How to Take a Road Trip with a 7 Week Old Nursing Baby??

Dear J.-

With my first born, we came back from germany...and went to my parents before the final move to VA. Son was about 8 weeks...I drove in a car with him...and then hubby was behind me in his car with the pets...(21 years ago...so no cell phones). I was gonna stop when son was ready to nurse. He slept...and Slept...and SLEPT! Finally, I pulled over to nurse because *I* needed him to...when the now ex pulled behind me to take son from car seat, I undid bra and turned to take him...SPRAYING the whole front of the car!!! lol

Anyway...be sure to nurse...'on demand'...for either darling daughter...OR for YOU!!!

Have a great trip!!

Michele/cat

** I read your Edit:
NURSE her. That is easier. If you pump, that will take time, THEN you have to store it... and have an ice-cooler with you too. AND extra bottles, too. More hassles. Just NURSE her. MUCH easier.
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Nurse her as you go. She is SO young.. and you NEED to feed her ON-Demand. That is just the way it is, with a newborn.
So yes, you WILL need to stop along the way, to nurse her.
You don't even know if she will take a bottle, unless that is what she does now.
I would not bother pumping in the car. What a pain. Just nurse her.... much easier.
And yes, I think you ALL need to stop along the way and stretch out.
6 hours in a car seat is a long time. And you'd need to stop anyway, to change her diaper. It cannot be helped.

The bottom-line is, you have a newborn, she needs to feed on-demand.... and you will need to do that.
Bring LOTS of back-up diapers, clothing etc.

I took a road trip with my daughter when she was 3 months old and nursing. We stopped every time she needed to nurse, and change diapers. We all got a stretch, and yes the trip took longer, but we arrived non-stressed.

My best advice would be to nurse and change her at her normal intervals that she is used to (on demand). At 7 weeks old you absolutely won't be able to stretch her feeds. And even if you pump and give her a bottle you will have the burping issue that can't be done while traveling down the road.

Everyone will be better off in the long run if you plan ahead to take extra time to get there, stop to nurse on demand, diaper her before you get going again and it will give her some time out of the seat at the same time.

I would say, let your baby decide how often you need to stop to feed her. She might just sleep more since she will be in her carseat. You will have to stop eventually to get gas and then you can take her out, change her and feed her. So if you get lucky you might only have to stop once. Of course she could have a bad day that day too and won't want to be in her seat but there is nothing you can do about it now. I wouldn't freak out about it to much before you go. I am sure everything will go just fine. Have a good trip.

Just NURSE! It's such a pain to have to store milk and then heat it up.....

But I suggest that you set your cell phone to alert you at 2 or 2 1/2 hours and then STOP! No matter what. The car lulls most babies to sleep and you don't want her to skip a feeding because of the movement.

Travelling with a breastfed baby is easy. All you need to do is stop every couple of hours to nurse and diaper her. You don't need to mix bottles, pump, heat bottles, keep bottles cooled, wash or sterilize bottles and pump parts. Sure, it will take longer if you stop for a half hour every 2 or 2 1/2 hours, but it's not a big deal. I would stop and take her out of the seat, so that she is stretching, being held, etc. Just plan to take the whole day to do the drive, I wouldn't pack her up to leave in the middle of the night.

Give yourself extra time to stop and nurse on demand, burp, and take care of diaper changes. Bring plenty of diapers, clothes changes, soap and water (gallons), and hand sanitizer. She can stretch when you get out to do these things. When you get there, let her stretch more and have some tummy time. Have fun!

Nursing is probably faster, really. Find a comfy top and a nursing camisol so you have as little clothing to move/remove as possible. Nurse in the car if you can't find a place to stop that you're comfortable with at the stops. Have a nice trip :)

I nursed all three of my children. We make a trip to Alabama from Arkansas once or twice a year. I have tried both pumping and feeding as well as leaning over the carseat and nursing with us both buckled in. Bottles aren't always a good option if the baby has never had one or during those first few months when you are trying to build your milk supply. I would suggest stopping to nurse and diaper as needed along the way. It might be a great idea to do most of your traveling during the sleeping hours. Sometimes, they will sleep more on a car trip because of vibrating and rocking the car. She may not wake for feedings as often as usual because of this. I would not wake her to feed her, wait until she indicates she is hungry. You may try nursing over the seat, but it is very uncomfortable, and you would need to cover the windows that you would be visible from to stop the gaulkers. Definitely nurse on your usual stop. We like to stop at Walmart to stretch our legs, use the bathrooms and grab some snacks or a new entertainment for the older kids. I would seek out the ladies changing room and ask for a booth to nurse the baby. I never had any problem even at night. They would find a clerk with a key to let me in. We usually stop about every 2 to 3 hours on our trip anyway. Usually at a rest stop about 1 1/2 from home where we stop mainly to meet up with my inlaws who travel with us from that point on and then again in West Memphis, Arkansas and again in Corinth, Mississippi and then our destination of Huntsville, Alabama. We usually have plenty to drink in coffee, cokes and bottle water in an ice chest with us in the van. My husband likes to snack as he drives. I am so glad he is not a truck driver or he would look like the goodyear blimp. Bathroom stops are a necessity.

