We did it again!
Our first short road trip went fairly well, so when my husband got some time off work we decided to head to BC to surprise some family members and let them meet our daughter :)
This drive feels long and tedious on a good day, so I had no idea what to expect travelling down with a three month old baby.
We were aiming for a 16 hour trip. Four more hours than the usual 12-ish. Enough time for a few feeds, stretches, and meals. With adults you can plan to shorten these stops to 20 minutes (at the most!) at a time, but with a baby, the stop times easily double. Especially as the day crawls on, when her naps get shorter and her energy levels get higher.
But again… being the amazing baby that she is, she exceeded my expectations.
She. Was. Amazing!!
We stopped four short times on the whole ride down. A total of only 14 hours. She slept and played like a champ throughout the entire trip. Her sleep schedule has been a bit wonky since we arrived in BC, but she’s still sleeping a solid 8 hours at night – can’t complain about that!
(although my niece and nephew waking up to her crying at 4am may disagree with me…)
Here’s what we did to help make the trip go as smoothly as possible:
Tip #1 – Leave early.
We left at 3am. She usually sleeps until 7am, so we guessed that it we woke her up at 3am, she would sleep all the way to Jasper (4-ish hours), and we were right!
Tip #2 – Get some fresh air along the way!
We made sure we got out of the car every time we stopped.
A little fresh air and walking will do wonders for a grumpy baby (& a grumpy adult, lol)!
Sidenote: we ALWAYS stop at the Bear’s Paw Bakery in Jasper – delicious scones!!
Tip #3 – Bring your own food!
If you are breastfeeding, choose foods that are easy to eat with one hand. I usually just jumped in the backseat to feed her when we were stopped and ate a snack or a meal at the same time.
A little bit of prep saves lots of time in the long run!
For this trip we brought egg salad sandwiches, veggies, vegetable dip, fruit salad (not pictured) and delicious homemade nutella cookies :)
Tip #4 – Give the baby time to stretch!
We let our little one kick around in the backseat after I fed her so that she’s have a little more freedom to flail her arms and legs around. Being cramped in that car seat all day isn’t very much fun…
We also had a little bit of fun letting her try on hats and drive the truck :)
Tip #5 – Give her some toys to play with.
At three months, our baby girl isn’t big on toys, but it was still good to have a few rattles to shake and distract her in the car.
She definitely protested when we put her back in her car seat, but I sat in the back with her and played with her to help calm her until she got tired. Then I threw a blanket over the car seat to mimic the darkness of nighttime and minimize visual distractions. It usually took her about 2 minutes to doze off.
In case you were wondering… the surprise when we reached our destination was worth it!
Our niece and nephew had no idea we were coming :)
It was great!
Watch the surprise for yourself:
Our niece and nephew had no idea we were coming :)
It was great!
Watch the surprise for yourself:
Any more roadtrip tips for me?
I’m sure that this won’t be our last one! I’ll take all the tips I can get :)
Many more pictures of our fun in BC coming soon :)
{xoxo}
kiwiberg
Thursday 24th of April 2014
Love the video!! What fun!!
Jen Claus
Wednesday 23rd of April 2014
Lol to above! I've never actually done a really long road trip with kids (except driving from prince George to terrace with Brian's parents when we visited them in 2012)- guess that's what happens when you live on an isolated island! Did fly lots with B in her first year though- ON x 3, AB (your wedding!)and BC. I think the tips are pretty much the same :)
Katie Vschaaf
Wednesday 23rd of April 2014
Awesome! Always a relief to get through those milestones. Flying with her will be fun since she's such an easy going baby :) my fam goes to Nova Scotia every 2 years and Greg and I are thinking of going on the next rotation. . Casey will be 3 and our new baby a year and a half and it's already giving me anxiety lol! But I know of I'm relaxed, they'll be relaxed. Loved thr video and hope you had a wonderful trip to white rock!!
Lindi V
Wednesday 23rd of April 2014
"Our new baby?!?"