[thoma]

Originally Posted by rapidrahul

I don't leave my dog as he is a part of my family and he goes where we go.. He enjoyed his stay at Amet Haveli in udaipur last time we were on the road.

2 months is a time when the infant really needs a peaceful time, slowly developing bit by bit. Even us adults get irritated with the sun peering in even at full A/C. I really do not know if too much rocking is a good idea at 2 months. But 4 months is definitely better than 2 months, though in my opinion, 6 months is when the infant matures out to face more of the world and I found my baby too enjoying rides around that time.

If at all you have to travel this long, please leave the A/C in non-recirculating mode most of the time. A closed space-sharing with a dog is not a good idea considering the enormous known and unknown bacteria present on a dog, however pampered he/she is. Too much of vehicle pollutants is also not good when you are inside a city, so keep alternating between modes.

It is also risky, however well you know the road and drive on it, there are morons out on the road who could bump on to us. A small bump on to the car would not hurt us in any way, but imagine the shock wave the baby's delicate vertebra have to absorb. And what about brake downs including that of the A/C? Stranded in the middle of nowhere is such a risk. By the way, which car will you be using?

P.S: No, I'm not discouraging anyone, I just have a 1 year old and I could relate. And, I'm really finicky with the safety of babies ever since I have one. Please try tatkal booking on train and keep road as the last option. There are capable booking agents who can almost assure you seats.

[rapidrahul]

I'll be driving down in a Skoda rapid.

[amolpol]

Originally Posted by rapidrahul

I don't leave my dog as he is a part of my family and he goes where we go.. He enjoyed his stay at Amet Haveli in udaipur last time we were on the road.

Looks like you've got a travel friendly dog there, sorts out a lot of concern right away. Your car also seems to be relatively new, so shouldn't give you major trouble hopefully.

There will be some amount of stress in any mode of travel, be it a car or train or even a flight. Don't be too worried, babies only look fragile. In reality they are quite tough and can usually withstand journeys pretty well. We've been doing jeep safaris in the jungles with my daughter since she was 2 months.

Enjoy the drive!

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by rapidrahul

...my only concern is the baby and the section from Abohar to pathankot....

Originally Posted by bblost

.....But 2 months is simply too young.
Any baby not on solids is IMHO too young......

Rahul - Absolutely not to worry to travel with a 2-monther.
Parag and Amol have given the best advices. Simply follow them and you would be at peace with the drive.
I have driven about 400kms (up+down) when my kid was a 6 monther, and then recently when he is 1.2yrs.
Lot of difference in my experience.

Infants, untill 6 month or so are very peaceful.
They have their fixed pattern / routine. Sleep - Feed - Burp - Little Play - Sleep.
Most important is, their motor skills would not have developed, so they are mostly confined to someone's lap (not in a car) or a car seat (while travelling in a car).

Follow the infant's pattern and it would be fine.

I recently did a 220 (up+down) trip with my 1.2 yrs kid and it is turning out to be difficult.
- He slept for less time. At this age, kids get distracted very easily with little sounds of music, conversations, mobile ringtiones, etc.
- He gets unconfortable as soon as he poops, so I had to stop immediately when I smelled poop.
- He is slowly getting difficult with feeding (solids). Have to play with him while feeding (solids).
- He is now more active and doesn't like being confined in his car seat.

bblost - I think 2 months is a very peaceful age to travel for a kid. Get a car seat and keep feeding at regular intervals. That's about it (apart from diaper change, etc).

EDIT: Two things:
1. I travelled with my 24 day old son in a Train, 2AC, 1500Kms, 2 Days. Absolutely no problem.
2. I forgot that you are travelling with a dog. I have never owned a dog and wouldn't be able able to advise you on how to maintain it on a trip.

[joybhowmik]

Are you planning to cage the dog and secure it to the seat with a belt?
You may want to take precaution against allergy by your two month old due to dog hair.
Roll down the windows and take frequent breaks.

[noopster]

Some very good advice here...

One point: for such a long trip, you may have to stop multiple times, even stay overnight once or twice. Please make sure you identify pet-friendly hotels. Most hotels in my experience do not allow pets and it will be disastrous for you to have to look for a hotel in the middle of the night with an infant in tow.

