I must admit, it was a lot easier than we thought it would be. And I think it will only get harder as he gets older. We traveled with him at 3 weeks, 1 day old. And you know what he did, he slept!
I fed him an extra ounce at his 2pm feeding. By 2:45pm he was in his car seat and getting sleepy. When we pulled out of the driveway at 3:15pm, he was gone. RCW and I waited...and waited...and waited...nothing. Just a sleeping baby who would occasionally coo in his sleep and we kept watching him in the baby mirror. He was happy and content. We ran out of gas and we needed dinner so we stopped. C continued to sleep.
Finally around 6pm he started to wake up and we stopped at a rest area in West Virginia before he got super cranky. Since he slept so long, he was hungry. We were able to feed him and change him in 30 minutes and were back on the road by 6:30pm. And by 6:45pm, C was asleep again.
We kept going and hoping the silence would last. And it did. When we stopped for gas in Virginia at 10:30pm, he started to wake up and we again decided to go ahead and feed him before he got super fussy. Again, he was hungry and in 30 minutes he had eaten and been changed and was back in his car seat.
We arrived at my parent's in Richmond, Virginia at 12:15am. It took us 9 hours. The trip would have taken just RCW and I 8 hours, so we added an hour with C in tow this ride. RCW and I were both really happy with how everything turned out.
Again, we both realize that when we make the trip in September with an almost 6 month old, it will be very different! This was the easy stage because he sleeps and eats and he loves his car seat and riding in the car. When he needs to be entertained, but isn't old enough to watch a Disney movie yet, that will be the trickier trip. But we agreed that when that time comes, perhaps one of us will fly with the Little Man (while he's free!) and the other will drive all of our stuff and the pups! Not to mention, the Tahoe, ran out of room. Between 3 huskies in the very back, a car seat with a baby taking up a seat in the second row and RCW and I taking up the front row seats, we weren't left with much room for our luggage and Nap Nanny. We have realized when we go to the beach in September, we'll need to have either purchased something or rent a small trailer to get everything we need in the Tahoe. Lets not even talk about what happens when #2 comes along - perhaps a trade in of the Tahoe for a Suburban will be in our future!
As for me, I pumped every 3 hours just like I usually would. And let me tell you, pumping every 3 hours for 30 minutes each time, plus the time to get things set up and then cleaned up and put away, makes a car ride go super fast. It seemed like just when I would finish one round, it would be time to start again. For me, this seemed like the shortest drive to RVa ever!
Lets hope the ride back to Louisville goes just as well and quietly.
3 comments:
glad things went smooth for everyone!
You are so lucky! T NEVER slept that much except the first 24 hours of his life! (and of course now at night, but that's different!!) He also doesn't enjoy his car seat. We are definitely already thinking about how much STUFF we're going to have to take to the beach!!
I'm so glad it worked well! What a good good boy!!!
So glad to hear the trip down was very uneventful, and only took an hour longer than normal. You are right, the next trip down will be trickier, so enjoy the ease of this one, ha! Hope you have a great time!
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