long car trip

[titania]

My DH and I are planning to drive to Coffs Harbour from Melbourne for a holiday during summer (we have family there) and are trying to decide when we should go. We want to go off-season to miss the school holiday traffic, so are looking at November or Feburary.

Does anyone have any advice about what age is easier for travelling? DD will be 5 months in November and 8 months in Feburary. The car is airconditioned and we will be taking the trip slowly, stopping overnight both ways, so my main concern is her sitting in a car seat and getting bored and not getting enough play time.

Any thought, tips or hints would be greatly appreciated :)

Cheers
Sarah

[bigglet]

We drove from Melbourne - Canberra when my bubs was just under 5 months old and most of the time she slept in the car. We stopped a few times so I could feed her which wasn't so bad but by the 8th hour she had had enough and just cracked it - we were about 1 hour from our destination and had a screaming crying baby... my DH ended up sitting in the back seat with her trying to comfort her until she fell asleep again.

Car rides seem to make babies sleepy!

[bronny-jane]

coffs is nice in november.

perhaps one of you can sit in the back with bub to entertain her, pull over and eat your meals out of the car:D

[LucyE]

Depends on your child, whether they like car travel or not. I'd say the younger the better because they tend to sleep more :) Just remember to stop every two hours so bub can have a stretch and feed. Having a picinic rug easily accessible is handy, especially the plastic backed ones.

[li'l mac]

I've done trips when bubs was 3 and 8 months and it was much easier at 3 months. I was travelling alone, so it's much easier when bubs just has bottles and isn't crawling. But either way, you'll work around bubs schedule so just choose when suits you guys to travel.

[titania]

Thanks for the tips everyone. November is looking good I guess :)

[sugar n spice]

i see it from two points cause i have traveled with my kids younger is better in that they sleep more and dont need to be entertained as much but then that said you need to stop more often to feed them a bit older and there less feeds to stop for but they need more entertainment. Have a great trip