Sarah0000 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Is it a terrible idea to pack three boys ages 8, 5, and 2 for an overnight car trip and hope they'll sleep through most of the drive? We would stop early for breakfast at a play place so they could burn off energy before resuming the last couple hours, if necessary. The two youngers are still in convertible reclining car seats so they'll be comfortable. The oldest is in a high back five point booster and his head always hangs way forward the rare times he falls asleep there, so I do need ideas to make him more comfortable for car sleeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Can you make it driving all night (even with taking turns?). Can you function the next day having driven all night? Those are more the questions to ask than how the kids will do. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 I wouldn’t say it’s a terrible idea—just hold your expectations loosely. We took several red eyes when we lived across the continent from family. During one memorable one my four year old kept himself awake all night only to fall asleep on landing and then we couldn’t wake him up and had to carry him and dd2 and infant ds through the airport. At least you wouldn’t have that problem! It is likely though, in a dark car, they will sleep part of the way at least. Just plan for kids who are tired the first couple of days. You do what you have to do. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah0000 Posted June 23, 2019 Author Share Posted June 23, 2019 3 minutes ago, DawnM said: Can you make it driving all night (even with taking turns?). Can you function the next day having driven all night? Those are more the questions to ask than how the kids will do. Yes, I think it will be ok. DH will nap before leaving and I'll probably do the first shift while he sleeps more. I'm on steroids and struggle with insomnia anyway. And we're heading to family's house and it will totally be ok to grab a nap while the grandparents play with the kids. There are also plenty of hotels/rest stops along the way in a pinch and we may have a third adult with us to rotate as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 13 minutes ago, Sarah0000 said: Yes, I think it will be ok. DH will nap before leaving and I'll probably do the first shift while he sleeps more. I'm on steroids and struggle with insomnia anyway. And we're heading to family's house and it will totally be ok to grab a nap while the grandparents play with the kids. There are also plenty of hotels/rest stops along the way in a pinch and we may have a third adult with us to rotate as well. Ok, I know some people enjoy traveling this way. I struggle to sleep on demand, so napping when I am not tired or trying to sleep while I am wound up would be a problem. So would driving when everyone else in the car is asleep and it is dark outside in the middle of the night. But that is me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 Well my mother tells stories of her family doing that to get them all to Florida (a 14 hour trip), but *I* would never do it. We tried doing it on a long flight once, thinking it would help ds settle down and get through. I fell asleep and came out with a lens missing from my glasses. I have no clue how that happened, lol. That whole flight is a bad memory, with him wide awake and me exhausted. At that age, they're probably going to sleep anyway, no matter what time you leave. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 I will drive somewhat late into the night but not through the night. If you can sleep on demand (and my husband can, lol) then a nap will help, but if you take a 2-hour nap and then stay up 6 hours later than usual, you're still going to be fatigued. Driving at night is also more tiring because it's harder to see (even if you have good eyesight, driving in the dark is more of a strain). If the kids are indeed sound asleep, you're not going to want to do one of the most-recommended things for driving at night, which is take a break every two hours. Even a short break gives your eyes and body a rest, and helps reduce the chances of highway hypnosis, which is worse at night because of both fatigue and the lack of visual distraction - there is little to look at other than the highway ahead of you. So, my vote is to find a Motel 6 on the way for at least a few hours. If you're going to have to sleep when you get there, why not just go ahead and sleep beforehand? As to your actual question, I'd certainly have a Plan B in case they don't sleep through the night. I can't imagine the 8-yr-old sleeping through, that sounds horribly uncomfortable even if you keep his head from falling forward. Even for the littles, reclining is not the same as lying down, and most people move in their sleep. I wouldn't call it likely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 41 minutes ago, Sarah0000 said: There are also plenty of hotels/rest stops along the way in a pinch and we may have a third adult with us to rotate as well. Having a third adult would be the only way I'd even consider it, because I would want a second person to be awake along with the driver after midnight for sure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted June 23, 2019 Share Posted June 23, 2019 We did this many times when our older kids were little. DH likes to drive at night and I would sleep in the car until about mid night, then stay up with him the rest of the way. Things that helped - playing audiobooks for the kids to listen too, warm blankets and no snacks (normal eating patterns for kids). When they were in the high backed boosters, I used pillows to prop them up to keep them positioned right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Another vote for it not being safe for the driver to be the only person awake. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgo95 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I wouldn't feel safe doing it. I've had to drive from 8-11 pm several times and by the end, I really feel like I'm zoning out and have to make a serious effort to stay aware of my surroundings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WendyLady Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 We found that pulling over so the driver could rest (or switch drivers) somehow wakes up all the kids, so no one sleeps... i do my best driving early in the morning. Car packed the night before, then wake up at 3:45am. Carry out sleepy kids to the car and leave by 4am. The kids sleep until 7 or 8 and we plan to stop at nine for breakfast and to get dressed for the day. If it’s an 8 hour drive you are there by lunch time! I’ve done this many times driving solo for the 12 hour trip to my parents’ house. The kids are older now, but we started this pattern when they were about your kids’ ages. And even though they can now help with the driving, we still try to leave by 4am. Arriving before dinner feels so much better than arriving at 11pm. I don’t like to drive at night, and I can’t manage to stay awake to help dh if he’s driving. We’ve done the overnight drive a couple times when work schedules made it difficult to arrive for a funeral but otherwise it’s a no for me. