Long Road Trip with 18 Month Old - When would you leave?

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Hi ladies,

We're gearing up to go to Hilton Head, SC in August. It's about a 12+ hour drive. G is typically great in the car, but we haven't been on a road trip with him since last summer, when he was 6 mos old (and that was a 7 hour drive). We plan on breaking the trip up. We'd like to drive as far as we can the first day.

I thought about leaving around his bedtime (8pm) and driving most of the night, but I have concerns that we'll do that and he'll wake up at his typical 6a-7a. Casey and I would only have a few hours sleep and a whole lot more driving to do and I think that would be dangerous.

I also thought about leaving as soon as he wakes up in the morning. Or after he eats breakfast.

When it was just Casey and I, we'd leave around 8am and drive to the halfway point (Virginia, just above NC), then go to the movies or something. We're trying to find a stopping point that may have something fun for us to do like a lake or a state park. 

Have any of you found pros/cons with leaving in the night or in the early morning?

Is this just another one of those "it depends on the kid" type situations?  

lala5507

We are going to HHI is August too!  Anyway....Dh doesn't really like driving through the night so we tend to leave around 4am.   We like to get some driving in before we have to stop for breakfast.  The portable dvd player is a MUST HAVE. It really saves our sanity.  I'm hoping that the kids will fall back to sleep once we get them in the car since it will still be dark outside.

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That's a good option I didn't think of, he's a pretty heavy sleeper, so I think we could definitely get him into the car and get a few hours in before he woke up!

Unfortunately, G isn't really interested in TV, which is why I'm sort of dreading this. The thing that seems to keep his attention the most is Yo Gabba Gabba! so I downloaded a whole season of that for my iPad. But when he watches stuff on the iPad he's more interested in touching it and thereby closing the video app, than actually watching it.

 

ak111

We've always had good luck with driving to Myrtle Beach with Keefer going to sleep early the night before and then getting up around 3:00AM and driving straight through. That way he would fall back asleep in the car and our first 3 to 4 hours of driving would be with him asleep.  Then we would stop for breakfast at a place he could play and do one more stop to eat a late lunch at a rest stop where he could run around a bit.  That would get us there around 4 in the afternoon and allow for some time to run around and get some pent up energy out before bed.  With you breaking it up into two days though, you wouldn't have to leave so early.  I would go as soon as he wakes up or after breakfast.  It's probably very dependent on the kid but I know my kids are much happier in the mornings and I would rather be stuck in the car with them then. 

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When we go to Hilton Head, Myrtle, or Charleston we drive to Charlotte the first day (my sister lives there) which is 7 hours then make the remaining 3-5 hours on the next day. We only had a baby on day 2 but my sister made the Charlotte to Pgh drive the first time when my nephew was 3 months and he has always done really well.

I will say, last year our drive home was over 15 hours from HH. We hit major traffic at Lake Norman, NC and then again in Virginia. We literally went 4 miles in an hour in NC. Just a warning. We left Saturday and my parents left Friday and had no issues and actually made it home in 11 hours.

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kris356:

I will say, last year our drive home was over 15 hours from HH. We hit major traffic at Lake Norman, NC and then again in Virginia. We literally went 4 miles in an hour in NC. Just a warning. We left Saturday and my parents left Friday and had no issues and actually made it home in 11 hours.

This has happened to us a bunch of times too and there seemed no real cause for it! We plan on leaving Pittsburgh Friday and getting to HHI on Saturday ( we can't get into the house until 3pm on Saturday). We're coming home on a weekday (yet to be determined), so hopefully the traffic won't be too bad.

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ak111:

It's probably very dependent on the kid but I know my kids are much happier in the mornings and I would rather be stuck in the car with them then. 

Yes! He's awesome in the morning/early afternoon. Grouch face in the evening  

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ryanthegirl:

kris356:

I will say, last year our drive home was over 15 hours from HH. We hit major traffic at Lake Norman, NC and then again in Virginia. We literally went 4 miles in an hour in NC. Just a warning. We left Saturday and my parents left Friday and had no issues and actually made it home in 11 hours.

This has happened to us a bunch of times too and there seemed no real cause for it! We plan on leaving Pittsburgh Friday and getting to HHI on Saturday ( we can't get into the house until 3pm on Saturday). We're coming home on a weekday (yet to be determined), so hopefully the traffic won't be too bad.

Yeah, week days seem better! I only had to deal with 1 grumpy husband and my mid-20s sister and BIL, I think a baby may have been easier! 

Meghan&Rich

Ditto the others - we don't have as long of a drive to our beach, but we always leave early in the morning (around 5am).  The boys are generally back to sleep within a few minutes and sometimes even sleep past their typical wake up time (they are good car sleepers).  During the drive we keep them occupied with the DVD, new toys, snacks, etc.  If needed, I'll sit in the back with them.  GL!

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Thanks all! I just figured out how to lock the iPad (I just posted instructions) so hopefully he'll be able to watch Yo Gabba Gabba! and chill out a bit.

Fingers crossed! 

lala5507

kris356:

 

I will say, last year our drive home was over 15 hours from HH. We hit major traffic at Lake Norman, NC and then again in Virginia. We literally went 4 miles in an hour in NC. Just a warning. We left Saturday and my parents left Friday and had no issues and actually made it home in 11 hours.

This sounds horrible. 

lala5507

kris356:

 

I will say, last year our drive home was over 15 hours from HH. We hit major traffic at Lake Norman, NC and then again in Virginia. We literally went 4 miles in an hour in NC. Just a warning. We left Saturday and my parents left Friday and had no issues and actually made it home in 11 hours.

This sounds horrible.  I don't want to be stuck in the car for any longer than I have to.

sarahandtim

We're heading to Sandbridge, VA next week. Logan is horrible on car rides (great on plane rides though. I don't get it), so we're leaving about 6 p.m. and driving until Richmond so we can get 6 hours under our belts (and hopefully at least 4 hours of him sleeping). We're planning to get up early to leave the next day anyway to avoid the bridge traffic. I'll let you know how it goes!

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sarahandtim:

We're heading to Sandbridge, VA next week. Logan is horrible on car rides (great on plane rides though. I don't get it), so we're leaving about 6 p.m. and driving until Richmond so we can get 6 hours under our belts (and hopefully at least 4 hours of him sleeping). We're planning to get up early to leave the next day anyway to avoid the bridge traffic. I'll let you know how it goes!

Please do, Sarah! Have a great trip!