considering leaving early in the morning, like at 4am, in the hopes the kids will sleep for a few hours, but Im not sure how that will work out. I'm a worried about the whole thing!

Any tips on making the ride bearable, especially with a baby? Any good places to stop along the way down I-10/I-75?

Thanks!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Best plaything in the car is you! I would plan to spend at least part of the trip sitting in the back to try to entertain your little one. Sing and talk to her. Remember she can only see the back of the seat so that has got to get boaring. Take soft toys and only offer one at a time. Bribe your older daughter into spending some time playing with the baby when you need a break. Stop often and try to find a place that she can lay or crawl or walk just to change her position. Finger foods often start about that age and can be a life saver. The gerber melts are good and not messy. If she will sleep well in the car starting at 4am might be great. Just leave her in her PJs and try not to stop till both kids are awake!

good luck!

 

[peemagg]

You just might be surprised that with the motion of the car that the baby might sleep most of the time. I know my niece did at that age on long car trips.

 

[mahend0]

Unfortunately, we've driven down to Disney every visit, and each one of our 3 children made the long car trip, somewhere around in the baby and toddler stage at least once. Here are some things we've done over the years.

1. Go to the library and borrow some new finger play music for the CD player. They all enjoyed watching Mommy or Daddy singing and doing the motions for the "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where is Thumbkin", etc. Be thankful if you 11 month old does not yet sign "more" or say "again", or you will find yourself playing some songs until you just can't stand it.
2. Go to a used children's store and pick up new books (like to shop in the clearance bins before a trip) - board books with flaps and ones with musical buttons for the baby.
3. For your oldest, take a trip to the dollar store and pick up a few items for her. Wrap them and save them for the trip to give one at a time when needed. For your little one, hide a few favorite toys weeks before you leave and very loosely wrap them. Not only will they enjoy unwrapping them (may find the paper just as much fun as the toy), but will find joy in seeing an old favorite.
4. One year we also took the refrigerator magnet toys (like the Leapfrog letters) and small old metal cookie sheet. Suddenly the toys they had ignored for months, were so much more interesting.
5. Bring lots of little snacks to keep them busy when they get paricularly bored.

Oh, and make sure you save some of these tricks for the ride home. The ride home always seems so much harder. Good Luck!

 

[samshane]

We used to live in FL and would drive (8hr drive)... the DVD player in the car was the best thing ever for my kids. My son (the youngest) was just captivated. My girls were a bit older and we brought them things to draw and write with. And plenty of snacks (we also had to stop at a few rest stops - the kids liked to "stretch their legs"). I think I was the one who was the crankiest on the drive = the kids always did well!

 

[cheerforchelsea]

I have made the drive from Alabama down I-75 MANY times. We stop at all of the rest areas for a short break and have always felt safe there. My granddaughter's first trip to WDW was when she was 10 months old - we drove and she did fine - in fact she slept most of the way. It was a much more stressful drive when she was in her 2's!!! Have a great trip!!

 

[HLAuburn]

Thanks everyone for the words of wisdom! I'm feeling better about the drive already. I'm trying to look on the bright side by thinking about all the stuff we can load in the car without having to worry about getting it into a suitcase and weight limits and all that stuff.

As for the ride...unfortunately, there's no room in the back except for the seats, so I'm going to have to rely on older DD for a lot of the entertainment back there! We're going to plan on lots of breaks and not be in too much of a hurry to get down there.

And is it wrong to let a 1 year old watch DVDs on the way down?! I figured it might be something new to her, so hopefully it would keep her entertained a good part of the way.

Thanks again for the ideas!

 

[susykt4]

Is it wrong??? No! I mean, even if you don't own a tv or ever let your baby watch tv or videos, I think a long car trip is an exception! Anything to keep the peace! Anything.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Nothing at all "Wrong" with keeping her happy with a movie but as she will still be facing backwards at 11 mo, I am not sure how you will work that out. We tried a movie with DGS on a trip a little older than that but he really did not get into it at all. Maybe CD's you can sing along to her??

 

[tinkerfan1]

Disney music and DVDs (if able to do that somehow) are a great idea, I think. We have young grandchildren and they are captivated by anything Disney. The cartoon Chip&Dale, Pluto, Mickey, and Goofy shorts are big hits. Not just with them but with our youngest DS, DH, and myself!

 

[Jenny-momof3]

We make the 15 hour drive with multiple kids and I actually find it less stressful for me than flying! Our next 2 trips we will have our 4th baby with us and he will be approx. 10 weeks the first trip and 5 months the 2nd trip.

We drive straight through. Tons of snacks in the car, movies, games, etc. My van is beyond trashed by the time we arrive.

Try and not stress about it....I'm sure it will go just fine.

 

[minnie1012]

We just did the drive from NJ in September with a 6 year old and a 13 month old, so 8 hours sounds like a short trip to me! I was very worried about the trip with the baby and she did much better than I thought. She had some problems with gas but she has acid reflux and always has problems with gas so we had to stop a few times to take her out for a bit. She napped and looked at her sister or out the window most of the time. She isn't really into TV yet so the Sesame street DVD's didn't interest her but she did like the baby Einstein videos alot. My older daughter was really good at entertaining her as well. I also brought a ton of her favorite toys that I pulled out when needed.

 

[la79al]

Don't hold your breath for the DVD to save you. I know my DD showed absolutely no interest in tv at that age. Leave as early as you possibly can so the kids will sleep for much of the ride. Keep in mind that more stops does not necessarily make a better ride as your little one will be ecstatic to get out of the carseat and then throw a huge fit when she realizes she has to go back in. If your older DD is into something like My Little Ponies, give her some of those to play with in the backseat. Your little one will like watching big sis play (especially if she plays with them on the edge of the carseat) and then if it is something bigger, sis can give her one too. Take plenty of snacks, but again make sure it is something both kids can eat. I know my DD would throw a fit if the bigger ones were eating something that she could not have. For your bigger one, if she has some kind of handheld game, get her some headphones and let her play that while the baby sleeps. We did a 17 hour ride in March when DD was 10 months old and she did GREAT! We left in the afternoon so she had some play time, nap time, more play time, stopped for dinner and some stretch time and then she was pretty much ready for bed. I'm sure your kiddos will surprise you and do great. If not, it's just a car ride, it won't last forever. Good luck!

 

[mupt02]

Our trip to WDW next summer will be our longest drive with the kiddos. However, we have done 1100 mile trips on a few occasions. At that age, we have found they sleep most of the trip. We plan extra time and make lots of stops just to let the kids out and play. Bring plenty of snacks and drinks and don't be in a hurry. For us, it has always been more difficult to keep our toddlers entertained. We are planning on taking 3-4 days for our 1800 mile trip to WDW next summer. The thing we keep in mind is for us, even with the extra time, driving is much easier than flying. We can bring all of our own stuff, we get to to spend extra time with the kiddos, and it is actually cheaper even with the extra meals, gas, and hotels.