Any articles on car seat time limit safety? Husband wants to take 6 m y/o on 25 hour trrip

@katrina2017 You're right, it's 20-30 changed per hour overall. I wasnt dividing by 60, major brain fart. Still not fully preventative, though, especially depending on where you're sitting.
 
Absolutely. Look up the research that’s been done. Flights, surprisingly enough, have not been a big infection vector for Covid. Precisely because of the HEPA filters they have on board. Just fly. This drive is a horrible idea.

If you wanna show him this comment: Mate. Take it from a father of young twins with a lot of very distant family. Don’t even try this one.
 
@umaid You should fly with the baby, or don't go. I've done a road trip with a 1-year-old before, and it took about 3 times the time it takes with just adults. Babies and young kids can't sit in the car for 12 hours a day. If your husband isn't willing to make a huge adjustment to his expectations, this will be a miserable trip for everyone.
 
@umaid This sounds like absolute hell. Seriously. It's going to take two to three times as long. Just fly there and meet them or don't go.
 
@umaid Rather than focusing on car seat safety, how about having him think through how well his plan would actually work? How often does baby eat? How long does it take each time? How often does he need a diaper change? Once he actually thinks about it, he might realize that it's just not practical to make the drive in only 2 days.
 
@helarikoski Made several 6.5 hour trips with less than year old kids.

Those trips turned into 8+ hour trips. We had parks picked out, banks to stop at (closed during the weekend). My oldest didn't travel well so more stopping.

Even at 7 and 4 the kids still need to stop more. I think a blood hound could follow us, given the number of stops to pee on the side of the road we take.
 
@helarikoski This is so true. At that age they are really hard to entertain sat in a static seat - at least toddlers and older can listen to audio books, enjoy songs, verbal games, play on a phone/tablet, look out of the window. A six month old is just going to be sad and confused that he can't move or cuddle. The plus side is that they nap a lot more. But you are likely to need to take some long breaks just to keep the baby happy.
 
@umaid I can’t address the safety - aside from the fact that the driving risks are likely greater than the Covid risks - but dear god, he’s absolutely delusional if he thinks you can put a 6 month old in a car seat for 2 straight, full days and not have them absolutely freaking lose it.

My baby does well in the car and has a 40-minute drive to and from daycare every day, but absolutely melts down at about the 1.5-hour mark of a road trip if he’s sleepy or hungry or can see or hear me (because he wants to be picked up and can’t understand why I won’t).

Your baby will absolutely lose their shit. On the bright side, if you try it, you likely won’t even make it a quarter of the way there before you give up and turn back.
 
@dustinx You're right. We don't even know how he'd be in the car at that time. Even I get uncomfortable in the car after 3-4 hours and I'm not in a confined container seat.
 
@umaid WAIT!

Has no one even addressed the car ride back?! Like, you’re talking 25 hours one way, right? So what…. You’ll drive 2 miserable days to the Florida Keys, spend some fun time there and drive 25 hours back as well?

I know this is supposed to be a place where you get scientific answers. But your husband is absolutely insane If not only he thinks you can do 12.5 hours each day but also that it won’t be some of the most stressful time.

Many babies are crawling/mobile at 6 months. Mine was generally good in the car, but for long periods of time got majorly restless. He wanted to move and do things.
 
@umaid Good luck, I hope he changes his mind. I realize your son must be pretty young at the moment to be 6 months in September. So 1) congratulations and 2) good luck with travel (non?) plans
 
@umaid I’ve always been told to stop every 2 hours and get baby out, just like you said… but apparently adults are supposed to do that for safety, too, to get out and stretch their legs every 2 hours. I’ll look for info on it. I want to say it’s related to blood clots, but IDK for sure.

At the same time… I would NEVER take a baby to the Keys if I had to drive there, and I live in the South (and I honestly don’t know if there are any airports out there). Hell, I don’t even want to make the drive myself - doesn’t it take like 12 hours to get from Miami to whatever the farthest island is? I cannot imagine driving from Canada down through the entire US and THEN having to drive out to the Keys, much less in 2 days, much less with a 6mo. Like… it’s not even the safety issue for me, it just sounds completely fucking miserable, no matter who you’re traveling with or how comfortable your car is.

