kittyklawz
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 17, 2017
As for the 15 hour drive, good for you! I've been a kid and an adult on long car rides like that. The first thing I will say is, your attitude (and that of all the other adults in the car) is key. If you view it as an adventure, your child will probably enjoy car rides their whole life. If you (or others) view it as a hassle, then you will have a fussy, cranky 1 year old the whole trip. Of course there might be some crankiness anyway. So make sure you bring plenty of patience.
What time of day do you plan to go? For a 15 hour (ish) trip, you basically have three options (listed in order of how experienced you are with long car rides).
1) Leave in the morning, drive 8 hours, stop overnight somewhere. Do it again the second day.
2) Get up VERY early in the morning, and drive the whole way straight (stopping for food, of course, but not for sleep.)
3) Leave in the afternoon, drive all night long. (This way requires multiple experienced drivers.)
Now I can already hear some people saying 15 hours in a car with a 1 YO without stopping at a hotel is crazy, but hey, they probably think just driving that far with a 1 YO is crazy anyway. It's really more about how comfortable you are with long drives than your child. The first option breaks it up, and could feel less stressful. Or it could feel more drawn out. If you have the time, you could combine this with a day trip at the 8 hour location to extend your vacation in either direction. #2 gets the trip over in a single day, while still giving you daylight most of the way. It helps to have two drivers for this, but it is not needed. I used to do 14 hour drives from NJ to Indiana, 6 times a year for 7 years, and I could do it in one stretch by myself. It makes the 6-8 hour drives I do now with my wife and sons feel like nothing. It helped that I had been doing long car rides with my parents since I was 1 YO. #3 actually would be easiest from a driving perspective. Less traffic, less heat, less sunglare. This would actually be the easiest for your 1 YO too, since they will probably sleep most of the night. (my kids LOVED sleeping in the car, but YMMV). But you'd need at least two drivers, preferably ones that are good sleeping in the car. That is how my parents would do it. One would drive, one would sleep, then halfway through the night, they'd reverse it. When my sister and I were of driving age, we would do three shifts so one person would be awake with the driver. Theoretically, you can drive forever like this, with the three of you switching off regularly.
In the end, you'll have to do it the way that makes the most sense to you, but do try to view it as an adventure, not a chore. Have a great time!
My mom and I have done multiple drives from Idaho to California since we are from there originally. My fiancé also has done long drives from Idaho to Illinois, so they will be doing the driving and I get to just sit back and relax (haha map duty). Since I am a FTM I've never experienced traveling with a baby lol. We would probably either split it into 2 days, or get up really early and drive the whole way in one go, depending what they want to do. I've read that driving at night can be a good option but I don't think my mom would want to do that one. What are good tips for keeping the baby entertained while on the journey? iPad? Toys?