Successful newborn road trips: How to love travelling with your new baby

Long roads ahead with your new baby? Preparation, patience and plenty of time are key to successful car trips with a newborn.

Driving long distances with a newborn baby

Driving long distances with a newborn baby can be daunting, especially as a first time parent.

Whether you’re holidaying, driving home to show off your newest love or you’re travelling out of necessity, it’s best to be prepared. 

I’ve searched those foggy newborn memories for my top tips for travelling with your new baby.

Some of these tips we had immediate success with, whilst others we learnt the hard way from a crying baby and a fair few (hundred) stressful kilometres.

Is it hard to travel with a newborn?

It depends!

Most newborns travel well in the car, even over long distances. Newborns are probably easier to travel with than older babies.

Sprout was born just over an hour away from home and her first road trip, the drive home from the hospital, was entirely uneventful as she slept the whole way. 

We took our baby to see family at a few weeks old, driving hundreds of kilometres back to my home city. We even did an over 600 kilometre day trip (out of necessity) when Sprout was 4 weeks old.

Preparation, patience and plenty of time are the keys to successful travel with kids of any age.

But what does this actually look like with a newborn?

Know your car seat

This is usually mentioned first whenever you read a blog about car travel with babies because it’s just that important. 

Your little one will need the seat adjusted to it’s smallest settings as well as a rear-facing install.

A good time to check harness height and any infant inserts is after a height and weight check by your GP, midwife or health centre. 

It's not likely you'll need to adjust things for a few weeks but every baby is different. 

The “Pinch Test”

Do you know how tight to pull the harness straps? Are you worried about the harness being too loose or too tight? Try the pinch test!

This tip is simple, quick and easy.

Once you've put baby in their car seat and tightened their harness, try to pinch the straps at their collarbone. 

If there's no slack to pull up at the collarbone, the harness is tight enough!

The “Reverse Pinch Test” 

This is the one I use each time. Take up most of the slack out of your child's harness, then pinch the strap at their collarbone. 

Pull until the strap slips out of your fingers and then STOP! The harness is tight enough.

This simple step removes my anxiety of the harness straps being too loose or tight. Even if you're under pressure or rushing, repeating either pinch test each time means your baby's harness is always exactly right.

Check out Safe in the Seat on Instagram!

I learnt these amazing tips from the fabulous Michelle from Safe in the Seat (@safeintheseat).  Her instagram and blog are great resources for all things car seat safety - although she is US based so always check against Australian car safety laws and recommendations. 

Honestly, I don't think our laws in Australia cover enough to keep our smallest passengers safe. I'm so glad Michelle is sharing her wealth of knowledge about best practice when it comes to car seat safety.

Grateful to have a newborn that did sleep in the car, if not anywhere else. My arms got a break during long travel days!

Newborn sleep and car travel

Most newborns travel easily because they tend to sleep a lot. Their vital need for sleep means that most babies will sleep almost anywhere.

If your baby follows this typical pattern, I would recommend driving during nap times and trying to line up rest stops with nappy changes and feeds. 

Newborn awake times are generally quite short (sometimes only 5-10 minutes) so ideally these happen when the car is stopped and you can feed, change and cuddle your baby while they’re awake. 

Your newborn baby may fall outside the ‘norm’ and need lots of support to go to sleep and/or stay asleep. 

Newborns need lots of sleep. A baby that does not nap or will not sleep generally needs help to settle and stay asleep.

Most times, this help is a comforting, soothing parent that actively supports the baby to sleep. 

If you need to pull over to feed, rock, cuddle or otherwise support your baby to sleep, it’s definitely worth doing.

Our experience with newborn sleep

We’ve certainly had trips with Sprout when this has been necessary.

We’ve learnt it’s best for everyone to support her to sleep even if it’s means an extra 20 minute stop at the side of the road. 

A small effort at the right time can save hours of trying to comfort an overwrought, overtired baby (yes HOURS, really). 

We’ve been halted for two hours in an unfamiliar town with a crying baby at night. It’s not a good experience for anyone and we’d recommend pulling out whatever tricks you’ve got to avoid it!

More on baby sleep and travelling

I wrote a detailed guide to following your baby’s rhythms whilst travelling that includes information about how to plan around your sleep routines and rhythms.

This guide focused more on older babies (3 months+) but will still be helpful for carers of younger babies too!

