What are some good tips for a long road trip with an infant?

I asked the question that interested me recently on the forum. I want to share the answers that I received. I think this contains interesting and useful information.

My family will be moving almost across the US. My husband and I have always liked and perfered long road trips to flying. The big difference is that we now have a newborn baby, she will be about 1 month old at the time of moving. Do you have any advice/tips about long road trips with an infant? Or should we not take the road trip and fly instead?

Reply from Kelly:

Honestly, in my opinion you should just fly. A road trip means your child will be left alone for long periods of time, and infants really need to be held. You'll be able to do long stretches when the infant is sleeping (mine will usually sleep 3-4 hours at a time), but when she is awake, you'll need to stop, do some feeding, change diapers and just hold her for a while. If you're OK with frequent stopping, and doing a lot of driving when she is usually asleep, then it could work. I'd personally fly, but you and your husband know your preferences.

Here are some tips in case you decide to road trip:

If you are doing most of the driving while the baby is asleep, then make sure somebody sleeps while the baby feeds, this will help reduce the driving fatigue.

• Plan to drive for 3-4 hours at a time
• Bring at least two car seat covers - you'll definitely need them
• Use sunshades in the windows (this is pretty important)
• Keep all the supplies you need (diapers, wipes, clothing, etc) as organized as possible. You'll be in the car for a very long time, and the last thing you want is to be in a mess, constantly looking for what you need.

Reply from Mary

I want to add the importance of spending some time in the backseat yourselves. It will help quite a lot if you and your husband traded spending time with your daughter in the back.

I traveled with my son when he was three months old, and it went pretty well. It was around 10 hours, so not as long as your trip will be, and he slept most of the way. Some tips that may help:

If you aren't breastfeeding make sure to bring lots of sterilized bottles. Keep boiled water in a flask, pre-measure formula powder and bring steri-tabs with you.

Makes sure to check the car-seats guidelines, as some seats are only designed to be used for two hours at a time.

Make sure to keep your health in mind as well, a long trip only one month after delivery maybe difficult depending on how delivery went (c-section, episiotomy, etc.)