...and there is no better place to get parenting advice than here. My wife and I are moving from Oregon to Maryland for my job and will be driving cross country with a 3 month old. He is generally pretty good in the car, but 8 hours/day over 6 days is going to be tough. Anyone have experience with this. Any suggestions?
I need some advice for traveling with an infant...
- Thread starter bthaunert
- Start date
To mitigate the pain, time your driving to coincide with his sleep....whenever it is. Even if it means overnight driving.
There are few things on this planet worse than driving long distances with an angry crying child.
I might even think about sending the wife and babe out there on a flight and meet them there a few days later. Have a solo, find yourself, drive across the country adventure. It will likely prevent the drive from sucking away two or three years from your life expectancy.
There are few things on this planet worse than driving long distances with an angry crying child.
I might even think about sending the wife and babe out there on a flight and meet them there a few days later. Have a solo, find yourself, drive across the country adventure. It will likely prevent the drive from sucking away two or three years from your life expectancy.
I usually use roofies to help my children out.
Good luck, brother. My biggest advice is to seriously travel through the night while he sleeps. I have two kids in diapers. We made a trip up the coast for 8 hours and traveled at night and it wasn't that bad. However, we traveled during the day on the way back and my wife wanted to take a scenic route near Monterey Bay and it was the worst idea we've ever had. Crying kids and getting sick on winding roads.
I seriously cannot reiterate to do as much driving during the kid's nap times that is if your schedule allows it. You seriously might want to consider flying the wife and kid separately and you just make the drive.
I seriously cannot reiterate to do as much driving during the kid's nap times that is if your schedule allows it. You seriously might want to consider flying the wife and kid separately and you just make the drive.
Purchase plane tickets. Pay the extra cash to have your stuff and vehicles shipped to Maryland.
Should have negotiated for those upgraded moving costs when signing on with your new employer. But since your negotiating skills are obviously lacking then you should pony up with personal funds.
If you can't afford the upgraded travel plan then you probably shouldn't be posting in the Paddock in the first place. So i can't help you. No one can.
Should have negotiated for those upgraded moving costs when signing on with your new employer. But since your negotiating skills are obviously lacking then you should pony up with personal funds.
If you can't afford the upgraded travel plan then you probably shouldn't be posting in the Paddock in the first place. So i can't help you. No one can.
If you're breaking it up into 8 hour trips prepare yourself AND your wife that there will be days where 6+ hours of the drive will be screaming that you can do nothing about it. The kid is safe and you have to get there, so sometimes it's going to suck. I can block it out or at least let it blend into the background, my wife hears every scream and they add to every scream before it. We made a 7 hour drive pretty frequently when we lived in Alabama to visit family and while my youngest wasn't the best car mate, it was my wife who would drive me bat **** crazy.
Don't drive through Kansas. Avoid Kansas. You will lose 5 years of your life making the 6 hour trek across that picnic table landscape with an infant.
Some good advice so far. We thought about having them fly out and such, but the issue is we have 3 cats and a dog and my wife will not ship them cross country on a flight (cue the get rid of the wife posts, or leave the animals behind posts). So, both of our moms are coming out and we're driving 2 cars. My mom, myself, our dog and baby 1/2 time in one car and my wife, her mom 3 cays and baby 1/2 time in their car. We have had to go to Shriner's in Portland with him a few times, which is about a 2 hour drive from Eugene and he does well with the break in between, so 4 hours of driving, with an hour break in the middle has been doable. Wally World here we come.
We drove through Nebraska when we moved out here from the east coast about 8 years ago...brutal. We are taking the southern route as to minimize the chances of bad weather.
Btothe4th is correct.
The screaming child noise itself is awful to deal with. However....the real danger here is the psychological stress you and your wife will endure.
It can very easily and will turn you against one another. It's not a matter of if, but when.
The screaming child noise itself is awful to deal with. However....the real danger here is the psychological stress you and your wife will endure.
It can very easily and will turn you against one another. It's not a matter of if, but when.
Also, invest in z good car seat if you haven't already. We upgraded from s Graco to a Diono a while back. It's the bsby difference between flying in knee-scraping the seat coach and getting your own bed first class.
8 hour days? Man up OP. 12+ hour days driving or bust. Trust me, you are going to want to shave a couple days off with that kid screaming half the time.
Jesus ... mom and M-I-L? That's torture.
Ship your wife and kid and make the drive solo with the animals. With what you're spending in 2 cars, it has to be a wash.
I can't think of a worse 6 days than driving across the country w/ a 3 month old, car full of animals, mom, wife and MIL.... and I really love my Mom and MIL. F*ck that. I'm sure WS would agree.
I'd fly WS and G with our MIL and drive 3-4 solo days with the animals. Can't imagine a 3 month old in a car for 6 days. Can't imagine tacking 2 extra days on for the stops and crying associated with traveling that far with 3 women and baby.
I can't think of a worse 6 days than driving across the country w/ a 3 month old, car full of animals, mom, wife and MIL.... and I really love my Mom and MIL. F*ck that. I'm sure WS would agree.