Travel, newborns and feeding

Newborn babies feed very frequently, often every two hours however it can be more often – especially if your baby is less than a week old.

Both breastfed and bottle fed babies typically engage in cluster feeding when they are very small.

It’s designed to encourage milk supply and it happens whether your baby is breastfed or formula fed, their little bodies don’t know any different! 

How often to feed baby

Generally, work towards feeding baby every two hours on travel days – although if baby is hungry before this, you’ll need to stop earlier.

It’s recommended to stop every two hours to remove baby from their car seat for a stretch so we tended to feed Sprout right before travelling and then hope to drive the full two hours before stopping to feed and change her nappy.

Feeding makes most little babies sleepy, which usually makes for a more relaxed transfer to the car seat and hopefully a nap on the road.

Get comfy

We’ve travelled with both a breastfed and a bottle fed baby, although our time breastfeeding was very short.

For both, it’s important to be comfortable. If possble, bring a camp chair to sit in while you feed your baby, something to shade you both (hats, umbrella, awning) and a blanket if it's cooler weather.

If you’re using formula, you’ll also want to consider where and how to prepare bottles on the road.

I’ve got a post on how to travel with formula with all the tips I wish we knew when we were first travelling with a bottle-fed baby!

For more general information on feeding baby and other routines in a travel day, have a look at this post on how to travel with your unique little person! 

Bottle feeding in the car is okay for short trips. On long travel days you’ll want to get out so everyone can have a stretch.

Taking breaks from the road

When you're travelling with your new baby, you'll likely have to stop at some point.

Maybe it's for a rest on a long travel day or it's because your baby has started screaming two minutes from the house.

Here's some tips to make those stops a little easier - maybe even refreshing! 

Pack and plan ahead

You can't always know when and where you'll need to pull off the road.

We used to begin our journeys with rest stops in mind - towns with better toilets, easy parking, coffee! But in the beginning, we rarely got to stop in our planned towns. 

A big lesson in travelling and parenthood is to throw out the itinerary. Sprout is the boss now!

With this is mind, there are still some things you can organise and plan for to make stops easier:

• Think about where you will change a nappy if there's no real facilities available. Back seat, boot, tailgate, in the canopy, on the ground? 

• What about when it's raining? 40 degrees? Do you need a Plan B?

• Pack your nappy bag well to ensure things are in the order you will need them. E.g. you'll likely need wipes handy, so don't bury these at the bottom. 

• Think about where you will feed baby. In the back seat? Will you carry a camp chair?

• If you're bottle feeding, consider where you will prepare and warm up bottles. We've made bottles inside the car when it's raining but it's a squeeze! 

• Pack water and food for the other occupants of the car. Babies are unpredictable and you could end up with a longer trip than you planned. Best not to go hungry when an extra hour or two is added to your road trip! 

Travelling for more than two hours? 

You'll probably hear the advice "never wake a sleeping baby" as a new parent. However during travel days, you should be stopping every two hours and removing baby from their car seat. 

This change of position is important and should really be continued well past babyhood. All passengers in a car benefit from stopping every two hours to change position, move around and refresh. 

When you stop, try not to put baby into another reclined position - e.g. a pram, capsule, rocker, etc. Of course, you might need to put them in a pram to transport them somewhere - that's different! But on a rest break, give baby time in your arms or in a suitable carrier and out of that reclined position. 

We aimed for 15-20 minutes minimum out of a 'container' during our rest stops. By the time you've changed your baby's nappy and fed them, you'll find you use most of this time anyway! Holding your baby is a good way to reconnect and reassure them on a travel day.

Making highway stops easier

Highway stops are not ideal with young kids. Many stops are not far off the road, with plenty of noise and fast-moving traffic. 

The better rest spots have basic facilities like a picnic table and a shelter. These make for a decent option to change a nappy or make a bottle. It's rare to find a rest stop with a toilet. 

Generally we pull into highway stops only to fix a problem and then plan to stop again in the next town if a break is needed. If you have other children with you, consider if they really need to get out of the car at this point. 

To make highway stops easier, we carry a table and camp chair to help with changing or feeding our baby anywhere with a little comfort. 

If your space doesn't allow for this, consider if you can fit a rigid change mat like the one below to have a safe, clean space to change baby on the ground. 

Otherwise, a picnic rug with a waterproof backing or thick roll-up change mat is another good option.