Hi J.,
You're doing great and thinking of everything. You'll be fine. I think the leaving at a normal sleep time is a great idea. It always worked for us. We had 5 (one a nephew who came at 9 years old) and 4 of our own and we did many nursings in the car (use your imagination on how this works) but really, I wouldn't PLAN to stop and nurse or change diapers. Our rule was NEVER wake a sleeping baby (unless she's under weight and the Dr. is prompting you to get more into her...even then, I think I'd feed more often in the day and let them sleep at night!) There will be enough opportunity to do these things when you HAVE to stop...don't worry you won't need to guess when that is. You can usually tell by the screaming or the smell. But before you leave, go to walmart or michaels and pick up some squares of foam chair padding or memory foam about an inch thick. remove the car seat cover and put this under the cover, then replace the cover. Those car seat covers don't offer much padding. usually it's just the cover on plastic. Check it out and make sure the seat is super comfy. You could just put some soft fleece blankets under her to soften the seat.
Best wishes! K.

nurse and change her when you normally would but if she sleeps a little longer in between because you are driving then let her. We drove to florida and I was nursing and it really did not take that much longer with stopping to nurse and to change diapers then it would have if I wasn't nursing. I'd say nurse her right before you leave and I'm sure she will drift off to sleep while you are driving and probably will sleep a while before waking up to nurse again.

Have a safe trip :)

I agree plan to keep your nursing schedule by nursing her right before you put her in the car. Should she sleep past her next nursing time. Let her sleep. Then when she does wake. Stop and feed her and change her. It sill not hurt her at all!

Have a great trip. I wish I was going to see family in California!

We traveled from Ohio to Iowa for Christmas when my son was 5 weeks and nursing. We left early after his 4 am feeding and just travelled around his schedule. It took us a lot longer than normal but that is life with a new baby. Being in the carseat is not really a huge problem at that age. Your baby will likely sleep the whole time anyway. Good Luck.

Nursing would be faster and easier, nothing to prepare. Just plug in, feed and go. With one of mine I always had to change a diaper before and after feeding anyway so there was no time saved by giving a bottle, time would have to be taken to change a diaper all the same right after eating.
We took a roadtrip from San Diego to Sacramento when my oldest was 7 months old for my brother's wedding that I was in. We tried to power through as much driving as we could. He took small amounts of solids (very small amounts) and no bottle(I didn't pump). We'd stop to nurse on demand and when I could smell the dirty diaper and try to feed little bits of solids while driving to stretch things. But, because he spent so much time in the car seat as we tried to push the limits as much as we could to just get there he ended up with the worst diaper rash. What would have been an 8 hour drive we split into 2 days stopping at dinner time and getting a room overnight. Coming home we did the drive into the late hours of the night since he slept more at night because we just wanted to get home at that point. It did help that on the way home the roads were all major freeways fully lit with lots of safe places to stop (LA & San Diego areas by then)whereas the way up was stretches of empty road with little to no lighting(Harris Ranch and Middle of Nowhere). You're going to want to stretch out as well.
Plan longer then usual and don't be surprised if you end up at a hotel and spreading it between 2 days.

I took a road trip from AZ to MI 30 hours! and my baby was a few months old and breastfeeding...because it was such a long trip when he was ready to feed I would just take him out of his seat and feed him in the front seat and when he was done I would put him back...I realize this is risky, but it needed to be done My baby NEVER took a bottle he absolutly refused it and I also had 3 other children in the car so I did what was the most convient...If your baby will take a bottle I would just pump in the car and feed her that way dont worry about her being in her seat for that long...If you do stop just take her out for a few min change her diaper and then be on your way...Just make sure your checking her ever 2 hours to make sure shes not sitting in poo for a long time... :) she will do fine infact she will probably sleep most of the trip Have fun and be safe!!

You should plan to stop every few hours and nurse when she wants as well as change her diapers and get her out of the seat. We went to the beach when my 1st was 7 weeks, and it sounds like the same distance. What normally is a 6 hour drive took about 8 -8.5, but it wasn't a big deal. My baby did very well until the last 30 minutes, and I think he was just "done" with being in the seat (even though we kept getting him out every time we stopped). I nursed and gave a bottle because I always supplemented. It just depended on the stop as to which one he got.

Plan to nurse but take the pump & bottles. Based upon my own travel experiences, I suggest you nurse your baby, if you can during the trip. BUT, if you find using a bottle works better, the do what works!

If you can, why not split the trip over two days? That way you'll probably have to stop only once each day to nurse/diaper/stretch/etc.

If you make the trip in one day, just plan for an extra 2-3 hours to allow for stops. If you plan for the extra time, then there's no "hurry-up we're late" mentality. If your baby sleeps for longer stretches than normal, just prepare for some 'make-up' feedings when you arrive at CA :)