9 Month Old on a 15 Hour Road Trip

Fresh air will keep the child knocked out a good part of the trip. Play music and sing. Sit in the back with the child for some of the wakeup times so you can exercise the legs and arms and just play with child while awake. After a gas stop and stretch break and feeding you can sit in front again cause baby will sleep.

We had traveled a lot with our infant. I can give you our routine and hope some ideas help. Our car seat was always in the back of course, so, either me or dad would sit in the back seat too. That way, one of us was right there to make sure he was ok, help "adjust" him if he was trying to fall asleep, or help get him milk or whatever if he got fussy. The diaper bag would be back there. We'd keep handy: stuffed animals, a blaket, sippy cups with milk, juice, or water (of course at 9mo, maybe just milk, huh?); baggies with snacks, and some travel toys-we have a boy that loves cars so we brought matchbox cars, crayons and a paper pad. But you could bring whatever some of his or her favorite things are. Other than that-he just loved to watch the outside go by!! We found that if he got really fussy and didn't seem hungry or wet, that we needed to pull over, take him out of the car seat for a bit for a break. Then, he would be fine. Hope it helps!!

We took/take our girls on trips all the time. Our longest was 7 hours so far. With a 9 month old you probably don't have to stop as often as with an older child, but every 3 hours or so to change diaper, stretch legs and/or eat (even 10 minutes does wonders for their temperament). I bring a big bag of toys and books and pass them back one at a time. When you stop, you can reload the bag. It sounds like you will have more than one person, it might be nice, like another said to sit in the back occasionally with your little one. My kids were easy going and took frequent 3 hour trips from an early age. If he/she starts crying and you've taken care of the necessities, just wait 5-10 minutes and see if he/she stops. It's easy to get stressed and anxious when they cry in the car. It could just be fatigue from travel and he/she may need to let off a little steam. Best Wishes!!

We just got back from a 21 hour road trip with our 6 month old....wow, that was a long trip! We are blessed to have such a very good baby, but she did get cranky a few times. Every time we stopped for bathroom or gas we would get her out of the car seat and let her stretch. I took a big blanket and layed it out so she could lay on it and do some big stretching. I also borrowed and bought a few toys that were new for her and surprised her with those. Then a friend let me borrow her DVD player and baby einstien videos and when we really needed it we would play that and I was surprised at how well she responded to that. Good luck to you and try to have fun!

Why not make the road trip full of adventure? Stop at scenic places along the way for an hour, get fresh air, something to eat, take pictures, etc. Maybe take two days to just enjoy the drive.

My daughter was fine on a 10 hour trip. We woke up early and drove throughout the day -- not trying to hurry/make good time. We went the speed limit, sang songs, stopped for meals, talked, played games. It was really fun.

The one "game" she particularly loved was to photograph her and then show her the screen on our camera. Our camera takes video, so she liked that, too. One of us sat in the seat next to her to keep her occupied/learning/busy. We also pointed out things on the road and told her what they were. We bought new books with music buttons and pop-ups. It really can be exciting for the baby!

Oh -- we learned a good trick: Be sure to use night time diapers so you won't have to stop every three hours, unless you want to.

I hope this is helpful!

Not sure how you feel about DVD's but they are not bad even for a young child.. IT may do you some good... they have some great stuff for young kids... You can have it on low.. it has bright colors to help their eye's if anything it will help your childs eyes and help learn.. We have a portable DVD player attached in our van.. we used bungy cords to keep it attached to the head rest and ran the cord to the front plug.. he is 3 he has Autism we just finally a month ago turned he front facing he is 29 almost lbs... but he loves baby babble and baby bumbee... the baby babble is for all kids... HE LOVES IT!!!! they have some on shapes at the library you can check out for free do check at your local library most dont know you can check out like 5 per card for free.. we do like sign language too for our son great for baby's just a little FYI!!! less stress if they can sign to you when they want a ba ya know...
have fun on your trip...
Hope this helps!!!
Buy fun stuff!!! :)

My husband and I have done a 16 hour road trip to visit my family in SC once or twice a year since my first was three months old.

