I’m going on a vacation to Florida we are leaving at 3:30 pm and driving all the way it’s 15 hours. We plan to stop for food drinks and bathroom breaks. My question is how often should we stop for my 3 year old and can she sleep over night in the car seat?
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Id recommend stopping every 2-3 hrs during day driving but 4-6 hrs if driving at night.
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Everybody in the car should be getting out and moving every two hours even if it’s just a potty break.
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We travel to FL to visit fam a lot and it’s about 13 hours. We only stop a few times and try to drive straight thru. If your potty training we got a great disposable travel potty for our 3 year old off Amazon bc some times she’ll have to go and we weren’t near anything. Pack lots of activities and healthy snacks and drinks.
Stop at rest areas when possible for little one to run around some. We drove from Arizona to Wyoming when mine were little. Tried to stop at McDonald’s and let them play while we ate then got their food for them to eat in the car.
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Kids can sleep in their car seats. Night driving is more pleasant with kids. Have kids action songs. They can do (doo doo doo doo doo) Baby Shark or head shoulders knees and toes in their seats, and sing along with kid’s songs. Magnet toys and Colorforms are neat and will keep them occupied. Board, picture and children’s books are good for car and bedtime.
Portioned out snacks in little plastic tubs are great. Has anyone tried those hide the treat mazes for dogs on kids? 
drinks that stain the least in containers that spill the least. I like reusable stainless steel ones with tops that have a pop up sipper. Try to minimize your use of plastic.
Have kids look for big trucks, little trucks, big buses, school buses, colors of cars, Teslas, electric vehicles, pickups, count the vans, but especially motorcycles. This gets them conditioned to watch for them when & after they learn to drive. Play car games like I’m going on a trip and I’m going to pack my acorns. I’m going to pack my acorns and balloons. I’m going to pack my acorns, balloons and conditioner…and so on through the alphabet. Bring riddle and joke books for kids.
Me and my kids made it to the outer banks one time without stopping the whole time, they are 6 and 2! It was about a 7 hour trip! We toileted before leaving the house and I fed them before we left!
15hr trip turned to a 24hr trip when we drove with our 1 month old.
With a young child. I’d stop every 2-3 hrs
Yes she will be fine to sleep in her car seat
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Best time is night driving so the kids can sleep since it dark
Use the bathroom before you go and feed also before heading out …
Let the child sleep untill they wake up and pull over so he can use the bathroom and eat something
I did a few night driving 12 hours best to drive nights
3 adults, 5 children took 24 hrs
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When our kids were small we would drive over night especially if it was far. The longer they sleep the better. Once they were awake we would stop either a McDonald’s with a play pen or we would grab something to eat and find a park, field, etc and just let them run around for a good amount of time before we hit the road. And then of course we stopped anytime someone needed to go potty.
I’d suggest starting your trip around bedtime for her. She will sleep through most of it and then the trip will be less unbearable. You have less traffic. Just all around has been my best experience with kids
We always left before bedtime so our kids would sleep the whole way… my daughter has slept in her car seat on many trips! Like others have suggested make some stops where she can get out and run off some energy!
Last year we taveled the “12 hour” drive straight through and just stopped for bathroom breaks with 4 kids. It took 18 hours. My younger 2 aged 2 and 5 were miserable the whole time. Whining and causin our older 2 (12,10) to get frustrated and start whining too. Which in turned pissed me and my husband of greatly and ruined our drive. So this year we leave in a week and I’m giving us 28 hours. We’re gonna stop at parks and stores along the way. Sleep at a truck stop for a few hours overnight once the kids have a fallen asleep. I have
All our tablets charged and packed. We also love to stop at the library and get new movies to watch on the way. Hopefully with things we want, and things the kids want we can make this a good road trip and not just our drive to Florida.
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Every two hours, your legs need to move so blood clots don’t start to form
Our kids are road warriors- we usually stop as needed or every 2-3hrs. We pack plenty of favorite toys, snacks, water bottles and go with the flow but have a buffer when driving anywhere. Enjoy!
I would say every four hours and make sure everyone uses the bathroom every time.
Honestly with my 23 month old and 7 year old on an 7 hour drive we stopped 4 times one day and like 8 the other way.
Leaving closest bed time always helped us. They sleep they the first part of the drive basically. Then after that just stop when needed. Bathroom breaks at truck stop etc a place big enough for LO to run around, stretch legs. We all sleep in car so LO will be fine sleeping in carseat
We make two 27 hour drives every summer with 4-5 children minimum our youngest being 2 months. We stop every 3-5 hours to use the bathroom stretch and eat. We usually stop and get a hotel for the night.
Just remember that if yoir kids are sleeping for a long time in the car that they.will be wide awake when you get to your destination and the adults will be tired and need sleep then.
Experts recommend stops every 2 hours to reduce likelihood of blood clots and driver drowsiness.
It’s always so unpredictable for us. A 3.5 hour drive took us 7 hours one day but a 2.5hr drive took 2.5hrs lol depends on how the kids are that day. We routinely make 2hr trips with no probables usually unless we have a newly potty trained child with us. Anything more than 2 hours I try to break in half with a stop for food and to move around. We don’t travel more than 4.5hrs a day because it just doesn’t work out well for us. Also I hang a blanket on the backs of the driver and passenger front seat to block out radio light and on coming traffic headlights when night driving. My kids only sleep in total darkness so night driving is my least favorite.