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carrie12345 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 For me, it would be a no, regardless of kids’ ages. It’s not so much that I think it would be a bad plan, but that plans don’t always work as intended. Driving while sleepy is equivalent to driving while intoxicated. While I think it’s entirely *possible to take a nap and then not feel sleepy at 2am, I don’t believe it’s guaranteed, and wouldn’t want to wait until 2am to find out. Plus, the wee hours are when actually intoxicated people are more likely to be driving. I’m not out late very often, but I’ve still seen many more after 10pm than I’ve noticed in all my crazy day driving! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Sleepiness can be far worse than intoxication. Intoxication slows response and impairs judgement. If there’s a fraction of a second microsleep , there’s no reaction/ response or judgement at all for that moment. And at highway speeds it’s long enough to have a major crash. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Overnight drive is my favorite way to travel. DH is good about being able to drive when I can't, since he can fall asleep at will. I start out driving and he naps until I am no longer bright-eyed-and-busy-tailed. The traffic isn't bad. People aren't getting on and off the highway, since they are mostly semis and people like us traveling long distance. If it ever happens that we are both sleepy, we can stop at a cheap motel, but we never have. Caffeine is very helpful. I usually don't have caffeine the day before and save it for the trip. As a one night thing, it seems to work. In fact, this summer we decided to fly for the first time as a family. DFW to Arizona. Part of the reason is the mind-numbing boredom of the scenery and that DD really really wants to fly. I am regretting the decision. The logistics of security, limits of carry-on, that we can't leave whenever we want to. Like a couple of years ago we went to Florida. We were packed and I was so eager to go that we left 5 hours early. Our plan had been to crash overnight at my BIL in Georgia. We got there early afternoon took a 5-hour power nap until he got home, we went to dinner together and then were on our way to Florida. I once teased my parents about renting an hotel room by the hour. They didn't really. But, they showered, took a 4 hour nap, and then were on the road by dinner. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 My kids are NOT car sleepers, so we would never even attempt overnight driving. For long drives we try to be on the road between 3 and 4am. None of the kids go back to sleep, but they are typically content to listen to audiobooks for several hours. (Sidenote: At ages 2, 5, 7, and 9 they listened to Thornton Burgess animal stories the entire way from Michigan to Boston and back. They actually repeatedly chose those over watching DVDs!) We hand out cheese sticks and granola bars when they start to get restless around 7am, and then we stop at McDonalds for me and DH to eat and the kids to play in the Play Place around 8am. Lather, rinse, repeat. Drive a couple hours, hand back food for them to eat, stop for them to run around while the adults eat. Our road trips are typically 12-13 hours of actual driving time, so if we leave at 3am and stop for an hour each at 8am, noon, and 4pm, we can arrive by dinner time. During all those hours in the car, none of my kids, even when I had babies, will have slept at all, so right after dinner we pop everybody into bed. Typically, everyone sleeps well that night and wakes up well-rested and ready for adventures the next morning. Wendy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theelfqueen Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 When I was a kid we would do this all the time... drive from Denver to Kansas city.. about 10 hours. It was cooler. My younger brother (much younger than me) would sleep in any car, any time. My older brother would often sleep most of the time. I would mostly read all night. LoL When we arrived my parents would sleep until about noon and then we'd all be fine on the schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 Recently we had some car trouble on a long road trip. We had already driven about 10 hours in a loaner car, and then got our actual car and the A/C went out (again). Anyway, my husband decided we would drive through the night because it would be cooler. In the end, we stopped at midnight at a hotel because I just couldn't take sitting anymore. My back was hurting. We had been in the car or traveling for at least 18 hours at that point. I agree with the prior posters. Driving at night when you are used to sleeping is hard. My boys are older now (12 and almost 14) and they really don't sleep in the car. The 12 year old sort of nodded off, but woke up super grumpy. Something not posted above, but to consider, is that when you drive in the late hours you can also have impaired drivers (or tired drivers) on the road. Of course you can have these during the day as well, but people tend to leave bars/parties later at night. You really have to be vigilant, which is not what your body is going to be wanting to do at 2 a.m. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapbookbuzz Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I recommend doing it during the day instead so you can ALL sleep at night and ALL function the next day! I did a cross-country trip with a 9yo and 3yo, one girl one boy, respectively. Give them plenty of activities to do in the car. Plan on taking breaks to get out of the car every 2-3 hours. Yes, they CAN sit for that long. And when you stop to get out, make sure it's a place they can use the potty and run around a bit to get out that pent up energy. Then, when you get to your final destination, no matter how late in the day, give them an hour or so to run around and be kids. And don't poo-poo some late night video watching if it will help them be still. They'll need to release energy and then they'll need to be still before bed. If a video helps, so be it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanDiegoMom Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 I remember thinking what a great idea to leave early in the morning -- 3:45 AM. It was so foggy and fog makes me so sleepy. I did actually fall asleep for a second, pulled over and my husband took over. I tried again driving early morning years later (around 6 or 7 am this time) and it turned foggy again. I still couldn't do it! Never any fog during the day! