Do you drive all night?

ninejr · Jul 25, 2011

So we have a 16-18 (depending on stops etc.) hour drive to go see DH's parents. The plan is for DH to come home from work eat a quick dinner and then go to sleep for 4 hours while I pack the car and get the girls in their jammies. We will then leave a little after the girls bed time. Hopefully the girls will then sleep for the first 10 hours. I will sleep in the car until DH gets tired and then I will drive so he can sleep. At the 10 hour mark we stop for a few hours to sleep at BIL's house before finishing the trip. We have only done this once before (Dh's parents recently moved further away). Just wondering what others do for very long drives.

Baylor · Jul 25, 2011

We used to do this all the time when we were kids. My mom would pack us all in and we would sleep the whole time.

luckyclov · Jul 25, 2011

We don't drive at night. Poor visibility, possibility of fatigued driver(s), higher chance of intoxicated drivers (other drivers, not us

), more likely my boostered kid would be poorly positioned due to sleep time.

We do a 1,000 mile each way road trip every summer. We just got back a few weeks ago from this year's, in fact. We split it into 2 days. We leave around 5 AM and drive until 4 or 5 PM (before sunset). Sleep. Leave around 8 AM the next morning and continue until the destination.

This last trip, I had an 8-year old, 7-year old, and a 17-month old. Honestly, they did fine. The big kids had no complaints. They had coloring books, a notebook to write/draw in, movies, and - yep, parental decision - their handheld DSs. DS2 is rear-facing, but DS1 is in the 3rd row behind him, so it helped that he could see someone. We did buy a lightweight DVD screen for his headrest and he watched Elmo and Curious George over and over and over. He slept a little. And I sat in the 3rd row for awhile, at times, so he could see me and I could feed him Puffs. We stopped for about 15 minutes every hour and a half to 2 hours.

LISmama810 · Jul 25, 2011

clov878 said:
We don't drive at night. Poor visibility, possibility of fatigued driver(s), higher chance of intoxicated drivers (other drivers, not us), more likely my boostered kid would be poorly positioned due to sleep time.

:yeahthat:

Not to mention you're exhausted once you get to your destination. That's especially bad if your kids slept and are ready to go.

Chely7425 · Jul 25, 2011

No way, we have driven across the country a few times (38 hours of drive time) and always drive during the day. I would never risk driving at night, plus what do you do with the kids when you get there and YOU are exhausted and they are ready to go and be crazy?

bnsnyde · Jul 25, 2011

No.
I don't want to drive when I am used to sleeping at that time.
Lack of light, etc.
And then we are exhausted. But the kids are not.

When we travel (in the day) the babies always sleep anyway due to the motion, and even the bigger tots might.
But the bigger tots (if not sleeping ) are old enough not to scream for no reason.

It really works out, though it sounds tough.

2girls4me · Jul 25, 2011

Yep, we do it every time we take our 12 hour trip to Michigan from Nebraska. I would much rather drive at night than try and get through I-80 around Chicago during the day. :shudder:
We usually sleep for a couple hours, and then put the kids in the car around midnight. I drive first (usually for about 6 hours) while DH sleeps, then he takes over for a couple hours and then I finish the last leg of the trip. It works for us!
Last time we tried to do during the day and it was horrible. took us 3 hours longer than normal because of traffic and I was miserable and more tired than when we drive through the night.

krasota · Jul 25, 2011

I did all nighters before I had a kid. I was a night owl and very alert. I loved it.

Now I'm too exhausted. I can't do it. I can't do much beyond midnight or 1am these days.

We occasionally do the five hour drive to the folks-in-law in the evening--leaving around 6pm. In wintertime, DS falls asleep soon after we leave town. After the five hour "nap", that adults are exhausted (there's always a decent volume of traffic between DC and NJ) and ready to go to bed (1am after potty and coffee breaks). DS is then up until 4 or 5am, bouncing off the walls.

Neither DH nor I can sleep in a car, nor can we nap during daylight hours.

tarynsmum · Jul 25, 2011

We drive at nighy. I probably wouldn't do it if I had boostered kids, or if DH wasn't used to being up all night (he used to work nights and still rarely sleeps thru the night). Once my kids are older we'll go during the day since they can be easier entertained (DVD player, video games, cool places to stop, etc). With a baby, its the best way (for us)

MANDY1234 · Jul 25, 2011

We did when we went to Disney in May. Kids slept almost the whole aT there and we took turns sleeping so there was non of the Omg I'm so tired when we got there

Citrine · Jul 25, 2011

For the past 3 years we would drive from SC to RI 2x a year. We found it best for us to leave by 8am stop about 5hours in to the trip for lunch, drive till dinner time and find a hotel for the night. Leave by 9am the next day and we would be at our destion by 5p and depending of traffic to. We did try one time with my husband coming home eating dinner and going to bed for a few hours. But that did not work out at all. We found it better for us to make it a 2day trip. We knew going into and out of NY, NJ some of CT was going to be the worst traffic. Kids were fine. We also have a dvd player in car. Even when Makayla was RF she would crank her head to see the screen.

