We were driving from Boulder, Colorado to Salt Lake City, Utah because I was dead set on our photographer based in SLC doing baby boy’s newborn pictures. Guess what: It was 1000% worth it.I am BEYOND happy I ignored basically everyone’s opinions and talked my husband into doing an 8 hour road trip with a 5 week old baby. Ok… now looking back at the calendar, counting that out, and thinking back on that time it was insane, but I wouldn’t change my decision at all!
And yep, Buddy also came. He’s family. So, whether you decide to be as crazy as we are or need to travel for any reason, I want to share with you the tips & tricks I learned doing a road trip with such a little baby so early into being new parents.
Disclaimer: Our baby boy is not a difficult baby. We are first time parents but so many family members who have had multiple children or are around babies often have told us that baby boy is an easy baby. I also read stories of babies that are colicky, only “eat” warm milk, picky with food, allergic to everything, sleep horribly, etc and baby boy has his spit up moments, will eat anything that comes close to his mouth (he’s a chunk), so far no allergies, and sleeps great. He of course has his moments and his dad’s personality, but we have been beyond blessed with a healthy, happy baby boy.
Back to the reason for this post…
First off, the most stressful thing I worried about was feeding baby and continuing to pump on the road. I had zero idea of what to expect and it’s actually not hard at all! At this point, baby boy was eating every 3hrs and slept amazingly in the car. It was a dream of 3 hrs of silence and it worked out perfectly with stopping for gas, pee breaks, and food. I was also needing to pump every 3hrs at this point. So, close to the 3hr mark I would pump in the car/hand express. This is where I would definitely recommend a portable pump like the Elvie or Willow. I unfortunately did not have such a pump, I only had the one through insurance that had to plug into the wall. So, I sat in the moving car hand expressing and using the Haakaa. It worked… but let’s just say I was VERY excited when we got to the hotel and I could actually pump. If you know, you know. Anyway, because I pumped right before the 3hr feeding mark for baby boy I was able to feed him fresh milk – didn’t have to worry about heating anything up! I had breastmilk baggies up front with me for any extra milk I was able to express. I put any extra milk in a small cooler we brought along with extra milk from the freezer (just in case).
If you get into a situation where you have to heat up milk – get a large cup of hot water from the gas station and place the baggie or bottle of milk in the hot water. It takes a bit to warm up but easy peazy. For formula mix hot water from the gas station with cool water from a bottle and throw in the formula. Works like a charm. Or spend the money on the pre made bottles and store at room temp.
Second, I was worried about entertaining baby boy on such a long trip. Well. Great news. A 5 week old sleeps ALOT. By the time baby boy was done eating the movement of the car helped him ease right back to sleep. I brought along high contrast images from his Lovevery kit & a cool little book from Amazon, but it was hardly used. This was honestly the easiest trip we have done with baby boy!
Third, how much longer is this trip really going to be? I didn’t think about this but my husband did, probably because he always drives (by choice! I offer to help out but he’s a stage 5 backseat driver and knows it). Well, it was an 8 hour trip and we did two 45 minute stops, adding about 1.5 hours to the trip. Based on your baby’s routine you can estimate how much time to add to the trip, don’t rush yourself! Try to make pit stops the same time as feeding stops, leave early in the morning right after baby’s first feed, and consider you also have diaper changes, which we did very easily in the backseat.
*Pro Tip: for a newborn who cannot roll or move much, at all, bring your dock a tot or snuggle me. It fit perfectly right between the door and car seat, so it didn’t take up much space. Then we laid it across the back seat for diaper changes. I was actually able to sit in the back, lay him down, change him, and completely avoid the cold weather (this was in Utah in November, brrr). Then, we brought his pack n play for the hotel. He was not having that. Around 5AM he would be on the snuggle me in between Christian and I in the bed. Sometimes you just gotta do what you can to get a few hours of sleep!
Overall. The 3 biggest things to think about: Feeding, Entertaining, and Travel Time. For things like diaper’s think about how many diapers baby goes through a day and then add an extra day, a fresh pack of wipes, plenty of burp cloths, and at this point, an extra outfit for each day because spit up. Don’t stress yourself with trying to meet up with people, doing certain things, or being on a strict schedule. Just do what’s best for you and baby, try to not exhaust yourself too much, and do not be disappointed if something didn’t work out perfectly! It’s still a very new and trying time for parents that you will learn to embrace!
Just because this “schedule” worked for me and baby boy I understand does not mean it works for everyone! But hopefully it can help guide you in a general direction and give you the confidence that traveling with a 5 week old is definitely possible!
All the love,