At nine months old it can be very easy or very hard. Depends on your child. Here are a few things you might consider depending on your child:

1.) My oldest loved Elmo at that age (the other two could care less about tv). If you have a dvd player your little one can look at that might help.

2.) Sit in the back with your little one might help. With my son I think it makes him just want to get out and play with me, so I sit in the front. My oldest just liked seeing mommy.

3.) Finger snacks you can hand your little one to keep him/her busy...like cheerios. A sippy cup and some spares.

4.) Comfortable clothing like jammies.

5.) Does your car seat recline? That's nice when they fall asleep. I love those.

6.) A blanket for when they do fall asleep.

7.) Pacifiers or teething toys are nice if he/she will take them.

8.) Make regular stops to get out and stretch. Don't wake them if you don't have to. Travel as far as you can while he/she is sleeping and then stop at rest stops, gas stations for gas or a restaurant for a snack when they start to get crabby. Wait until they get crabby for your stops.

If he/she doesn't do well in a car seat now (is he/she turned around yet?) I know that most don't turn their children around until a year old, but mine hated being backward. When they faced front they did better because they can see.

If your little one is not good in a car, then I would seriously consider driving at night so he/she will sleep the whole way. That is if you and the significant other can stay awake for the drive. There are a few occasions when my hubby and I decided to drive all night so the little ones would sleep. It depends on your little person.

Good luck!! Don't let yourself get stressed if they cry. They will live. Make jokes, take comfort foods, and get some books on tape to listen to. I love books on tape and when the hubby and I finally don't have anything else to talk about we pop in a book on tape and listen to that.....we love the Anne Coulter books because she's such a sharp wit and has an amazing way of making an argument. I also like mysteries.

Have fun!

Ditto on driving at night. It's hard on the drivers but better for baby (and better for parents not listening to crying!). We have an 8 month old and have been on a couple 8-9 hour trips. Night was best, plus he sleeps more in the car anyway. . Wish we had a DVD player, I'm sure that would have been great! He LOVES videos.

I would not recommend the driving all night. We have a family friend who attempted that and the husband couldn't stay awake and ran off the road. He died and the mom suffered some serious injuries. Also, if you stay up all night, how many days do you need to recuperate? You'll be exhausted, but not your child!

You really need to just play it by ear. You might need to stop more or less than you thought you would. Take some newer toys for play in the car. Get some CDs from the library with some music on it that you think he/she might like. If you are driving with someone else, take turns sitting in the backseat. Also have snack food and drinks available.

We drove to the dells when we only had 1 boy and he was this little and the biggest problem was that he wanted someone to sit next to him all the time. So you never know!

M.

We took a 14 hour trip to NC when my son was 9 months old. My husband didn't want to drive through the night, so the majority of the trip was during the day. What a mistake! My son cried pretty much non-stop starting after about hour 4. He did NOT want to be in his car seat and even stopping and letting him stretch his legs for a few minutes when we needed food or gas did not make a difference. If anything, it made it worse!

I would never, never, never take a road trip that long during waking hours with small children ever again!

Hope your drive goes better than ours did!

When my daughter was 9 months old she was teething badly which led to major diarheea and diaper rash (apparently the drool was so much liquid in her tummy and that caused the diarheea). My advice would be to stop to do diaper changes frequently and bring some light up musical toys and sit in the back seat too to keep the baby occupied.

Find space for your baby to stretch out according to his/her needs. (ie: walking - provide a place where baby can walk/run. crawling - find a grassy area or put out a large blanket where baby can crawl. Sitting only? Still put out a blanket and let baby roll over and lie flat.)

Lots of little toys and if you can keep the seat next to baby open, (and there is someone else to drive) sit next to your baby for stretches of time when s/he is awake. When baby is napping, then sit up front.

Also if possible and you're up for it, leave a little before bedtime and knock out a large chunk of driving at night. If baby's bedtime is 8 pm, try to leave at 6 or 7. Drive until midnight or 1. We've driven all night before to make it easier on the kids. It's really not that bad and b/c the kids are sleeping, you get a lot of great talking time in with your spouse.

Good luck - they do better in the car than you'd expect.