3acorns4Christy · Jul 25, 2011

Nope. We would need a full days sleep after and for us that is setting vacation up for disaster. We're both horrible tired people.

We drive during the day. The latest we'll stop is 10pm. That is if its at our destination.

carseatcoach · Jul 25, 2011

No. I get a lot of grief about this from family members, but I will not drive more than 8-9 hours in a day. I will overnight at a hotel with a bed (I don't always sleep great in hotels, but better than in a car). [soapbox] Car safety is about more than cool seats.[/soapbox]

Baylor · Jul 25, 2011

carseatcoach said:
No. I get a lot of grief about this from family members, but I will not drive more than 8-9 hours in a day. I will overnight at a hotel with a bed (I don't always sleep great in hotels, but better than in a car). [soapbox] Car safety is about more than cool seats.[/soapbox]

You are right.. It is about knowing what is best for your family and making sure you are considering all the bases for the trip. Having screaming or whiny kids for an entire day is not good for a driver either..

I don't believe it is UNSAFE at all to drive over night. Especially when more than one person is doing the driving.

ETA: I am sorry this sounds short. I was posting matter of factly and it sounds snippy. I did not mean it that way. I was agreeing with you and adding things to consider but it reads kind of like I was not... Sorry!

jnamommy · Jul 25, 2011

It depends on where I am going

I prefer to drive at night when we go to to see my sis. We leave in the evening, drive a couple hours, stop for gas, food, and to let the kids play at a McDonald's or something. Then jamma up the kids and take off - they fall asleep, and there is less traffic. We get there around midnight/1am. I carry them sleeping into my sister's, unload the vehicle, and then I crash. I can sleep in in the morning, because my sis will feed the kids and watch them. This would not work if I had to be alert and functioning early the next morning all day.

cryswilkins · Jul 25, 2011

Yup, we do. I usually drive the whole time and DH sleeps. Then he is responsible for entertaining the kids while I take a nap when we get there. Its more peaceful of a drive that way. I would rather disrupt my sleep then be stressed because my kids are screaming the whole trip.

runningincirclesx3 · Jul 25, 2011

Yep i did a 17 hour trip by my self with 3 kids back in the spring from TN to south FL, i loaded up the kids around 3pm and drove till dinner time, stoped got some food and potty breaks then we hit the rd again i didnt stop but to go potty since the more i stopped the more tired i got, but it helped that i had my computer for the kids to watch movies on and they had all kinds of stuff to play with, we made it to my brothers around 830-900am and i just took the kids and all there junk inside and i crashed on the couch while they played and had fun. but i am a night owl and would rather drive at night time

sirrahn · Jul 25, 2011

Absolutely not. DH suggested it once and after my reaction, it's never come up again

.

I'm sure some people can be safe drivers with little sleep and fighting against their body's normal routine, but I'd wager a great deal more are not (myself included!), and I don't want to be out on the road with them.

It is no big deal to drive with the kids during the day as long as they have plenty of entertainment and frequent stops (which are important for everyone!).

Phineasmama · Jul 25, 2011

No! Mostly because I can't sleep well in the car and the kids don't really get a good restful sleep either. they wake up and cry every time we stop for gas or whatever else.

We have driven from GA to WI several times with our kids to visit family and we always spread it out. Usually we drive for 2 days and we get to our destination the 3rd morning.

Kat_Momof3 · Jul 25, 2011

that is a REALLY long drive to drive straight through. I also think that one person driving at night with the only other people to talk to being asleep is a recipe for dozing off at the wheel. Not saying that the nap isn't a great preventative measure, but still, I would worry about it.

What I'd likely do is have everyone get a good night's sleep after packing up the car... lay out comfortable travel clothes or keep the kids in jammies and start out early in the morning (so the kids will still go back to sleep the first few hours)... like at 4-5am.

Have breakfast already packed and stop at a rest area/park to eat... have plenty of snacks in the car, and cups/water bottles filled with water... and just stop whenever you guys need a bathroom break (about every 2-4hrs)

you'll then end up arriving at the late hour of about 10pm-12am, but you'll all still get good sleep.

for an 8-12 hr trip, it's more doable, especially if the driver has another person to stay up with them... but the driver is really going to need to take a long nap before and after the trip.

a 16hr trip is just so long I don't see it being doable after a long day of work without a full sleep first.

Do you drive all night?

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