Question for the parents of young kids

Hi all

In the summer we're off to Cornwall for our hols. I'll be driving, and my 3 month old son (who will be 6 months by then) will be in his car seat in the back, along with at least one adult (either my wife, my mum or the mother-in-law).

The thing is it is a long journey (about 6 hours without stops, but I plan to stop en-route at least twice, giving about 8 or 9 hours total).

All the advice is to not let baby sit in car seat for more than two hours at a time, as it can increase the risk of breathing difficulty and can affect their spine.

Obviously I don't want to put my son at avoidable risk.

Any tips for keeping him well during the journey?

Cheers

 

Hi Clueless, that is a long journey, my advice would be to tire him out in the run up so he will sleep through the majority off it, having three kids I know a thing or two about "advice", so take it as it comes. If he starts playing up pull over and let him have a breather and a drink or feed-I dare say you'll need it too.


With those three particular women in the car too I doubt there will be any problems-at least for your little lad lol.

 

Thanks. I know what you mean about how most people take advice, but in this case I am the first to admit that I'm no expert (I've only been a dad for 3 months after all).

He sleeps the second the car starts moving, and wakes up again the second we stop, so there should be no problem there. To be honest I'd rather he be awake and upset, if only because my logic is if I can hear him as I drive then I know he is ok.

I definitely plan to stop every couple of hours, with at least one stop being for an hour or more. I'll wake him up and give him a bit of tormenting (tickles, 'pull his legs off' (not as horrific as it sounds - I gently tug on his legs saying 'I'll pull your legs off', at which point I'm usually rewarded with a great bg smile)) etc.

Do you think keeping a window open to improve air circulation will make any difference?

 

When ours were little we tended to drive at night for journeys longer than a couple of hours . But having said that, they all grew up thinking that everywhere was "just down the road" because they fell asleep the moment we got under way and woke up when we arrived! Of course once they get past 3 or 4 it turns to "Are we there yet" every 5 minutes ...

 

"Do you think keeping a window open to improve air circulation will make any difference?"

Not in a modern car. The noise will be more troublesome than the blower / air-con running. I think many cars have filters in their in-car air system, so that might keep Pollen etc out too.

We always had pull-down suction-cap-stick-on blinds on the window to keep the sun off (or we put the window up on a cloth or somesuch as a makeshift screen if we were caught without one).

Put him on the "north" side - Right going to Cornwall, Left coming back - sort of the reverse of POSH - so I suppose that would be SOPH so he's not on the sunny side (although my preference is to have the sprog on the left to be kerb-side if we have to stop)

Car seat that reclines would be good, but at 6 months I expect (from memory) that it may still be a rear facing type?

We had a car seat in two parts - boster-seat thingie and a detatchable "hinged" back rest. That worked well because if you reclined the seat a bit the back rest followed it. The rigid all-in-one seats we had reclined such that the back went back, but the seat came up ... and then we had to wedge a towel under it which I expect was not very clever (this was a people carrier with reclining rear seats, I suppose a conventional back seat may not have a reclinding option). Anyway, biggest problem we had with the kids was head-lolling-forward / sideways as they nodded off, which we cured with slightly reclinded rear seats (and getting a car seat with decent side-support - like a bucket-seat)

 

Kristen, good tips, thanks.

My car is not a modern one. It is 15 years old this year. No aircon, but it does have blowers. It also has a sunroof of the type that can pop up (for ventilation without letting the sun in) or slide back.

Good point about the reverse posh approach. I would never have thought of that.

Yes, he will be in a rear facing car seat. The poor chap doesn't get much room to wriggle in it, as it designed to be a snug fit with lots of side protection in case we crash. Its the fact that he'll be in his seat for so long that worries me a bit, but if I tell whoever sits in the back to keep an eye on him, and bug him if he gets too still, hopefully all will be well.

Other people must take their kids on long car trips. Am I worrying over nothing? After all, unless you live in Devon or Somerset, Cornwall is a long way no matter where you are, and plenty of people go there.