I'd fly WS and G with our MIL and drive 3-4 solo days with the animals. Can't imagine a 3 month old in a car for 6 days. Can't imagine tacking 2 extra days on for the stops and crying associated with traveling that far with 3 women and baby.
Oh god you invited both grandmothers on this joyous trip as well. I thought I was dealing with a civilized person.
-Don't bring alcohol or weapons as by day 4 you will contemplate both.
-Set ground rules early about following each other. You are traveling with 3 women and in the course of the first day you will piss everyone of them off by your driving habits, no matter what you do. Dear god the thought of this makes me more nauseous than the thought of the kid.
-Have at least some reward each day. A cigar, a nice meal, a drink. You're going to need something to look forward to.
Completely on board with Anthony. Fly everyone else out and drive. Otherwise good luck on the impending misery.
-Don't bring alcohol or weapons as by day 4 you will contemplate both.
-Set ground rules early about following each other. You are traveling with 3 women and in the course of the first day you will piss everyone of them off by your driving habits, no matter what you do. Dear god the thought of this makes me more nauseous than the thought of the kid.
-Have at least some reward each day. A cigar, a nice meal, a drink. You're going to need something to look forward to.
Completely on board with Anthony. Fly everyone else out and drive. Otherwise good luck on the impending misery.
Seriously, get the additional family members the eff out of there. Everyone involved in this trip will hate each other for a while, limit the damage. By month three your wife already hates you (and vice versa) but is too tired to do anything about it. Your mom and her mom will never be the same after this.
I've moved across country three times. It sucks balls. The middle part of the country is trash. For me, it really sucked driving through Amarillo, Texas to Oklahoma to New Mexico to Arizona. After awhile everything looks burnt orange and brown with no scenery and you can just sense that Waffle House society is nearby.
In 2012, we had to move in January. We left when it was snowing in Kentucky, went through an ice storm in St.Louis, a windstorm through Texas and the pouring rain in California (one of the five days it rains all year) and got to move furniture in that. All in a four day trip.
Didn't have kids then only dogs and thank God because no way in hell I'd be able to handle it.
In 2012, we had to move in January. We left when it was snowing in Kentucky, went through an ice storm in St.Louis, a windstorm through Texas and the pouring rain in California (one of the five days it rains all year) and got to move furniture in that. All in a four day trip.
Didn't have kids then only dogs and thank God because no way in hell I'd be able to handle it.
This should be a documentary. I'm serious. I want updates along the way if you can and a summary at the end. It's like a condensed 2016 version of the Oregon Trail only instead of dysentery you have the real possibility of having a "mom just threw a lamp at my wife because she questioned her choice of Applebees over Johnny Carino's.
Lot of good advice in this thread but this is at the top. There's not a whole lot they can do, baby is going to cry X amount no matter what, not sure what they are going to bring to the table other than complaints.
Oh and drive at night when everyone in the Ark is asleep.
Oh and liveblog this either here or twitter. Seriously. Would be an all-timer thread even by The Paddock standards. Maybe we can all wave at you or hand you those little water cups for marathoners in your window as you pass through the Commonwealth.
BOOM...thinking same thing. No reason you can't fly the wife and baby out and do the drive yourself. Might even have time to visit a couple of adult stores along the way.
OP, you leaving college sports administration (at least, that's my recollection)?
Also, at just 3 months, that baby will do a lot of sleeping. May not be as bad as everyone is saying - although, to be sure, there will be some fits. Really just depends on the individual kid and his sleeping habits...
Also, at just 3 months, that baby will do a lot of sleeping. May not be as bad as everyone is saying - although, to be sure, there will be some fits. Really just depends on the individual kid and his sleeping habits...
I am moving on from my position at the University of Oregon to take a position at Loyola University Maryland. Smaller school, but big step up in responsibility. It's a great move personally and professionally.
False. You mess a 3 month old schedule up 6 days in a row? They're going to express their displeasure.
If you're really intent on driving with that crew, I'd take the advice and roll during the baby's sleep hours. I guess. I mean if you do it the other way you're going to be up all night anyway with the kid being all pissed off.
Shew. More I think about it, it makes me nauseous. Ship them any other way results in divorce, murder or suicide.
If you're really intent on driving with that crew, I'd take the advice and roll during the baby's sleep hours. I guess. I mean if you do it the other way you're going to be up all night anyway with the kid being all pissed off.
Shew. More I think about it, it makes me nauseous. Ship them any other way results in divorce, murder or suicide.
Alcohol and weapons are the only way I'd survive a trip like this.
Since the OP seems set on taking along all of these women, kids, and animals, he should rent a big RV and tow his car. He just sits and drives 8 hrs/day while the rest of that crew plays house in the RV. Serious.
It'll only be authentic if OP does this in a covered wagon
Head south from Oregon and try to follow the same trail as the Donner party across the Sierra Nevada. That would be epic.
I looked at the RV option. It's insanely expensive (but as more and more people chime in, probably worth the money) To rent an RV one way and ship two cars, it was going to be about $5000. I got a nice moving package, but not one that would cover that plus a moving company to do a cross country move.