We also have an awning on our car. If you're travelling a lot and have the capacity to fit one, it's great for both wet weather and hot days. We love our 180 awning, but a smaller one would still provide enough room to shelter you and baby from the weather if needed.

If an awning isn't a option then a large, sturdy umbrella can be useful on sunny and rainy days. It'll probably be too tricky to use as a rain cover for nappy changes if you're travelling solo. You could try popping it on the ground to create a tiny bit of shade for sunny days if it's large enough.

If there isn't a rest stop available, it's generally better to pull right off the highway and down a side/minor road. The highway shoulder is for breakdowns and emergencies and isn't a safe space to be out of the car and tending to a baby.

We tend to pull into conservation parks too if needed. We do have a 4x4 but most of the entrances are accessible to two-wheel drive cars and provide enough space to get out with your baby if needed. There's not likely to be any facilities, but at least you'll be away from the road.

Managing to get all the way to a planned town stop with a newborn is something to smile about!

Choosing towns for breaks

It's a great feeling when you get to pull off the road at your planned stop, having successfully driven a couple of hours with your baby. 

When planning ahead for places to stop, it's good to look for:

• Shelter. Whether that's a picnic table with a cover or a shopping centre with a parent room, it's good to know where there is shelter.

• Toilets. Preferably with a parent room. Otherwise, some disabled/accessible toilets have a baby change facility. Lastly, check the female toilets. I've yet to hear about a male toilet with a baby change facility. We keep looking in the hope that one day, somewhere will be progressive enough to realise men are parents too!

• Playground. Useful if you've got other children with you and they often have shelter and toilets. Otherwise if it's a route you travel a lot, it's nice to start learning where the playgrounds if you'll be returning with baby when they're older. 

• Fuel. You won't always need fuel but it's important to remember that not all small towns have a fuel stop. Best to look ahead and know where a few options are. You might find stopping the car is enough to wake your newborn, so it's best to plan for getting fuel when you're starting out your journey or planning a rest stop.

• Food. Depending on your travel plans, it's nice to pick a spot where you can buy a coffee, cold drink or some snacks to keep you going. Being fairly regular travellers, we tend to pack our own - it's cheaper and healthier. But sometimes it's nice to have a treat or we end up driving for longer than planned.

• If you're planning to stop for food it's worth knowing that it can be difficult to find things open in the afternoons, between 2:00pm and 5:30pm. Many small towns cafes aren’t open on the weekend and bakeries are often closed on Sunday. You'll feel pretty sad if you spend several hours looking forward to a sprinkle donut only to find out that everywhere is shut! 

You don’t have to sit in the back (but you should if you want to)

Personally, I felt comfortable with Sprout in the back by herself. We don’t use a mirror either. The front seats of our car are considerably more comfortable - important to think about if you’re recovering from birth. 

I found myself hyper-vigilant at home after Sprout was born, and the car was a much needed break from the constant weight of caring for a little one.

Plus, it gave my partner and I some time together. That small physical distance between us and the baby created the mental space we needed to actually converse with each other. 

The long drives became a blessing in the early days because it gave us time to check in with each other away from the constant work of our daily lives with the car peacefully rocking our baby to sleep. 

I trusted my car seat and that Sprout was safe and secure so, as long as she was quiet, I sat in the front.

Now Sprout’s older (6 months+), I generally sit in the back with her because she's awake and likes the company.

When Sprout falls asleep, we pull over where it's safe and I switch to the front seat. I still crave those conversations with my partner, the view out the window and the extra space.

If sitting in the back with your baby soothes your anxiety, it's easier or just where you prefer to be - then great, do that! 

Recovering from birth

Recovering from birth as a new parent is a hard and important job. I felt a lot of advice about travelling with a young baby neglected the needs of a newly postpartum parent who is very likely to be travelling with a newborn. Your baby will be super comfy and snug in their car seat, but it's not so easy for a parent to feel comfortable shortly after birth. 

Rest Stops

That two-hour recommendation is really important for newly postpartum people too. Take the time to change a pad, get in some gentle movement, water and food. Getting some sunshine and fresh air is always a bonus too if it's a nice day. 

If a parent is breastfeeding, try to make time for the other parent or person you’re travelling with to hold the baby. It’s hard being responsible 100% of the time. Going from sitting in the car to sitting breastfeeding and back to the car doesn’t give your body a break.