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 Driving in fog is nerve-wracking even if it is while driving to work in the morning. I guess everyone knows their own family best. It is helpful for us that DH is a night-owl. Age might have something to do with it too. When in college I would sometimes study all night just to catch up, it had so little impact on me as long as I didn't do it more than once a week. Now an all-nighter is torture and I need at least a week to recover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweet2ndchance Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 We've done it many many times. My kids were seasoned little travelers though from the time they were very young and we invested in super comfy carseats when they were little enough to ride in them. Granted we were much younger when we did all the night traveling and still able to do all-nighters and be able to function on a few hours of sleep. I'm not so sure I could or would want to do it anymore. Last time we pulled an all-night drive was about 10 years ago now that I think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 (edited) nm Edited June 29, 2019 by Pen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 Only you know how well they'll sleep and how well you'll likely stay awake. It also depends on whether you are working all day before heading out, or if you can adjust your sleep schedule a bit. And how well you do with caffeine. One problem we run into sometimes is that one driver will be willing to drive but really needs to be able to talk. But for us, that happens during daytime driving too, not just night-time. One thing we have going for us is that my DH does shift work, so he sometimes is raring to go in the evening, and I can probably cat nap while he's going strong. If either of us can't catch those cat naps, it doesn't go well (day or night driving). That said, our family has done that or done some modified versions of that for 8.5 or 9 hour drives when the kids were younger than yours. We had a similar scenario in that we had grandparents at the waiting end and places to stop along the way. Only you know if getting up super early instead would be better. It would not be better for me--I would be too keyed up to sleep the night before and end being more tired from that than I would be from trying to drive late. I also find it easier to sleep at 10 AM than at 11 PM a lot of the time (I get a second wind). I also feel more like I'll get sleepy when it's sunny and overly warm (we don't have tinted windows, so there is ALWAYS a hot spot with pounding sun, and sometimes it's the driver's seat for hours at a time!). When all the variables lined up, we had a couple of successful overnight trips, but it was a narrow span of ages of our kids when it would work. It might work again at some point in the future--I have a teen and pre-teen, and the teenager does NOT ever sleep in a car. He just can't. Once he's a third driver, it might be possible. As for other traffic, including drunk drivers at night...depends on where you are traveling. We tend to have a lot of rural territory we go through when we travel and haven't seen a lot of that. Locally, I have seen some of that late at night, usually Thurs--Sun nights, but not so much during the week. When we go to grandparents, there is even a stretch of road that takes about 40 minutes to travel, and we will sometimes not see another car at all, lol (not an interstate)! Our biggest problem on that stretch is deer. You will almost definitely see more live critters on or near the road if you drive overnight. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momto6inIN Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 On 6/23/2019 at 11:58 PM, WendyLady said: We found that pulling over so the driver could rest (or switch drivers) somehow wakes up all the kids, so no one sleeps... i do my best driving early in the morning. Car packed the night before, then wake up at 3:45am. Carry out sleepy kids to the car and leave by 4am. The kids sleep until 7 or 8 and we plan to stop at nine for breakfast and to get dressed for the day. If it’s an 8 hour drive you are there by lunch time! I’ve done this many times driving solo for the 12 hour trip to my parents’ house. The kids are older now, but we started this pattern when they were about your kids’ ages. And even though they can now help with the driving, we still try to leave by 4am. Arriving before dinner feels so much better than arriving at 11pm. I don’t like to drive at night, and I can’t manage to stay awake to help dh if he’s driving. We’ve done the overnight drive a couple times when work schedules made it difficult to arrive for a funeral but otherwise it’s a no for me. We usually leave early in the morning too. Even if everybody is excited and doesn't sleep right away, they usually do take a nap later in the morning because they got up so early. DH goes to bed early the night before so he is fresh and ready to drive, and I sleep the morning away and then can drive for a while so he can take an afternoon nap. So much easier (and safer!) than driving all night for us. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Familia Posted June 29, 2019 Share Posted June 29, 2019 This was such a bad idea for our family. We discovered that we are much better getting up at 4AM and hitting the road by 5. This way, the children woke up excitedly, but fell back asleep for a lot of the morning. We still do this with young adults (with the same result=) We can get settled 10 hours away just after lunch and still spend a great afternoon/evening in our new habitat. The added benefit is also a great night's sleep after being up and active so long that day...stops the bad night's sleep that can hit in new locations - we sleep like logs this way! The funny thing was, not only did we discover that we were miserably and dangerously tired attempting to drive after 1 AM, our children would be wide awake in the dark, albeit quietly. As soon as they'd drift off to sleep, it was time for a mom-stop. Why not try it, though...find out what works for your family. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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