baby who's not used to car journeys

[AntiHop]

We don't have a car so my 10 month old dd has only been in a car a few times. We are going to a wedding that is a 3 and a half hour drive away and hiring a car to get there. I'm considering taking the train instead even though it will work out a bit more expensive.

I'm concerned as dd has only been in a car seat for about 15 mins and she hated it. She's very wriggly and mobile. She loves to crawl and rarely sits still. She'll only tolerate a highchair for 10 mins or so. I'm really worried that if we try and drive she'll hate being in the car for that long and the journey will be intolerable.

Anyone have experience of taking a baby in a car who's not used to being in cars?

Cant help with experience, but not many babies have made many long journeys at that age - it would be a first time for most.
Also, wouldn't she still have to be similarly restrained on a train? I'm not sure how that would be any better
By driving, you are in control of how often you stop, how long for, etc. You also have a whole boot full of space to take paraphernalia with you.

Why would she be restrained on a train? We have a 5-6 hour journey to parents with my 10 month old and prefer train. No matter how many stops you make there are times you can't get off the motorway and if they scream and scream it is crap. On the train he has people to look at and we can walk around, change his nappy, he looks out the window, and we can take him to the vestibule for a good scream if he has to! I've much preferred train even going through London and the tube, we use a baby carrier so he's strapped to us while we get on/off, and you can put a buggy in the guards van prearranged if the train company has that facility.

I'd break the journey up and organise a short ish first stint, stop for food then in all likelyhood your dd will go to sleep. We don't have a car so have had to do a couple of train journeys of around 2-3 hours in total. It was a complete PITA having to carry everything. If your doing an over night you'll need quite a bit of stuff. The longest ds has been in a car was about 1.5 hours and he just conked out (he's only done that a couple of times). Ds is a real wriggler and really unaccustomed to the car but he was fine. One of us sat in the back with him though.

If train not much more effort/Length, no reason not to do that, assuming you don't have loads to transport. Only q is naps and whether LO would nap on train ok.

Car wise, Trial and error showed us that travelling at bedtime was the best option for us with dd.

Do the usual routine before putting into the car, at which she would perk up a bit, but fall asleep within the hour and you need to stop less. She was used to the car though.

If daytime unavoidable, try and travel in line with her usual schedule, with breaks at food time and decent stop for stretching legs.

I'd choose the train: you can walk around, have a change of scenery, pick DD up if required... My DD is 8 months and also hadn't been in cars much (2 x 15 minute journeys). Went on holiday and had to do a one hour drive and it wasn't great fun. Have done several 3 hour plus train journeys ( and two 7 hour flights) and she's been fine. I found popping her in the sling worked for naps on the train. Good luck whatever you decide!

Thanks for all your thoughts. The journey there will be in the daytime. We decided to go by train, and stay over night so we don't have to take an exhausted baby on a long train ride home late at night.

I think if she was used to being in a car it would have been ok. But it's an almost total unknown to her. On the train we can move about to keep her interested and I can breastfeed.