Travelling from Yorkshire to Cornwall with 4 month old

[charlottelouise992]

Friday we are going for a trip to Cornwall (we've already been to the Lake District a couple of week ago but that was easy because it's not too far away) I wondered if anyone has any tips or when best time to travel will be? MAD FRIDAY! We must be mad...

Would travelling at night be better? Or would that mess her bedtime up as we'd have to stop at least once on the way down to give her a break from the carseat (She sleeps through)

If we do go through the day we will definitely hit traffic on the way down and that could make the trip very long and tiring, I know she will sleep a lot of it but that's not always a good thing...

I'd appreciate any help or tips!
Thanks

That's the easiest age to travel really.

I would go early Friday before everyone else leaves. Many will have a lie in first as a holiday day. Get up and leave by 9am, drive down and can stop whenever you need to. It's better stopping in service stations in the day

Take her to a local pond to see ducks.

Save massive drive for another day when everyone and their dogs aren't also travelling

Setting off before 4 in the morning, we found is best, have everything packed the night before, go to bed early, wake drink lots of coffee set off, just transfer baby to the car seat with blanket's, the movement of the car will send them back to sleep.

We use to drive from East Yorkshire and stop at Exeter for breakfast anytime from 8am to 9am depending on what time we set off.

Just clarify, we aimed to set of before 4 but usually ended up setting off at 4 or just gone. Normally get to Exeter around 8.

The DC are years older now, but if we are doing a long car journey. It's the first thing they ask with excitement, "are we setting of early?" They love it, it's part of their excitement of starting their holiday.

Haha, I would leave it for another day if it was down to me! But my partner is adament on going Thursday night or Friday.

Not a bad idea setting off around 4. We could stop once for her morning feed then she's usually sleepy after then anyway for a couple of hours.

Thanks for the advice.

Would second leaving early at 4 or 5 we've been to Cornwall every year since the children were born from Manchester and it's the best time. Very quiet on the roads and usually at Gloucester services for 7. We also stop at launceston swimming baths at about 10 which means they have a good play and swim we get a shower! Then arrive for our destination for lunch which is perfect. Miss all the traffic but make a day of it!

Go very late or very early, then look back on the journey with nostalgia at how easy it was when she's 3 and needs a wee, is bored, is hungry, is sick.., and possibly has squabbling with a sibling.

I'll tell my partner we're setting off at 3 and we'll probably leave the house for 5.. haha.

Always does make me laugh when I over hear parents saying 'Are you sure you don't need a wee? Because we're going to be travelling for another 2 hours and you usually need to go once we're back in the car.'

I shouldn't laugh though because I've all this to come!

We normally break up the Yorkshire/Cornwall (we go quite far west in Cornwall) journey with an overnight stay at the Cribbs Causeway Premier Inn near Bristol. I was very glad of that the year our youngest (third child) was 4 months old - we left Marazion at 09:45 and reached the Premier Inn just after 7pm. God only knows what time we would have got home if we'd been driving straight through, we could see the traffic all slowing to a halt again just further down the M5 as we turned off for the hotel!

How did it go OP? We do Cornwall from N. Cheshire. We leave at 7pm (bedtime), just after the traffic dies down. When DD was a baby we did her last feed, settled her into her car seat and left. Now she's a pre schooler we get into PJs, brush teeth and (importantly!) make sure she has a a pull up on, and get into the car awake. She falls asleep when she's ready, one of us sits in the back to talk to her/keep an eye. She has an iPad if she's too excited to sleep.

We stop after 2 hours to swap driver and (if she's awake) have a 10 minute stretch. Then we carry on down to Exeter, usually getting there before midnight if we leave on time.

We stay overnight in one of the hotels just off the motorway in Exeter, check in and go straight to sleep, DD usually flat out and carried in at this point. 😀

Get up at a civilised 8am, hotel breakfast while the traffic dies down again (we travel Thursday nights) and then back in the car for 90 mins or so, arriving at our holiday place in time for lunch and for DD to do an activity before check in (usually Dairyland, if you're anywhere near Newquay, that's one to remember for future years!).

It actually went pretty smoothly :) we set off at 4.30am managed to get to Gloucester services around 7, Ivy had her morning feed and I gave her a wash and change, then we stopped again in Cornwall for her second feed and arrived in Falmouth around 12 :)

Unfortunately the weather was terrible and me and my partner got a dreadful bug the day before we came home! Haha. Think I'll stick to summers in Cornwall only.