If bottle feeding, try to share the load and have each parent alternate a feed or the non-birthing parent might be able to do a lot of the caring for the newborn to give the birthing parent time to look after themselves.

Pain Relief

Consider bringing pain relief in whatever form you prefer, even if you’ve been feeling okay. The different posture and pressure points of long hours sitting in the car can bring different aches and pains to the surface or aggravate pains you normally manage well.

A small towel rolled at your back can help support you to sit more comfortably in the car.

If it’s within a week of giving birth, ice pack pads might still be useful if you’ve had stitches.

Many c-section parents say using a pillow over their scar is helpful whilst in the car however I don’t have experience with this myself.

Recovery is different for everyone.

Travelling long distances in the car is still uncomfortable for me now at 8 months postpartum due to my injuries from giving birth.

And although this isn’t “normal”, recovery time is different for everyone and can’t be rushed. Ask for help and accept help when it’s offered. 

A change mat or picnic rug is ideal for letting your newborn baby stretch out during rest stops from long car trips.

Realistic expectations

Give yourself plenty of time to drive anywhere with your newborn. Whilst most babies will sleep in the car, unexpected stops definitely happen. We usually drive for a maximum of two hours and then stop for a break.

Whilst it can be tempting to keep going, especially if baby is asleep, it’s safest for everyone to have frequent breaks.

Stops with a newborn are rarely quick. Often they at least involve a feed or nappy change (usually both) and need your baby might need help settling back to sleep. Plan for a 20-30 minute stop at best for a realistic time frame.

We still stop frequently with our baby and our planned stops are usually 40-60 minutes. Trips that previously took us 3.5 hours now take pretty much all day. Add extra time for traffic or navigation errors if you’re travelling somewhere new. The sleep-deprived newborn days are hard enough, you don’t want to be in a rush. 

If you’re taking a road trip with others, communicate before the trip to be sure you’re all on the same page about travelling with a newborn baby. Decide what happens during unexpected stops - will all vehicles stop or will you catch up? If someone will be sharing your car, check their expectations about your travel day.

Unless you’re travelling with other parents of a newborn baby, they might be surprised at how often you need to stop or how long each stop takes! Don’t rely on others’ past experiences with their own kids - be clear on your expectations. It seems amazing how much parents may have forgotten from their own child's newborn days when the experience feels so powerful and raw while you're living through it. 

Consider where you are landing

Keep your destination in mind when travelling with a newborn. Long travel days can be exhausting even without a young baby to care for.

It can be worth scheduling longer rest stops to eat proper meals, to rest and to mentally take a break from being on the road.

This is particularly important if your destination could be busy, stressful, new or just exciting!

• Travelling to see family?  You may not get a break right away with everyone’s excitement to see the baby.

• Heading to an appointment in the city? Consider the time and energy to be fully present at that appointment.

• If you need to set up a caravan or settle into accommodation at the end, you’ll want energy for that too. 

Also consider baby’s needs - will they need a new nappy, a feed or even another nap on arrival? How are you going to manage this at your hotel, doctor appointment or your brother’s house? 

Chat to your partner about priorities on arrival. Being on the same page early in the day saves an argument when you’re both tired about what needs to happen or be unpacked first.

At the end of a long travel day, you'll probably have several competing needs.

You might like to stop at a park or quiet space soon before your destination to do a final change and feed so you know your baby's immediate needs have been met.

It'll make it easier to pass baby to someone else (if you choose) or to settle your baby in a new place knowing they have a dry nappy and a full tummy. 

Whatever happens, chat about it

Travelling with a newborn can be great AND really hard.

It's great to chat about how things went - especially with your travelling partner.

If you're planning to do similar travel days in the future, talking about what went well and the challenges can be really useful.

Some problems just can't be predicted but chatting about them can help you to feel more confident about tackling similar challenges in the future.

Taking about things you enjoyed or what you felt went smoothly can be great for highlighting the good parts about road trips with your newest family member. 

Sometimes you'll discover your partner or travel companion has a different perspective on how things went. It's good to hear each other’s thoughts and share ideas on how to make future road trips work best for everyone. 

Ready for the next step in road tripping with your little one? Check out this post on travelling with older babies.

Looking for family travel recommendations? Check out the articles below or visit our blog.