As if traveling last month with my baby on his first plan trip wasn’t enough, we decided to make a big road trip last week to the beautiful Lake Tahoe for a family member’s wedding. I knew my older two children would be easily entertained in the car with movies and my iPod, but was really worried about how my 9 month old would do.
The only other car trip that we went on with him since he was born, was about a 4 hour trip. This one was much longer (closer to 9 hours), but on that 4 hour road trip, he didn’t do too well. He cried most of the way and was just not happy. So, I was worried that we were going to have a long trip with a screaming baby. But, a lot has changed since then, and he did great!
For one, he is more interactive. My other children could hand him toys, and he was able to entertain himself with toys in the car. Also, he is now fed by bottles instead of breastfed like on our last trip. This made it easier to keep driving while he was fed. My six year old daughter was able to feed him his bottle while they both stayed in their car seats!
There were a few times when we thought he was going to lose it. But, my husband had thought to bring a couple of Baby Einstein movies in addition to the big kid movies we brought. When he got really fussy, we just put the dvd player at his feet, and let him watch a Baby Einstein movie, and he loved it! Watching these movies are not a regular occurrence at home, so he loved listening to the music and watching the bright colored images on the movie while we stayed on the move.
Traveling with babies is always tricky, but all in all, he did great! While it wasn’t a perfect trip free of crying or fussiness, it was a tolerable one. We had a great time, and were able to spend a lot of time with family and also be in a beautiful location. It was well worth the long drive to be able to bring our sweet baby along with us.
*Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com