@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.
