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Road-trip with a newborn??



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amother


 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 9:41 pm
We're planning on driving from NY to Miami for Peasach. my baby will be 3.5 weeks old. (plus a toddler) The more I think about this the more I realize how crazy this is. how will I nurse, change baby etc?? has anyone ever done this before? any advice is appreciated. also looking for opinions on whether you guys think this should not be done.....
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pesek zman




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 9:45 pm
Sounds like a great idea. At 3 weeks she'll be sleeping most if the time . I imagine you would stop (bathroom break etc) every 2-3 hours anyway so just feed and change her then. Have. A a great trip!
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animeme




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 9:54 pm
Wow. Ok. So you will clearly need to sit in the back with the kids. Break the trip up into shifts if you can. Expect to stop a lot, which will likely wake up you toddler. You nurse and change the baby, DH deals with the toddler, runs him/her around, bathroom/diaper. If baby takes a pacifier, bring a bagful.

Consider a handpump that goes straight into a bottle. Then you can pump if baby is sleeping through a feeding and you're full, or pump and and feed baby without stopping the car.

Kind of crazy, yet who wants to bring a newborn to an airport?
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MMCH




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 9:56 pm
Ive done it before, it was pretty easy. (well easier than traveling with toddlers I think)

At that tiny age, they sleep so much anyways, that its easier for you.
Plan your trip around feeding times, if you feed at 10 am, nurse baby, change baby, have the car all ready, and go at 1030.
And plan to stop every 3 hours to feed, change, walk around, bathroom and whatever.

The only difficult thing I found at this age in the car, when they are shrieking there is very little you can do to help them while your on a highway.

good luck.
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pause




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 10:03 pm
If you are sitting next to your newborn, you can bend over to nurse. I do not let my baby shriek in the car. I believe the shrieking can be very dangerous to all passengers because it makes the driver nervous.
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asp40




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 10:08 pm
Do not nurse a baby while in a car. Seriously? Do bot listen to the previous poster. Every member needs to be strapped in at all times.

I am not a road trip person, but a newborn is easier than a toddler. Just give yourself tons of time.
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kb




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Mar 21 2015, 10:10 pm
Tiny babies generally sleep well when the car is moving. (This past trip, our baby slept so well that we had to stop and wake her because I needed to nurse!)

Keep in mind, the trip will take longer. I don't like to sit in back, I sit in front, and stop when needed. Especially with a baby, you know when she's going to need to eat and watch the signs. If ten minutes before three hours are up you pass "the last stop in one hundred miles", etc.

I'd worry more about the toddler. They generally don't like sitting.
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Ruchel




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 7:25 am
We are into car trips. You just stop more. I'd never sit behind because it's not nice and gives me nauseas. You don't nurse while driving.
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pause




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 10:28 am
OP can do what she wants, but I want to clarify my previous post. An adult does not, by law, need to be seatbelted in a rear passenger seat. It's perfectly legal to bend over and nurse while baby remains belted in his seat. As I said, IME a shrieking baby is more dangerous. It puts the driver on edge, rushing to get to a place to stop, not being able to think clearly. That's what a baby's cry does to you. (It's meant to!)

In any case, I agree with the other posters that the toddler will probably be the greater issue.
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animeme




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:04 am
Sitting in the back allows you to replace a pacifier, stroke/soothe, pick up a fallen sippy cup for the toddler, etc.

An unbelted adult in the backseat can become a projectile on the kids in an accident. But I do hear you on the affects of the cry. That's a good reason for mom not to drive- I find we tend to get more rattled by it, particularly while nursing. If baby takes an occasional bottle, you can use that to deal with the cries. If not,I see no good answers, really.
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pause




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:16 am
animeme wrote:
Sitting in the back allows you to replace a pacifier, stroke/soothe, pick up a fallen sippy cup for the toddler, etc.

An unbelted adult in the backseat can become a projectile on the kids in an accident. But I do hear you on the affects of the cry. That's a good reason for mom not to drive- I find we tend to get more rattled by it, particularly while nursing. If baby takes an occasional bottle, you can use that to deal with the cries. If not,I see no good answers, really.

Actually my dh gets more unnerved than I do. (I'm already used to it lol) I'll tell him to just ignore the baby, we're almost there already, there's nothing more I can do.... and yet, he drives more carelessly when the baby yells. That's my experience.
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:37 am
pause wrote:
OP can do what she wants, but I want to clarify my previous post. An adult does not, by law, need to be seatbelted in a rear passenger seat. It's perfectly legal to bend over and nurse while baby remains belted in his seat. As I said, IME a shrieking baby is more dangerous. It puts the driver on edge, rushing to get to a place to stop, not being able to think clearly. That's what a baby's cry does to you. (It's meant to!)

In any case, I agree with the other posters that the toddler will probably be the greater issue.


it's very dangerous, even if the mom is seatbelted.
http://thecarseatlady.com/no-n.....ving/
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:38 am
do you HAVE to make this trip OP? I'll try to think of some ideas if the answer is yes, but if there's any way not to go, my personal advice would be DON'T GO. I cannot imagine doing this...
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Laughing Bag!




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:43 am
We do road trips with babies all the time. Ime the kids tend to sleep pretty good in the moving vehicle. We have books, magna doodles, dolls... for the older ones. We stop to nurse and bathroom. We usually wait for either baby to wake up, or if the kids ask to use bathroom, or we stop if baby hadn't eaten for more than 4 hours (because it's sleeping) and the next rest area is too far to take the risk. I have a changing pad in my diaper bag and user that on seat, myself or changing table in the rest area bathroom. And in the case of a shrieking baby we have used the shoulder to stop, I never take a baby out of restraints in the moving vehicle. I don't sit in the back but we do have a mirror to see the baby. We also use childrens tapes for the older ones. It usually works out fine, and you need to keep yourself calm of the kids gets edgy until you get to stop and flex a bit, but it's workable especially with such young kids.
By us there is no eating as some of them tend to get nauseous and I find it helps allot to the calmness. When they do get to eat is only real food with the least sugar.
good luck and enjoy your trip.


Last edited by Laughing Bag! on Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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amother


 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:46 am
op here,

thanks for all your replies, I will definitely not nurse while we're driving, I was thinking I would nurse when we stop and otherwise pump.

smss-can you be more specific about why you think I shouldn't do this? I'm interested to hear-I can change my mind and opt out, although it will disrupt a lot of other peoples plans..
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amother


 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 11:49 am
We did a roadtrip with a newborn at 4 days old (and then back home again at about 3 weeks old). The trip that would ordinarily take 6-7 hours took us 11 hours. The baby was fine for the most part (sleeping when we drove), the most uncomfortable part of the trip was that my milk was coming in and I needed to nurse.
Just a few tips for the road that we learned from the trips:
1. remember that you just gave birth, so you are at a higher risk than normal for developing blood clots so you should make sure to stop to just stretch and walk around your car for a few minutes, even, pretty often
2. When you stop to feed the baby, find a nice rest stop along the high way that has a "family room." We took a chair from the dining area, brought it into the family bathroom, and I nursed there, undisturbed. It was very comfortable. My other son and husband walked around the rest area, snacked, etc. while I nursed.
3. If you're okay with your baby sleeping through a feeding, what was helpful for us was that we got a car charger for the pump and I was able to pump in the car while we were driving when I wanted to.
4. Make sure you have a couple of pacifiers on you so you have a spare in case you can't find it when the baby spits it out of his/her mouth and it lands on the floor somewhere Smile
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smss




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 12:02 pm
amother wrote:
op here,

thanks for all your replies, I will definitely not nurse while we're driving, I was thinking I would nurse when we stop and otherwise pump.

smss-can you be more specific about why you think I shouldn't do this? I'm interested to hear-I can change my mind and opt out, although it will disrupt a lot of other peoples plans..


here's why I wouldn't do it, but only you know which of these apply to you:
1) at that age my newborns nurse pretty much around the clock. we'd be stopping more than we'd be driving.
2) I would probably do the pumping idea at a later age but I don't give bottles that early.
3) a road trip with a newborn and a toddler is my idea of a STRESSFUL SITUATION. I try to avoid those that soon postpartum, especially if they are going to last days and there will be no way out once you start...
4) I don't like the idea of a newborn spending that much time in a car seat. if you do end up doing this, can you at least sit in the backseat between the kids so you can keep an eye on him while he's sleeping?
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Terri




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 1:18 pm
Not all newborns sleep well in cars. My baby shrieked and shrieked in car seats...to each their own. I'd never attempt this.
Good luck
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Laughing Bag!




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Mar 22 2015, 1:55 pm
Terri wrote:
Not all newborns sleep well in cars. My baby shrieked and shrieked in car seats...to each their own. I'd never attempt this.
Good luck

I've traveled with a shrieking newborn. Baby #4 is my first one to act up like that on our long road trips, but we have no 2 ways about it. I just tried figuring out what makes her comfortable. And we stopped more often for less time. I will be doing it again and hope the 3 months that passed makes a difference. We just take it as it comes. You gotta do what you gotta do. She is however or first of 4 to do this.
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