tips for traveling with a 1 month old?

Question

we're traveling home for thanksgiving, it's a 6.5 hour drive and my baby girl will be just over a month old then.
i'm so nervous about driving that far with her, and i am pretty overwhelmed thinking about it! haha
any tips??
(the doctor said to give her a mild decongestant to help her sleep and with the elevation changes over the course of the drive... is that a good idea? and what medicine would i give her??)

yeah i thought he was an idiot for suggesting it but at the same time i'm a new mom what do i know? so i am glad ya'll confirmed that.

thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

Do not listen to your doctor and give her a mild decongestant that can be really bad for her. If she starts crying you might want to stop at a rest stop and take her out of the car seat.

Answer 2

We did a 6 hour car trip for a wedding when our baby was 5 weeks old. The beauty of that age is that they pretty much sleep the whole time anyways, so its easy to strap them into the car seat and just drive. You'll be feeding every 2-3 hours, so try to map out good places to stop at regular intervals. Try to leave right after a feeding and then plan about 45 minutes to an hour for each stop. DO NOT MEDICATE YOUR 1 MONTH OLD JUST TO BE ABLE TO TRAVEL. If her nose gets stuffy because of the elevation change you can use saline drops to break up the mucous and then an aspirator to suck it all out.

Answer 3

Don't be afraid! I took my baby home for Thanksgiving at this age and it was the best holiday ever. They are super portable when they are so small. They sleep a lot and only need milk, diapers and a few clothes.

That said: Don't give her any medication she doesn't absolutely need! If you notice she has any particular napping patterns, try to leave when she is most likely to fall asleep to maximize your chances of a long nap. If you are not travelling alone with the baby, sit in the back seat or have your passenger sit in the back seat with the baby while she is awake. Take bottles of formula or expressed breast milk to feed to her on the road to help soothe her without taking out of her car seat. But be prepared to stop at her whim! Add at least one hour of stopping time for every two hours of travel time and be sure there are safe places to stop along the way so you don't feel pressured to nurse on the shoulder of the interstate! It is bad for their little backs to spend too much time in car seats anyway, so look at each stop as an investment in her spinal health.

Good luck! I hope you have a wonderful time.

Answer 4

Actually that's an easier age to travel than a year from now. She'll probably sleep a lot of the way. I'd skip the decongestant though. If she fusses and keeps it up, stop at the next rest stop, change her and cuddle her.

Good luck - and quit stressing, it'll be OK.

Answer 5

Plan for a 9 to 10 hour trip with the couple stops you'll probably have to make for when baby needs to eat/be changed and just stretch for a half hour outside the car seat. Have someone sit in the back seat with her so if she doesn't sleep she can be entertained or at least not be scared all by herself. Then enjoy. We traveled lots when our guy was that young, we even took him camping a couple times!

Now at 3 months traveling is harder because he is awake for longer periods and gets bored and fussy in his car seat for extended periods of time. However I have never had to give him medication because of elevation changes. Your not skyrocketing up or down in a jet plane, your driving and unless you are going straight up or down a mountain her body will adjust just like yours. And if you do have to go up or down great distances quickly pull over at the rest stops along the way for 10 - 15 minutes if she gets fussy, watch for signs of a bloody nose (common in children who are sensitive to elevation changes) and if she does have one just give her body time to adjust and go slowly. More than likely though, except for a couple longer than normal stops it will be a great trip.

When you get back - get another doctor. Any doctor who will recommend decongestants for traveling will also be the first one to give antibiotics when not needed and narcotics for pain relief when Tylenol will work just fine.

Answer 6

There are some funny answers to this question. But I do agree with them... do not use medicine the news just showed a list of medicines that were possibly fatal to babies and may not work at all and alot of them were decongestants and cough relievers so try to avoid them.

Answer 7

Make sure she is fed & has a dry diaper before you start out, you will need to stop at least once to change/feed her. You may want to hang out in the back seat with her (assuming you are not driving) to keep her entertained and give her her pacifier back when she spits it out (assuming she uses one). If your Dr. recommended the medicine I would say it's safe to use. I personally would not give her medication unless I thought she really needed it. Most babies will fall asleep just from the vibrations in the car.

Answer 8

I learned a few things from traveling with my babies.
1) Let one of the parents ride in the back seat with baby. It's easier & safer to tend to her.
2) Plan to make frequent stops for diaper changes. DO NOT attempt to change babies' diaper in a moving car. Very dangerous.
3) When baby is asleep, Go, Go, Go. Save the gas and food stops for when baby is awake.

Answer 9

No, no, no to the decongestant. Just stop every 1-2 hours for a break, diaper change and kisses.

Answer 10

Chances are she will sleep for the majority of the trip anyway. Babies sleep in cars. Be prepapred to take stops and leave plenty of time for the trip because of this. There are alot of things you can get to make the ride more comfortable, bottle warmers etc.

We traveled alot with my son when he was an infant, make a lit of everything you will need, pack ahead of time, allow plenty of time. If she seems to sleep well at night this may be an opportunity to travel at night because a car ride can lull a baby to sleep it may help her sleep even longer!

Good Luck!