How far would you drive solo with two DC?

[pinkcardi]

Quick poll on if you would do this / if I should do this:

• a solo drive with two young DC (2 and 5)
• approx 8hrs driving, plus breaks
• across the UK

I can't decide if it's sensible or not, if I should do it.

We either drive or we don't go, it's my mum's birthday.

Part of me thinks it'll be fine and we can always stop overnight if we need to. The other part thinks it'll be hideous and I will be crying 2hrs in.

We've done long journeys before, down into Europe, and through the UK but always with two drivers. I'm confident enough driving, sometimes nervous but mostly ok, but this does feel like a big one.

What would you do?

I would do the longest possible drive first, start early (6am) give them a drink when they wake then food then toilet and then leave early as go as far as possible 2.5-3 hours stop for late breakfast good run around toilets back to car try and drive another 2.5 hours then lunch hopefully at this point they might sleep. I find I get more tired so next drive maybe 2 hours another stop an a meal then hopefully just 60-90 minutes left the tricky bit as you said for yourself drink coffee every time you stop
I regularly drive 6 hours to my parents home have done it with DD since she was little when she was littler we stopped twice now we stop once after 3 hours leave 6am stop for bacon breakfast hopefully get to parents around 1pm

I would not give access to drinks in the car as will be wanting toilet breaks all the time a good drink every 2 hours is enough unless it is roasting hot

personally I don't like doing more than 7 hours 6 hours is ok but after that I'm flagging

I wouldn't do it, if I did then I would consider doing it at night so the dc can sleep all the way.

Ah for the good old days!

We used to regularly travel from the south coast to Scotland when we were kids, but we had a station wagon so my parents made the ‘boot’ into a comfy bed for us and we had teddies, books, a few toys etc. We LOVED it.

Obviously it’s more difficult on your own, kids can’t get as comfortable and can drop things from their car seats etc but you’ll be fine. Especially as you know it’s only one way & don’t have the thought of having to do it all again. You can always let DH do it solo and get yourself a train home 🤣

We do the drive to the north of Scotland every year with 3DC (9h of driving with no stops plus boat trip, we always have an overnight in Inverness to split it up). I would not do it by myself which is not much help to you (DH has actually done the first days travel with me before to avoid me having to do the whole thing on my own).

Practically, I'd agree about using nappies for the trip, we did this with ours when they were small, as security more than anything. House of Bruar is a good stop off but shuts much earlier than most service stations. Make sure you have a full tank before you head into the highlands. We always have a tin of snacks for the kids and a waterbottle each. Lots of entertainment. Hope you are staying for a week or more, otherwise it's just so exhausting.

I’d go on the train.
Unless you are staying at least 4 days.

We have driven to South of France every year since they were tiny.

We leave at 5, when they were your age they went back to sleep for the fist leg. Then ferry, run round and breakfast.
Then lunch break, half an hour and a run round, then they went to sleep for a bit
Mid afternoon snack break and run round, timed around when they had woekn up (never wake a sleeping toddler)

Then dinner break, and they went back to sleep after, then we arrived late (10 pm) and I made up beds and then lifted them in.

We had a dvd player, and each had a rucksack with toys etc for each one, and loads of food. I made them REALLY run round at each stop, played tag and football etc.

Our principal has alwyas been to stop about every 2.5 - 3 hours and stretch and change drivers.

BUT and this would be the deal breaker for me, I can't drive that long any more. I love driving and would happily drive anywhere, but I know that I would be struggling to keep awake on a journey that long nowadays.
And at 5 and 2 mine were easier than at say 8 and 10, because at 5 and 2 they still slept in the car

There is a big difference between ‘we’ do v long drives with small children and ‘I’.

I found it stressful to drive if one started crying or tantrumming 20 mins drive from a service station, for example, without another grownup to take care of the juice / wipes / dropped teddy etc.

Personally I'd prefer a 2-day train journey to that, but then until my youngest was 5, any car journey over 20 minutes involved vomit. Sometimes in triplicate. Usually just after child 1 had been cleaned up.

They were all fine on public transport, so I got really good at that. Have vivid memory of dd age 3 spending the entire London-Edinburgh leg jumping up and down in the vestibule of a train. I'd be most worried about how ratty the kids would be after a day of little exercise, but I suppose a couple hour-long running-around breaks would suffice.

Hotpotlawer - indeed there is a difference from asking a 6 year old to wind down the window, pay with credit card for the payage than asking an adult 😂

How were the kids on the other long journeys you've done op? Have you thought of ways yo keep them amused during the journey? I've driven 8 hours with young kids a few times,but I always travel at night so as the kids sleep for most of it,plus there's the bonus of a lot less traffic of course. Keeping them up late the night before in the hope that they sleep in the car might help.