To think that driving 10hrs overnight with toddler is a good idea?!

[MintGreenLife]

DS is 21 months and we are going away for 10 days in the UK. To drive it’s 10hrs and we were thinking of driving overnight. He doesn’t go to bed until 9pm, so we would probably leave around 8pm, keep him entertained for the first hour, then hopefully he will go to sleep. Imagine we would arrive around 7am with a couple loo/coffee stops, and this would be his usual wakeup time. We will share the driving and one of us will be in the back with him at all times.

Are we mad to do this? Has anyone got any experience of this? We are going on holiday with family, so they will be able to help with DS the next day while we catch up on a bit of sleep. Also can’t find any info, but the 2hr in the car seat rule must not apply once they are toddlers??

The alternative is leave the house at 6am, 2hr drive, bus to airport, 2hrs in the airport, 1.5hr flight, 2.5hr drive out the other side. I just feel like that’ll be so much more stressful, and DS isn’t a good sleeper, so all that sitting still will most likely result in a terrible night first night of our hols.

What would you do?!

@BertieBotts - ha, it’s exhausting, but there’s no way my toddler will do the journey without stopping often. can be a small petting zoo with park where Ds can burn energy an hour or so and adults down caffeine , not a massive day out. We tend to fly now most trips.

If we feel like we’re flagging, we pull over at a service station for a nap. The kids are asleep anyway.

Can’t imagine pulling over for a rest through the day while the kids were wide awake.

Did you drive overnight in the end? Travelling with a baby long distance is difficult because they have their routines which change as they grow. As long as you are able to easily feed, change, keep baby comfortable.

We do this with our toddler but tend to leave around 530, stop at a nearish services at 6/7 to do dinner. Then drive on and she sleeps. We then get there early morning and at least have a couple of hours to get our head down at our destination. Of course this depends on whether you have a bed immediately available where you go.

But yes I would recommend. Our toddler can be a nightmare in the car so any drive time where she's likely to be asleep is a bonus.

Honestly, I don't think it's a good idea to have a 21 month old in a car seat for 10 hours. Isn't there there a two-hour rule for toddlers in a car seat if I remember rightly.

Personally I need at least some sleep to not get jet lagged. I'd do something like this...

Leave at 6:30pm, drive till 8:30. Stop for loo break/nappy change and pjs. Back in the car 9-12. Stop at a hotel and sleep till 6am.
Set off and stop at 8:30 for a break and breakfast. Back in the car 9-11:30.

We drove 20 hours over two day times with my DD when she was that age. We did rely on some screen time and snacks but with breaks to run around it was ok.

@Wiseflower no we didn’t 😂 I realised as he doesn’t even sleep through in his bed at home, the likelihood of him sleeping through overnight in the car and not waking up upset was slim 🤦🏻‍♀️ think it’s something we will try when he’s a little older and sleeping better x

Sounds sensible! You would be exhausted travelling with a baby overnight anywhere, it is not worth the hassle. Time will fly and it will be a lot easier and you will enjoy family hols a lot more x

I agree with this. We used to drive from London to Glasgow frequently and we either did this or woke up very early, 4 or 5 put children in car in PJs. They’d go straight back to sleep as soon as the car moved. Managed to get a few hours done before they really woke up.

Just realised this is an old thread.

I’d leave earlier, eg around 6pm. We used to drive to Scotland and back, leave at 5:30
/6pm (no day time sleeps that day!) and arrive around midnight. If it was longer I’d leave around 4pm, keep him away stop for dinner.

DH and I used to drive to Italy for summer holidays. We always caught late afternoon ferry so DC would be tired once we arrived in France then gradually fall asleep. DH and I drove through the night taking turns driving and plenty of black coffee. We would arrive about 10.30am next morning and kids would wake about 7.30-8am.

Yup, this, with Phenergen cough syrup to knock us out! Silent Generation parents with Gen X kids.

Every year I drive 500 miles south to my parents. I always drive in the day time. I would be tired and not be able to concentrate driving over night and I would really worry about having an accident. At least day time is akin to my working hours so I'm awake and alert and not putting my child in danger.

We too used to do this sort of trip regularly, 5 hours to the coast, a couple of hours on the ferry then 5 or 6 hours from Dover north. The children from being tiny would usually sleep part of the first leg, be awake to eat on the ferry then sleep for the drive north. Obviously we would split the driving.