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Original poster

Would you take your toddlers on a ten hour road trip?

79 replies

Downbadatthegym · 09/06/2025 08:19

We have been invited (and accepted) to a wedding a ten hour drive away, we have looked into flights and trains since accepting and it would cost close to £1000 to do either so it’s a no go. It’s for my husbands family member so I have suggested he goes alone as I think 10 hours with a just turned two year old and a 3.4 year old is too much.
We have looked into a weeks holiday there but again a lot of money for somewhere with not great weather (we actually live in a holiday destination so would rather stay home for summer).
My husband is saying we just go for two nights but to me this is insane with children.
His point is a lot of his family haven’t met our children, his mother has only met our younger daughter once and his siblings have never met her.
Would anyone else consider doing this?

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CandidAquaFinch · 09/06/2025 17:54

CrotchetyQuaver · 09/06/2025 17:41

So much depends on how your DC are in the car.

we did long trips with ours from the eldest being 4 months old. If you can plan the journey a bit and work out where to stop and let them out for a run a few times, that will help a lot. We were doing a 24 hour ferry crossing followed by a 12 hour drive down to southern Spain twice a year, we also did south coast up to Scotland a few times. You'll have to stop more than you would if it was just the two of you, but assuming they're happy in the car it'll be fine. We never put them back in nappies, but there was an "accident kit" packed in the car, I don't think we ever needed to use it. We used to put on kids cassette stories for them to listen to (this was about 1997 ish) which they enjoyed and we sang along too to make them laugh. I know cassettes are obsolete now but there must a modern day equivalent you can create a play list from that is more sociable than them watching cartoons on a tablet?

Jumping in here, I really appreciate your point about how much it depends on the kids themselves. Ours are pretty hit and miss in the car, sometimes they’re chill and nap or chat, other times it’s full meltdown within an hour. I think planning proper stops is a good idea, especially somewhere they can stretch their legs rather than just service stations.
Also agree on the audio stories, we’ve got a Tonies box and it’s been a lifesaver before. Feels like a good middle ground between silence and screens. I hadn’t thought about putting together a playlist or longer stories to keep things ticking along, so thanks for that tip.

TiredMummma · 10/06/2025 10:17

Ok a 10 hour drive is actually easier than you think. Just build in a break for lunch & one for tea

wishIwasonholiday10 · 10/06/2025 11:50

CrotchetyQuaver · 09/06/2025 17:41

So much depends on how your DC are in the car.

we did long trips with ours from the eldest being 4 months old. If you can plan the journey a bit and work out where to stop and let them out for a run a few times, that will help a lot. We were doing a 24 hour ferry crossing followed by a 12 hour drive down to southern Spain twice a year, we also did south coast up to Scotland a few times. You'll have to stop more than you would if it was just the two of you, but assuming they're happy in the car it'll be fine. We never put them back in nappies, but there was an "accident kit" packed in the car, I don't think we ever needed to use it. We used to put on kids cassette stories for them to listen to (this was about 1997 ish) which they enjoyed and we sang along too to make them laugh. I know cassettes are obsolete now but there must a modern day equivalent you can create a play list from that is more sociable than them watching cartoons on a tablet?

I agree it depends on the kids. Mine is a nightmare in the car and frequently car sick so a 10 hour car trip would be the stuff of nightmares for me. I would do a 10 hour plane trip before I attempted a 10 hour car trip. Even if your kids are good in the car I would try to go for a bit longer either at the destination or somewhere on the way and definitely break up the journey. When I was a child we sometimes drove 10 hours to go on holiday but would split the journey and stay somewhere with a pool on the way so we had something to look forward to at the end of the day. We were a bit older than toddlers though.

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TinyTeachr · 10/06/2025 16:03

I wouldn't do 10 hours the day before a wedding. After a long day in a car they are likely to be fidgety and out of sorts.

We do 8 hours for a holiday twice a year, but we break the journey and do 4 hours a day as youngest will nap for 2 hours of that and we plan our break as part of the fun e.g. we aim to stop somewhere that we can have a really fun late afternoon and dinner, go somewhere in the morning like a playground so everyone has had a good run around and then back in the car when youngest looks ready to nap.

I think if you want the children to be on form for a family gathering you would need be best to take 2 days over the travel in each direction and have a day either side of the event..... but that makes a week in total. So depends if there are fun places you can plan to stop and if there are things you can do to let toddlers blow off steam other than the event itself. Any other family with similar aged children that can recommend fun things in the area? Maybe someone will offer to do something with you so cousins etc can play together?

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