Plan for regular breaks (about 1 break for every 2 hours travel) and expect unscheduled stops, such as for nappy changes. Babies are not meant to spend long periods of time in their car seat. During stops, allow your baby to kick, roll or crawl around on a rug on the ground where it is safe for them to do so.
There is no exact number of hours that you can road trip with a baby, but it is highly recommended to give your baby plenty of breaks. Just like adults, our bodies can only take sitting in a car for so long.
However, infant healthcare professionals, safety experts and most car manufacturers recommend that babies should not be in a car seat for longer than 2 hours at a time and they should be taken out frequently. If your trip involves driving for long periods of time, you should stop for regular breaks.
As a very general rule, most airlines specify a baby must be over 14 days old to travel so a four month old infant can travel by plane.
When traveling, babies should sleep alone in a crib, portable crib, bassinet or pack and play.
The best time to fly with kids
The best times, most agree, are between three and nine months, when kids aren't yet mobile, and any time after age two or three. The idea here is to bypass the toddler phase, and, more importantly, to avoid flying with young infants.
During a sleep regression, infants may have difficulty falling and staying asleep and sleep less throughout the night. Your infant may seem fussy or restless and cry more after waking. How Long Does the 4-Month Sleep Regression Last? 4-month sleep regressions typically subside within a few days or weeks.
Air travel is safe for healthy infants and children. However, it is recommended that you wait until newborns are one to two weeks old before flying. Some airlines will not allow newborns to fly. Ear pain due to changes in pressure during landing is more common in children than in adults.
“When your baby is seated, their heavy head can fall forward causing difficulty breathing…and even suffocation,” explains Dr. Harvey Karp. “That's why car seats—outside of moving cars—are not safe for naps or overnight sleep for the first year of life.”
Many car seat manufacturers recommend that a baby should not be in a car seat for longer than 2 hours, within a 24 hour time period. This is because when a baby is in a semi-upright position for a prolonged period of time it can result in: 1. A strain on the baby's still-developing spine.
American Academy of Pediatrics spokeswoman Dina DiMaggio, a doctor at Pediatric Associates of NYC and at NYU Langone Health, recommends stopping every two to three hours for feeding, diaper changing and taking a break from the car seat. Dirty diapers or meltdowns might require more frequent stops, so patience is key.
Travelling with a baby by car will take longer than travelling with adults. Plan for regular breaks (about 1 break for every 2 hours travel) and expect unscheduled stops, such as for nappy changes. Babies are not meant to spend long periods of time in their car seat.
It usually varies depending on the development and size of your baby, but most experts and experienced parents (including me) agree that around 6 months of age, you can start taking longer rides (more than 2 hours).
How many naps should a 4 month old take each day? Most babies this age need 3 - 4 naps per day. Babies who are already taking longer naps can typically stay awake longer, so they tend to do well on a 3-nap schedule.
1-2 months: 45 to 60 minutes between naps. 2-4 months: 1.5 to 3 hours between naps. 5-8 months: 2.5 to 3 hours between naps.
Experienced traveling families already know this, but in most cases the hardest time to travel with a child is from when they become squirmy and mobile by about 9 months old until they hit the age of reason bargaining/cartooning/snacking at about 18 months.
But many first-time parents find that after the first month of parenthood, it can actually get more difficult. This surprising truth is one reason many experts refer to a baby's first three months of life as the “fourth trimester.” If months two, three, and beyond are tougher than you expected, you're not alone.
But infants aren't as fragile as parents sometimes fear. And by age 3 months or so, babies are pretty good candidates for travel, as long as the trip is low-key.