Driving 5/ 6 hours (without counting breaks) for Thanksgiving with a 2 month old. Would you do it?

@graced1257 I did 3 hours to my mother's house when baby was about a month old and everything went okay. My baby loves the car, and her car seat. The problem for us wasn't the journey, it was the breaking of our fragile shift routine where we carefully mapped out who was sleeping when so we each got what we needed to function. Took us ages to recoup from that. If you do go, and you do have a working schedule, I recommend you do your best to stick to it.
 
@graced1257 If they can’t come to you because they can’t afford it, they should understand you saying that you also can’t afford it. Maybe it’s time to start your own tradition as a family since you’ll be moving anyway.

Maybe his fam can come to you halfway between thanksgiving and Christmas to do a double holiday celebration without putting extra stress on you to travel? It will be cheaper to travel between holidays and again - new traditions!

Good luck though, navigating family and holidays can be tricky. Especially with a baby that everyone wants to see.
 
@graced1257 Nope. Sorry but it's flu season, the drive is long and miserable, the trip is expensive and out of your budget... if they cannot afford to pay for an airbnb for themselves in your city, would it really be much cheaper for you to go to them?

All said and done, no, I would not go
 
@graced1257 My baby was born at the end of November and we had lots of visiting family for Christmas, so for us the germs part didn't stop us. But we said that if anyone was sick they wouldn't be able to hold the baby, and as everyone was there to see the baby it did revolve around her a bit. Some people didn't feel that well on certain days so did not come to the house. (They were not staying at our house). We then flew across the world when she was 3m, because we had to move back. But we did wait until she had a few rounds of vaccines.

I still think the drive and hassle would be a lot at 2m. I would personally have found it draining. You will also need to bring a lot ofnl stuff with you, amd it also seems like you and his family will struggle to afford it. I understand not having family around to help, but in this case they won't be help as they will all be busy celebrating. I think I might wait until after thanksgiving and go visit family to have smaller gatherings that are just for visiting the baby, so that it can focus on what works for you best, instead of you having to fit into other peoples plans.

But I am also European and thanksgiving means nothing to me, but not sure I would want to travel 5 hours with a 2m old for christmas either.
 
@graced1257 So we did it at 3 months and it was a looooong day, but not awful. We stopped every 2 hours to change and breastfeed my daughter. We probably stopped for about a half hour each time. A normally 5.5 hour drive took about 8.5-9 hours I think. My daughter slept the whole way except for the last 10 minutes where she screamed her head off lol. That happened both on the way there and the way back.
 
@graced1257 My family lives 2 hours away and I have brought my 3-month old to see them exactly once because it was hell on the way home. Lots of screaming, even though she normally loves the car seat. Even with breaks it’s simply too long for them to be in the car seat for something that isn’t necessary imo.

Between that, the cost not being affordable, and flu/rsv season it’s a no for me.

Perhaps you could make your own meal and join them via zoom?
 
@graced1257 I’m due 2 weeks before Thanksgiving, so baby will probably be just under 2 months on Christmas. We normally drive 4 hours for both holidays (both of our families live in the same town) but we are not traveling at all this year. My older daughter was 2 months the first time we made the drive with her and I would not recommend.
 
@graced1257 No, as everyone else has said, but also you're likely going to be in the thrall of purple crying/colic/whatever you want to call it, but the kid is likely going to be at their very fussiest at 8 weeks. Weeks 6-8 are a blur to me because of how tired I was, and then it gets better.

As others have also said, maybe try for Christmas/New Years instead.
 
@graced1257 Nope, certainly not with a newborn. Costs aside(which is expensive on its own), babies are hard work at that age, heck my son is 8 months and we still wouldn’t travel that far in a car! Honestly for the first 3-4 months I just stayed home majority of the time, except for doctor visits and a few times to the mall. Baby is so young and is a lot more vulnerable to germs. Also, your baby will have plenty of opportunities to meet family when he’s older.
 
@graced1257 Hard pass. Sounds awful for both you both and baby - which means doing it for your family which isn’t imo it’s not the time to be concerned with the comfort or enjoyment of others. My LO is 6m and I’m still having family come to us for holidays.
 
@graced1257 No. Don’t invite unnecessary stress into your life. Tell them baby is too young and you cannot afford a place to say or to travel with a newborn.
Go for Xmas if it’s serious
 
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