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

@umaid Just don’t go. My FIL was a truck driver and he wanted to do the same when we had our first kid around 9 months. I stayed home with my son while they went on vacation. I was fine with that. Better safe then sorry. Don’t let your husbands need to get approval from his dad risk your child’s health.
 
@umaid If your husband won't listen, plan a road trip 3/4 hours away next weekend and let him taste the pain of driving an infant. My son at that age was done after 20/30 min in the car and if we plan around nap time, 1.5 hour and then he cries until we got home. Car ride only got easier after 1. Our two hour drive to visit in laws was super stressful and we only did it three times before the age of 1. Not only that, packing for infant is so much more stuff and you have to worry about where they sleep.
 
@umaid We did a 7 hour road trip with our six month old and we landed closer to 12 hours.

She needed to be changed or fed/ burped every two hours. Which meant an additional 30 minutes for every two hours of driving. I would say plan for a full extra 12 hours for the trip.

It will not be two days, it will be three. But it is doable.

And yes it’s not ideal to have your baby in a car seat for that long, but it’s not a strong enough reason to miss an important event like this.

Is this actually about LOs well being or do you just not want to be on the road with a six month old for a full 6 days plus how ever long you’re in Florida?

If you don’t want to go, you do not have to go. Even if there is no scientific reason for it you know?
 
@aspiringchristian105 I would love to go but I just don't think it's doable in the time frame my husband suggests in 2 days. I wanted to show him some research (or anecdotal evidence) that we shouldn't push past the 2 hour car seat limit
 
@umaid Yeah I mean. I think I’ve pushed my baby to 90 minutes in the car seat, but when we did our trip, we needed to stop pretty much every 90 minutes or so.

Your baby will need to burp, eat, be changed, get wiggles out, etc. every two hours at least.

It will take a full extra day of driving.
 
@umaid I’m assuming your baby is like a month old right now, right? Try a day trip to Niagara Falls, include the border crossing. I think this will quickly convince your husband how hard it is to be in the car with a screaming baby while you’re focusing on the road. We have a remarkably chill baby (everyone comments on it!) and she has NO CHILL in a car seat. It’s just whining and frustration that eventually devolves into a full blown meltdown. And when it’s your child it’s extra mentally challenging to drive (or even just be in) the car when your baby is screaming because you are biologically wired to respond to their cries and you know that if you just stop the car and pick them up they’ll be fine.
 
@umaid You’ve gotten plenty of good advice about this topic so I’ll ask this for entertainment - girl, what else does your husband have ideas about with life with a baby? 😄
 
@umaid Agree with others. Drove from SC to FL with 2yo twins. 9 hour trip turned into a 15 hour trip. It wasn't -that- bad but it sucked. I can't imagine Canada to FL. It's just not worth it.
 
@umaid We did a 20 hr road trip with my son when he was 7 months, and then again when he was 12 months, due to cross country moves. All pre-Covid.

It took us 4 days each time. We would only drive during baby’s morning and afternoon naps to limit time in the car seat. Total drive time of about 5-6 hours each day. It was ok, but I’d really recommend against it.
 
@umaid I would say fly out there.
Car seat safety aside, it would be rough with an infant driving that long.

Flying in the night when baby’s mostly asleep is the best way to go.

Or…. Plan to drive mostly during the night. When your baby’s usual bedtime is. Is it ideal to have your infant in the car seat that long? No. But neither is it good for you to have a crying baby that needs fed and changed and you’re an hour from the next place to stop.

I’d say fly. And enjoy the event. It’s a big one and your husband should be open to compromise as much as possible I hope. Good luck.
 
@umaid If you can think of an ethical way to test whether it is safe for a baby to stay more than two hours in a car seat I'm sure the seat manufactures would love to hear it 🤣
 
@umaid a 5.5 hour trip turned into a 7 hour trip bc baby got busy/unexpected diaper changes/having to pump/pee. I’d say fly for the sake of your sanity and the baby
 
@jn8campos I agree. Especially with this much notice they could probably even get tickets now for cheap on a payment program like uplift and have them paid off by the trip.
 
@umaid Your husband is delusional. You need to fly as a family or he goes and you stay home with the baby. And that is only if you are willing to fly during a pandemic. 100% okay to not fly because of a pandemic.
 
@umaid I did a 5 hr drive and it turned into 7.5 with a 6m old. It doable and fine but the longest I would be willing to do with him at this age would be 10 hrs 12 at the absolute max one way. But you're talking about doing 25 hrs x2 which is potentially 6 days of driving in a car depending on how baby does. I would personally fly if it's that important to him.
 
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