Should I even think about traveling in a car for a looong time with 22 month old twins?

Hi there.
My husband and I live in Massachusetts. Our twins are almost 1!! I would like to plan a trip to Florida next February. So, the twins will be about 22 months. We want to drive down as we want to trailer the boat that we have. We have driven many times before as a couple but this is a whole new thing with the twins.
We would definitely spend two nights on the road in hotels. But, that would mean about 8-10 hours a day driving!?!?
I have had friends that have traveled from Massachusetts to Virginia with a newborn and a 3 and a 5 year old. They drove during the evening so the kids would just sleep in the car most of the time. And that worked out okay.
Any thoughts??? My husband is an avid fisherman and really wants to bring down his boat. But..is it too much for the kiddos? I don't want to make them unhappy as it's not good for them and my husband and I

 

It probably depends on how your kids do in the car. My kids have never really slept in the car once they were toddlers, so for us it would have been a rough trip. If you do decide to do it, be sure to stop occasionally and let them out to walk around so they expend some energy. Good luck!

 

QUOTE(FirstTimeMom814 @ Mar 18 2009, 06:59 PM) [snapback]1234465[/snapback]
It probably depends on how your kids do in the car. My kids have never really slept in the car once they were toddlers, so for us it would have been a rough trip. If you do decide to do it, be sure to stop occasionally and let them out to walk around so they expend some energy. Good luck!


Mine sleep really well in the car. They usually nap if we drive around. We would definitely be stopping every 3 hours at LEAST for bathroom breaks, snack and just getting out and exploring and expending some energy. As I type this..we may just want to fly and forgo the boat this trip. Hmmmm...

 

No matter what you will survive :ibiggrin: As far as stopping every 3hrs, I would only stop when they wake up, if they are sleeping KEEP DRIVING! If you find as the time approaches that it may be too nerve wrecking to drive with them, you could always fly and he could drive, but that sounds MORE stressful to me :blink:

 

:wavey: I'm in Massachusetts too!!

We did a 15 hour car trip to Ohio last summer, and my girls were about 23 months old. On the trip out there, we did it during the day. On the trip back we did afternoon/nighttime. The nighttime was the worse than the day. I found it much easier to keep them entertained during the day rather than trying to explain to a tired, cranky toddler why they can't go to sleep in their bed.

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend a DVD player for your car. My mom had gotten us a dual screen for Christmas and it has been worth it's weight in gold. It saved us!!

Another TS'er gave me a very valuable tip and said to stop every two hours, which was extremely helpful. Other than for meals, it was only a 10-15 min. stop and we would have them run as much as we could.

I would do it again without hesitation.

 

the trip will go alot smoother if you have lots of snacks for the kids, and a DVD player with a great selection of movies. also 2-4 books, toys, and blankies. . . We tried driving at night, but found that the road lights were bothering them and they didnt sleep well at all. They were much better in the daytime and took a nice nap too. Plan on starting early and finishing late with your driving and still only covering the 8 hrs that you would've as a couple. Definitely plan on stopping every 2 hrs for short break. I used a timer on my last trip. when the timer went off, it was time to take a break, change out the movie, potty, stretch etc.

 

We drove straight through from PA to FL last June and it was a 17 hour drive. :good: My kids did alot better then us. I think what helped the most was having a dvd player, and we did stop every two hours for a few minutes. On the way down we didn't do that and it was ... well, long. On the way home with all the little stops it made an amazing difference and I would even say that we'd do it again!

I say go for it! :banana:

 

We will be going from RI to FL in December. This past Nov. for Thanksgiving we made the trip. Honestly the drive up and down were horrible, but I am hoping this time around since they will be bigger, not on bottles and playing more it will go better. I think since on the next trip we will be able to get out and let them run around a playground or whatever that will help and heck I have zero issue with getting the tv/dvd players for the car to keep them happy for that long.

Dianna

 

Wow you ladies are all braver than me. I'd fly and either rent a boat down there or have your DH trailer it and meet him there with the kids. But it sounds like lots of people have done long trips with twin toddlers so it might not be as bad as I envision it. The longest we've driven with the girls was 4 hours and that was when they were tiny and slept a lot. I would just worry about driving at night and then having to be up all day with the kiddos who slept. GL with whatever you decide!