Am I mad to consider this with a newborn?

[Planningatrip]

We’re wondering if it’s going to be feasible to go up to Scotland to see family this Christmas, and make a little weekend out of it perhaps and potter round the Christmas markets. If we did this we would be staying in a hotel/AirBnb for 2 or 3 nights and so would need to drive up in order to fit our pram and travel cot in. It’s a 3 hour drive, so we’d obviously have to stop several times.

Our baby could be anywhere between 5 and 8 weeks old, depending on when she’s born.

Naively I’m thinking this could actually be the easiest age. Yes we’ll be tired, but we’ll be tired wherever we are. Planning on breastfeeding so hopefully shouldn’t have to worry about bottles and the likes.

AIBU to think about it? Do I need a reality check?

First baby? Yeah, you’re mad. There’s so much I can mention but I’ll just say this one: you may plan to breast feed, but what if your milk doesn’t come in? Mine didn’t. Was a shock. What will you do if this happened to you? And ill
say this too, new babies are prone to infection, and you want to change nappies in service stations / the boot of your car on mid winter?? There will be more time for trips like this.

I'd probably go up by train. Family probably know someone who can lend a travel cot once you're up there. It's probably more doable at eight weeks than five though!

You can get lie-flat car seats to be fair. Probably still need to stop a lot to get them out and off their backs.

Why do you say this? You are not being unreasonable at all! You are full of hope and eager to have fun with all the family :D

Also, please keep in mind that you do what you can, just don t get frustrated if you plan to go to multiple places and you only get to do just a tiny part of what you have envisioned.

I remember that our first trip (to the mountains) was when our daughter was around six - eight weeks. It was awesome and relaxing.
Good luck!:D :D :D

Yeah it's feasible but don't make any concrete plans until the baby is born because if you have a difficult birth or baby has any health issues or reflux etc it could be a complete nightmare.
Both mine would have been fine at that age obviously lots of stops so they can feed and have a break from the car seat.
Better to take them before they're weaning and crawling and get frustrated at being stuck in a car seat.

Granted I'm a very experienced mother but i attended my brothers wedding when my youngest was 8 weeks old. I had a normal birth though. We went up a day early and had a few stops just so baby wasn't in the car seat too long. I find newborns easy but I've had a lot of children. So I had all of them with me and it was no issue. To me, 1 would be a breeze but not if it was my first though. If you have a section I'd say 5 weeks would be too soon for your body.

It’s do able but I wouldn’t commit to it personally. I’d wait until baby is here and see how you feel.

I’d worry about changing newborns nappy in boot of a car or service stations in winter. My son was unwell when born (full term) and I had a c section and recovered well but have friends who had c sections or cuts from natural labour and wouldn’t of wanted to do that long drive or walk around 5 weeks post partum.

You won’t really know how you feel until you’ve got your child here.

Why would you worry about changing a nappy in a service station?

I had a difficult baby and a difficult birth (but not a C-section), and even so, we took him to visit relatives - drove from Scotland to the Midlands and then London.

I'd not do it on the train in a million years!

You can get a range of different isofix carry cots for the car.

I think it depends on many things birth related but assuming all goes well then it should be do able.

I went to my friends wedding with my baby who was 8 days old. Had my own wedding when my baby was 8 weeks old and all the dressing fittings and final organisation in the run up to it post birth. We then went on a honeymoon to Greece with our baby at 8 weeks. So perfectly doable if the birth is straight forward (mine was ish but still had to have an op to deliver the placenta) and baby is thriving.

As others have said maybe book things they could be cancelled if recovery takes a little longer.

Hope It all goes well.

@PreggersWithBaby2 Both Nuna and Maxi Cosi make lie flat carrycots with inbuilt restraint straps and isofix fittings.

I took my babies all over the place including flying to Abu Dhabi with mine......breast feeding keeps it simple!!!

Same. Although I was expressing. Which I wouldn’t recommend anyone do on an aeroplane. My nipples exploded, literally.

It’s doable but not necessarily enjoyable at that age. I think if they were around 3 months ish it would be a lot easier but 5-8 weeks my baby was only sleeping in short stretches and cluster feeding so getting anywhere was hard work. If you do go, the train is probably the better option as by car you’ll have to have a break every 30 mins so would be a long drive in the end. I would also be wary of the baby getting sick exposed to so many people at the Christmas markets before they’ve had any vaccinations especially as whooping cough is on the rise.

One of my friends to her baby to the US on a 7 hour flight to see her mum when baby was 8 weeks old.

What's so hard now about doing anything with a baby

It's about checking their oxygen levels. There's been babies who've died and have health problems because of the position they are in, in the car seat. That's what sparked the research.

It's up to the individual how much notice they take of safe sleeping and the advice not to travel those lengths of time, unless necessary. It gets dangerous if a baby picks up a respiratory infection/cold then has to travel back.

As I said the advice varies from different NHS trusts. So if you under a certain area then only 30 mins but if you live in a different area under another NHS it's 2 hours.

Exactly how many babies out of the thousands born have died due to this anyway?

But babies can be exposed to germs anywhere. Like your local supermarket and kids nursery/school events run round Xmas. Or are you meant to just be a recluse for the first year?

At 5 weeks old though?

I think you're a bit naive to plan this now. You have no idea how you'll feel, how the birth will go or if you can breastfeed. I've had two and I wouldn't make plans for the first two months after birth.

5 weeks old is nuts.

It’s only half an hour for a 5 week old and no more than 2 hours in total per 24 hour period.

There doesn’t seem to be a consensus about how long the breaks should be though. Lots of sources don’t specify but some say at least 15 minutes.

It’s to do with positional asphyxia which isn’t an issue when travelling on public transport as they don’t need to be in a car seat.

So why don't people buy the lie flat carrycot seats Looked them up when saw them mentioned on here and they look great. Wouldn't have to be stopping every 5 mins then and more comfortable for baby