 

"reverse posh"

I'm going to have to adopt that phrase ... "Going SOPH" sound much better than "we are slumming it" !!

"Its the fact that he'll be in his seat for so long that worries me a bit"

I can tell its your first ... we were like that. Second comes along and the first 900 pages of the "Firstborn Child Operating Procedure" gets chucked out the window leaving the final half page to be labelled "Secondborn Child Operating Procedure" !

"Other people must take their kids on long car trips. Am I worrying over nothing? After all, unless you live in Devon or Somerset, Cornwall is a long way no matter where you are, and plenty of people go there"

6 hours is a long way, but my instant reaction is that a couple of 1 hour stops won't make a lot of difference.

We dragged ours down to France - about 10 hours driving time. We stopped overnight, but that made it two 5 hours drives in two days, or 3h + 7h. I can't remember if we did that when they were nought years old, but certainly we dragged them onto short haul flights at that age - which included getting to airport, plonking kiddy-seat on floor in delay-parture, and then on the plane seat - must have been 6 elapsed hours plus short breaks.

 

Thanks. I'll try to relax. I'm sure all will be well.

 

It's very obvious he is your first child and it's lovely to hear the way you are about him. I concur entirely with Kristen when he says the first chapters go out of the window when the 2nd born child arrives. You tend to feel al little less gently toward them when they get as big as my lad is now-15 and over 6ft3in tall with the gob and attitude to match. If there was room I'd stuff him in the boot these days and get some peace from his constant moaning and griping lol

 

Clueless, have some faith in your mother and mother in law. They brought you and your wife up alright, didn`t they?:D

 

Funnily enough, lots of people say the first is the scariest I suppose its because its all new.

You're quite right. I'll let the womenfolk keep their attention on my son, I'll keep my attention on the road

All, thanks for helping put my mind at ease Maybe I should read less horror stories on t'internet.

 

Hi clueless,
I can't offer any advice but what's on here sounds good. You are only acting like any normal, especially first time, parent would. Have you tried your baby seat manufacturers web-site, sometimes they have advice or forums on them so they might have some advice too.

Blimey, I remember being tailgated by a lorry when I had my (then) baby in the car & when we went off the slip road I followed them cos I knew they were heading for a industrial park and when they stopped I pulled up behind them, got out and started screaming & crying at them. They must have thought I was completely off my rocker, lol. But when it's your baby....... :( I could have put my foot down cos I had an XR2 at the time but I had baby in the car. Totally changes your outlook when you have one I think ( a baby, not a car, lol).

Just take it easy, and with a few other grown-ups in the car there'll always be someone looking out for your son.

Enjoy your holiday and take loads of snaps to show us.

cheers

 

When we were little we travelled to Devon , cornwall all over the place in the back of my dads van.
No seat belts infact no seats.
A bed would be made on the floor for us little ones .
I know that today this would be outlawed and classed as very wrong but the point is we survived.
He would stop every few hours, ( it was a much longer journey 50 years ago).

My own daughter is so different with the twins than she ever was with her first son.
Throw the books away you are the only people that can no what your son needs.
It's instinct and common-sense you will no if he as had enough, believe me at 6 months old he will tell you.
Stop worrying and enjoy him.
Babies are tougher than you think.
Have a great holiday.

 

Ah, the words of an expert from Lyn,


I often sat at my mums feet on the passenger side-in the little nook thats there and she would pass me the "boggest strawberries and grapes", and I was in charge of the "Quosh squash ".


I miss that a great deal.


Enjoy it as much as you possibly can, you will have a wonderful time


Lyn, My spot when older was just in the nook of the wheel arch-my dad took us in the van too.

 

We had a caravan in devon for years when the children were little .
We would go on friday nights after school.
Our youngest daughter used to sit in the foot well on a pillow at my feet curled up in a ball with her blanket and sleep all the way to Devon.
I forgot about that. :hehe: