HELP! road trip with 10mth old Gold Coast to Maroubra

[Kristy&Alex]

Hi Everyone,

My partner have decided to (finally) take bubby down to NSW to visit relatives & also for a 'work' break for my partner. After much deliberation we have both decided that driving will be the best option & we are planning on stopping half way & checking into a motel for the night.

We are hiring a large car with a large boot;) & are taking the pram, steriliser, & we have a travel cot but the mattress that came with it is paper thin & i would prefer to buy a thicker one for bubs as he will be sleeping on it for approx 10 days.

Does anyone know if travel cot mattress's are all the same size & do i need to buy waterproof linen for it? We also have a mobile fridge that runs on the cigarette lighter in the car to keep bubs bottles & food cold.

I am a bit worried that I will either take too much stuff or not enough :eek: does anyone have any tips or have done similar road trips?

My partner wants to leave on a friday afternoon as he doesn't want to drive too late at night, but i thought it would be better to leave after bubs last bottle of the night (when he has his longest sleep) & get most of the driving done!?

If u can help ease my mind with any tips at all please do I am starting to talk myself out of it:confused: :)

[uptheduff]

Hi there,
We drove from Adelaide to Canberra last year when ds1 was about 11 months old. From memory it was about a 4 day trip to get there, and 4 days back! We used to get Logan up early (6ish) and let him run around in the hotel for a few hours, then leave around 9-10 so he was nearly ready for a sleep. He'd sleep until around 1-2, so we'd stop for lunch and another run around, the hopefully he would fall asleep again until around 4-5, when we would have to stop and find a hotel to stay at for the night. Logan isn't much of a traveller, and gets bored very easily, so most of the time he was awake in the car, he was screaming! All the toys in the world wouldnt' distract him lol.

I reckon you're probably taking enough stuff. Will you have access to a high chair when you get to your destination? When we took Logan, we just put a folded up single quilt on the travel cot, so it was a bit comfier for him...i'm not sure if normal matresses would fit?

[PMS]

Hi. My sister in-law went to clark rubber and had a piece of foam cut to size for her portacot. Hubby and I have been on numerous trips with bubs; sounds like you're bringing the right stuff. We usually leave in the morning as you are best not to drive at times when you are tired or when you would normally be sleeping.



Cheers, PMS

[Jenko]

We have done a few long road trips with bubs at different ages. Sounds like you have all the equipment. Not sure about the sizes of cot matresses, I think you would have to check the measurements as port-a-cots do come in different sizes. We always leave early in the morning, about 4 or 5am.

Our DD actually sleeps much better in the car than she does at home in her bed. We also take her nursery rhyme CD's and put them on when she gets a bit whingy. Finger food is also a good distraction. I would jump in the back with her to feed her and and have a little play or read a book. If your bubs is usually OK in the car, then it shouldn't be too bad. The first few times I was a bit worried, but it has been fine. Of course we've had our moments, but would still do it again.

Good Luck.....I'm sure it will be fine :)

[Kirstlea]

We have driven from Cairns to Brisbane when DD was about 18mths old.
We always stopped every two hours and if it meant taking a little longer to get to the next destination well so be it.

It was a holiday after all.;)

Once we got tired of driving we would just find a motel in the area.

It sounds like you have everything you need, just remember you have to unpack it all and repack it all at each stop. We found we could do without the stroller, we thought the only vital thing was the portacot, but found we could have used the motel's and a friend of a friend loaned us one in Brisbane so we could have done without that too.

These long trips can be very stressful sometimes so try to make it as easy as possible so that you enjoy the trip as a family.

Happy holidaying

[Merlion]

we travlled with DD when she was 4 months old and only last month at 12 months from perth to Geraldton a good 5 hour drive and we took 8 hours with a lot of stops. we took our big pram, and her port-a-cot.

Another suggestion is that if you are staying somewhere overnight have a bag with all the stuff you need for the overnight stay separate so you don't have to unpack everything. Ask the hotel/motel if they have a cot or a port-a-cot so you don't have to unpack it.

we didnt worry about keeping her bottles cool. what we did is we sterilised her bottles (we carried 5) and filled them up with the right amount of (boiled and then cooled) water and just put in her baby bag. As long as the bottle are sterilised and filled straight away they can last for a few days. We bought two of those baby milk containers (all you have put the amount of scoops per bottle you need in each dispenser) and carried a tin in the boot.

With her food we bought store bought baby food and doesn't need to be kept cool just keep in a separate bag in the boot with his/her steriliser and I carried a flask of pre-boiled water too. Just put 2 in her baby bag so if he/she needs a feed you don't need to ferret around in the boot for it.

Regarding her port-a-cot I didn't worry about getting a mattress. What I did is get a quilt (baby one) and a thick blanket fold it in 1/2 or 1/3 and put it in the base. Your baby should be fine and is nice and thick and they will sleep very well. If you want to buy a mattress go to clark rubber give them the measurements for the base and get it cut and then put it under the port-a-cot mattress.

[Kristy&Alex]

Thanks Girls,

I picked up some excellent tips.

Take care everyone :)