I really would just put your foot down and insist that you will stay at home with your kid. You should not need scientific evidence to prove that you don’t want to go on a long-ass road trip with a baby; no is a complete sentence. Your husband can go, and his family can take a nice, leisurely road trip together, without worrying about a baby’s needs. And then, you can make plans for FIL to visit soon, so that he can get some quality time with his grandbaby outside of a car.

One thing I didn’t see you mention is feeding baby… I’m guessing he’ll still be on breastmilk or formula at that point for most of his calories. IIRC, you are not supposed to feed baby in their car seat, and obviously you can’t be holding baby in your arms while the car is moving. So like, look at the amount of time he spends per day nursing/on the bottle, and how frequently he eats, and keep in mind that any road trip with him is going to require stops that are long and frequent enough for him to drink his milk. We did this with our 13mo while moving cross-country - it was fine because we planned for it, and we have an electric car, so we just charged it while she was eating. But it sounds to me like your husband is either forgetting to factor in feeding the baby, or assuming you’re going to be, like, feeding him in the backseat on the highway …

ETA FWIW, the AAP says to stop every 2-3 hours, and never breastfeed in a moving car. https://www.healthychildren.org/Eng...avel-in-a-car-seat-a-few-hours-at-a-time.aspx

This is anecdotal, but I think makes a pretty good point. https://thecarseatlady.com/no-nursing-while-the-car-is-moving/

I’m not seeing anything super reputable on bottle feeding in the car while moving, but a few blogs and messages boards say the bottle could be a projectile in a crash (obviously not great if it’s in baby’s mouth at the time), and that if baby were to choke, it would be harder and much more dangerous to get them out of the car seat and do CPR while the car is moving.

And even if no one got hurt, getting a ticket for having baby out of the car seat while moving (whether to feed them or give CPR) would suck… especially in small towns, and in a place like Florida, where police departments count on giving tickets to tourists to make up any deficits in their budget for the year. (My friend’s dad was a cop, and it’s literally how some PDs make money in places that are close to the highway. I don’t know if this is a thing in Canada, but in the US, it’s widely known that traffic cops in certain PDs have a quota of traffic tickets they are required to give out each month, and often on the last day of the month, you’ll see them all parked near local speed traps or places where people often break traffic laws, so they can give out tickets quickly and meet their quota. Florida has no state income tax… they make their money off tourism instead, including through ticketing drivers.)

This says sitting in any kind of transportation for 4 hours can put you at risk of blood clots, although it has some stretches you can do to reduce risk if you can’t get up out of your seat. Doesn’t mention babies specifically. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/dvt/travel.html Compression socks might help, but I doubt they have those for babies… and you’d definitely want to ask baby’s doctor first.

Also, Google Maps says it’s 3 hours and 15 minutes from Miami to Key West. I have no idea where I got 12 hours from, LOL. Still… would not drive it with a baby.
 
@sarahsknight Great point about feeding. My LOs less than 2 months old right now and EBF. I'm rethinking the car breaks will take even longer with feeding, playing, diaper change etc. I definitely wouldn't feed him while driving. Anyhow I'm already convinced driving is off the table even if we split it in 3 days. Thanks for trying to think of everything for me lol!
 
@sarahsknight There are keys all along both coasts of Florida (I lived on one as a little kid, before moving into mainland Florida). For many of them, you're just a bridge away from major metropolitan areas.
 
@umaid The only thing I've read is that they need to stop and get the baby out every 2 hours to move around.

Honestly I would not do this with a child unless really necessary. It sounds miserable! Plus all the extra crap you have to pack... My personal opinion. I'd fly first before driving this distance.
 
@umaid Due to some unavoidable life circumstances, I did a 24 hours drive and then a 17.5 hour drive when baby was 4 months old. Then 2-12 hour drives at 5 months, and finally 39 hour drive at 6 months. (That is drive time straight through.)

I can say with complete confidence that your trip will take AT LEAST 3 days. Unless you’re willing to completely disregard car seat safety and drive straight through the night- which I do not recommend for baby’s sake. No way would a baby during the day allow you to drive more than 2-2.5 hours at a stretch.
 
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