Advice re France trip in camper van.

[Ledkr]

Hi there. We have just over three weeks to do our trip.
Last year we went to Calais then Brittany then onto the Vendee.
This year we were thinking if going further south or maybe even Spain but with a 2yr old need to keep the driving time reasonable so do longer crossings.
We are stuck. We were thinking of at least two different places and getting the closest crossings even if expensive and two different ones

[QuintessentialOHara]

With kids that young, we did the bulk of the driving in the evening and let the kids sleep in their car-seats. We would eat supper, brush teeth, get into PJs, and settle the kids into their car seats in sleeping bags. We could easily do 5 hours like that! Then at the destination, or in a layby or petrol station or temporary stop just rig the van for the night and "put them straight". They usually slept through all that. Then we would have breakfast in the morning and either continue driving an hour or two, or already be at our destination.

[Ledkr]

That's a really good idea actually now dd2 is a bit older.
Last year we did it once then stopped around 1am at a service stop looking forward to a kip. She woke up was buzzing and didn't go back to sleep until nearly dawn jumping on us as we lay in our bed, pressing buttons to send the electric blinds up and down.
Hopefully we could have more sucess.

[MrsHoarder]

Is it worth doing it the other way then? Go to bed at the same time as them and then slide them into their carseats at 3-4am and drive then. If they wake up you can sing/tell stories etc, if not, result!

But DS is only 11mo so I don't know if that trick will work with older children...

[QuintessentialOHara]

We tried that, too. When we reached our destination, we were already knackered from driving, but they were bright and awake after a full nights sleep and keen to explore. I would not recommend it, unless you are on a very tight schedule and need to catch a ferry!