Long car journeys with a baby...

We've done quite a few long car journeys since having Henry and we've certainly had our fair share of disasters along the way. A husband with severe sickness and diarrhoea, 4 month old baby, dog in the boot, thunder storm + 5 hour drive back from Norfolk was by far the worst, but we survived and are can laugh about it now. We also had an awful drive on the way to Norfolk with a really refluxy baby who cried for around 4 hours straight on the journey. They say there's nothing more stressful than listening to your baby cry but I can confirm that there is...listening to your baby cry whilst being stuck in a car is ten times worse. There's no wine, no doors to close, no cuddles or breastfeeding allowed...it's just the worst.

Anyway, hideous journeys aside we've also had good journeys with a baby that's slept for hours or happily played with toys, and this weekend we had 2 6 hour drives that were really successful. On the way to Essex on Friday, Henry had a 2 hour nap and was happy to be entertained in his seat for the rest of the time. On the way back last night he had been fed and bathed so he slept the entire way apart from 2 quick breastfeeds in a lay-by on the A1 (his evening cluster feeding habits are still going strong). I definitely feel a lot more confident about travelling with him now and have picked up some tips along the way...

1) Plan the timing of your journey well

I know that if we left for a long drive at 8am it'd be a disaster because it's the time of day when Henry needs to be most active and he never has a long nap. We purposefully left at 1:30pm on Friday, knowing that Henry would need a nap around 2:30 which would break the journey up a lot. We planned to stop at Wetherby services, just over an hour from us, have a quick toilet break, buy some coffees and then get on the road again. We knew that Henry would then nap for a few hours, which he did, and that would get us much closer to our destination...to Peterborough services in fact. After a quick stop there, we then only had an hour and a half before we arrived which was just enough time for Henry to play with some toys and he was only just starting to get fidgety as we arrived. Timing is everything and we've definitely found that a nap half way through a journey works best.

2) Take toys they don't usually play with

We have specific car toys that stay in our car all the time anyway but for long journeys I try and pack a bag with totally different toys in. Henry likes playing with household objects just as much so I packed a few things that I knew he'd find interesting and that would hold his attention for a while. On this particular journey he played with Daddy's lemonade bottle for as long as he did some of the toys I packed him. Have lots of little things packed so as soon as they get bored with one thing, you can pass them another.

3) A DVD Player is worth its weight on gold

We've never used a car DVD player but we borrowed my mum's this weekend and it was great. I think we only used it for around 45 minutes on the journey down but it passed a bit of time and gave us a bit of peace. I can see that they're great for older children too so I think we'll invest in one of our own. It's hard work keeping a baby occupied for a 6 hour journey so at least it gives you half an hour to relax or have a nap yourself.

4) Have plenty stops

When Henry was tiny, the key was stopping lots of times, even just for 5 or 10 minutes. He used to feed all the time so we tried to time our stops so that I could breastfeed him and change his nappy and possibly have a drink or something to eat myself too. It might make the journey take hours longer, but it's so worth it for your own sanity! If you have older children it might be worth trying to find a play park or attraction close to your route that you can stop at for them to run off some steam for an hour or so, especially it they don't usually nap.

5) Snacks pass the time

I know some people don't like their children eating in the car but we're not really one of those families. My car is always an absolute tip, it's filled with shoes, coats, cardigans, food, empty coke cans and crisp packets. My mum always goes mad but my excuse is if I ever got stuck on the road I could survive a good few days (and in all weather conditions) in my car! Anyway, it means that I'm not overly worried about Henry making mess and so I packed plenty of snacks for him to eat on the way. On the way down to Essex I even let him eat his dinner en route , something I didn't think I'd want to do, but actually it kept him occupied for a good half an hour and meant we didn't need to stop again to feed him. I obviously sat in the back with him to supervise and I suppose this will be a lot easier as he gets older. Like I say, I know this wouldn't suit everyone but we eat our meals together as a family every night, Henry having his meal in the car one night isn't going to kill anyone.

6) Don't put off going because of the journey 

It's so tempting to put off going to places when you have a baby simply because the journey sounds horrendous. I did it when Henry was tiny and I regret that now. It's only a few hours and even if it's horrendous, the destination will more than make up for it.