Long Car Ride with 5 Month Old

Hi, J.. I drove to WV with my daughter when she was 5 months. One thing babies hate is driving in pitch black when they're awake. If you can drive at night when she falls alseep, it would be much easier on her. My daughter was fine until it was night out and we were in the backhills with no lights. That's when she started going crazy. I drove to WV with my oldest when she was a baby and the same thing happened. But when we drove though the night on the way back, she slept right through it.

If that isn't possible, make sure she's comfortable. Keep her changed. I had a spot in the back (we drove an SUV) where I would change her. A dry baby is a happy baby. Allow time for stopping to feed her and to get her out of her seat. She won't be so cranky. Be prepared to make unplanned stops because she needs a diaper change.

If you drive during the day, she'll more than likely sleep for a good chunk of the first part of the trip and be awake for the rest of it.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!

1 mom found this helpful

Music is a great way to keep a baby calm. Or CD's that you may already play in her room, maybe some mood music. You can also put a DVD player over the seat and find some cute music videos just for little ones, with bright colors and tune.
I also recommend putting extra padding in her seat for softness and If she has a favorite blanket or toy have it close for her to grab. Also use the plastic connector rings to attach different items to her car seat for her to grab.

Hope this helps a little..

How long of a ride is it?? We have driven to FL from IL several times and are doing it again next month with all 3 of our kids (6.5 yo, 2.5 yo, 10 mo). One good tip is to leave either really early or really late so baby can sleep for the first several hours of the trip. Take frequent (every 3 hours or so) but short breaks. Since you baby is only 5 months old she/he is too young for movies or stuff like that, but that certainly will help when he/she gets older! Actually, I've found that the younger the child, the easier it is to travel long distances....baby can't keep asking "are we there yet?" Good luck!

Most importantly, stay relaxed and realize that the ride is going to take a lot longer than it used to before you had the baby! If your husband is the type that likes to get there quick and stop as little as possible and for short amounts of time when necessary, have a talk with him about how that's not going to happen before the trip :) When you need to stop to feed the baby, it will probably be a good 45 minute stop by the time the baby finishes a bottle or breastfeeds and you change the diaper and eat and go to the bathroom yourselves.

The first trip we took with my son when he was about 5 1/2 months was about 6 hours and by the end of it my husband and I were fighting because he was so impatient that he was rushing through feedings and my son would end up screaming again within 20 minutes back on the road because he was still hungry. After that horrible trip, my husband relaxed and realized that trips were just going to take a longer time from now on and ever since, we've had a great time on our road trips and everyone stays happy.

I also agree with the person who recommended someone sitting in the back with the baby when she is awake. It's tough on them when they are rear facing and can't see you guys. When my son was rear facing and started to get fussy, I'd sit in back and try to entertain him.

Have a good trip! Sorry to hear of your Grandmother's illness.

I recommend sitting in back with the baby, so she can see your face. This always helps with our baby. Don't make any stops while she's asleep, since that's the best driving you'll get. When you do stop, take an old blanket into rest areas to put on the floor or ground so she can stretch out a little instead of being confined to the car seat the entire time.
We have found singing Old McDonald a hundred times works better than playing a CD.
Remember not to flip out on each other if she cries for an hour straight. Better to keep driving and get there safe.

It depends. How long is the car ride? If it's longer than 5 hours, I would stop at a rest stop or someplace and put her in a baby carrier and walk around for at least 20 minutes to give her some stimulation. Drive as long as she will tolerate. If you're breastfeeding then feed her at the same stop. I would change the toys at this point of the car ride as well. My 6 month old loves his crinkly books. We make a 4 hour car ride down to see his great grandma and he does well if we do a big feeding before we leave and leave when he's tired. He usually lasts through the whole car ride without any stops. Hope this helped.

I live in Huntley but I grew up in SC (momma's family is in NC)...anyway. We have been driving to SC since my children were infants. My oldest made her first trip when she was three months old.

She did great, but we did have to pull over every two hours for her to nurse...fortunately she was a quick one (15 minutes or so). If yours will take bottles that is cool because you would only need to pull over to burp. Then we did decide to stay in a hotel that night after seven hours on the road. I think that is great for a child that age. She slept better that night than any other night of her infancy. I sat in the back with her the whole time. Our 16 hour trip took a little longer...maybe 18 hours...but we divided it into two days.

Now we have a conversion van and my daughters are 5 and 3. I have a son on the way in March. He will take his first ride in July when we go to SC to stay in a beachhouse with my family in Myrtle Beach. With the van it will be even easier because I can get up and walk around. And we have a tv for the older kids to watch. A few stops to stretch our legs and we do great.

If you are young and able...driving through the night works well too because the little ones sleep more. I'm 40 now and we get tired when it gets dark, so we have to do our trip starting at about 4:30 or 5am in the morning. It takes all day but we do better staying alert.

Have fun.

Sorry to hear about your grandmother! We have been driving 5 hours to Southern Illinois and back for 18 years now with babies. One thing I found that was crucial was to wait for a naptime to come around, and then head out on our way. Sometimes we left at a set time, but with our youngest when he was an infant, we either held him off from a nap until we left or recognized that it was indeed naptime and needed to be on the road. It became a struggle to have a wide-awake baby in the car when we knew that we had a LONG drive ahead of us! Also, when the kids got a little older, I managed to find odds and ends toys in the bottom of the toybox that were relatively "new" to them. That way, they'd have a new interest to keep them busy for a mile or two. :) Good luck!

We drive 6 housrs back home to Michigan all the time. When my son was 5 months he slept most of the time in the car. When It was time to eat or change we just pulled into a rest stop fed him and changed him. like I said he slept most of the time.

We drove to Atlanta when my 3rd was 5 months old. We drove during the day and split the trip into two days. We left in the afternoon of the first day, and stopped after dinner and stayed in a hotel. The second day we left early and got there in the later afternoon. When we were driving, we stopped about every 2 to 3 hours to let everyone get out and stretch. There were some rough patches when he was fussy in the seat, but we found that if we could drive through them, he eventually calmed down. At that age, he was content if he could look at the big kids and eat regularly. Actually the big kids were a little harder because they could voice their opinions much more loudly and forcefully. The baby just gave up and fell asleep :). Good luck!

When my oldest was about 6 months old, we drove 20 hours (10 hrs each of 2 days) to Texas to visit my sister. She was fine. We just kept the radio on and she could hear us talking to each other, which kept her happy. Because she was obviously still rear-facing, though, we figured she needed some extra stimulation, so we'd take turns sitting in back with her. We'd play with toys, read books, or give her bites of food without stopping. She slept a lot. We didn't travel overnight because we didn't want to be too tired and feel awful ourselves once we got there. We left at or before 6 AM both mornings so when we got to our hotels each day, we still had some evening time left. We made sure our stops were a bit longer when necessary. If the weather was decent at the rest areas, we'd spread out a blanket and some toys on the grass and let her move around a bit. We really thought it would be horrible, but it was surprisingly easy! Since then, we've been on lots of road trips with her and a couple times we've spent a single 12 hour day in the car with our twins for vacation and they, too, have been fine! I guess just expect the best and go for it! Good luck!

Hi, last summer my daughter was the same age and my husband was working out in St. Louis. We bought a DVD player with baby einstein movies and played them. she loved them. now, even on short rides she watches them. hope this helps!