[phamilyman]

Another question - how tall is your kid/will be at the time of travel? That really determines the extent of how safe the car seat really is.

We used a car seat for daksh since the day he was born, but he was frankly fairly tiny for the car seat- only at 3-4 months did he fill up his car seat well, as you can see in this 4.5 month photo here:



Almost every one of our relatives who saw the photo of a 1 day old Daksh in the car seat said, oh he's not safe in there, its too big for him.

Just a thought to ponder.

[coolclouds]

Originally Posted by phamilyman

Another question - how tall is your kid/will be at the time of travel? That really determines the extent of how safe the car seat really is.....

IMO, car seat is not safe for two month old baby (Experts, please correct). During my trips, I made a bed in rear seat for my baby with quilt and pillows and both mom and baby were seated in rear. She was comfortable throughout the journey and slept most of the time.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by coolclouds

IMO, car seat is not safe for two month old baby (Experts, please correct).

If you buy a specialized infant car seat (like my Maxi Cosy rear-facing only infant seat) there will be a "newborn attachment" that you can use for the first couple of months. After that your child will outgrow the attachment so just take it out.

Even with the newborn attachment your baby's head may loll around a bit. In which case please use rolled up blankets to pad the space around the neck. Look up Youtube- there are some helpful videos there.

During my trips, I made a bed in rear seat for my baby with quilt and pillows and both mom and baby were seated in rear. She was comfortable throughout the journey and slept most of the time.

Jugaad solution but completely useless in case of an accident. Certainly not advisable for an ultra-long drive as planned by OP.

[mayankk]

I did a round trip, overnighter with my boy when he was just under 2 months old.

1. Trip is going to take almost double the usual time, what with stoppages for fresh air, and slower driving traversing bumps that you would not have even seen when driving alone.
2. Car seats - Yes they're available for children this age, will be the carry-in curl-up types, with the baby facing rearwards, as he should be.
3. Sitting alone for such a duration upfront will get tiresome in a hurry, and mentally exhausting too, after accidentally hitting bumps, and asking "all ok back there?".
4. Car seat again. babies tend to be alright for shortish durations in them, but being so small, he may or may not start getting cranky, cos the back does start hurting. My little boy needed to be taken out every hour or so, just because he started crying.
5. The LONG distance you're planning. Mind you, the first trip I did with him was plain sailing, literally. Noida to Agra on the Eway. It still took me 5 hours end to end, very taxing, and this is WITHOUT bad roads, traffic, and associated miseries.
6. Car seat again. You will have to be feeling bone chilled for the baby to be comfortable. The padding and the platics, apart from the blankets, they need a lot of effort from the AC for the baby. Dont be surprised if you find his bottom and back sweating.

However, hope is in sight not too far along, if you can put it off till then. At 3 months, he went to neemrana, then last month, at about 5 months old, to Lansdowne, and became more angelic during each iteration.
So, if you can wait........

[milestogo]

My first trip with my son was when he was 3 months. Car seat was great because it let the mom take rest. One thing- car seat should be back facing obviously, but when you are driving up a slope, especially around hair pin bends when you might have to break and pull quickly , make sure your wife is holding the babys head. Otherwise the babys head tends to fall in front. Also never place the baby without the belts on.

[meetbadri]

First of all travelling should be avoided if you are planning with a baby which is just 2 month old and its mother as it could lead serious problems for both Mother and kid in future. Baby has just come to earth a couple of months back please give him/her some time to get adjusted to the climate and environment. If you have already made the decision to go to Jammu from Pune then take some airways or train but not car. This is what gynacologist suggested me when I was planning to drive from Sagar to Bangalore with 3 month old baby. In my case the distance was only about 380 Kms, and you are speaking about 2000+ Kms. If you take my suggestion do not drive just think about the baby and take him/her in a flight or train.

[haisaikat]

Ever since I started going on shorter drives or even longer road trips with my kid from his infant days I had been in search of a Precise and Comprehensive list to follow on what to carry vs what not to, that would take off our need to reinvent the wheel by learning the hard way. So compiled below are a list of essentials for such road trips and can be applied for other means of travelling with infants and toddlers.

I have avoided elaborate description and specified only to the point to keep this as precise and quick read as possible. Also wherever I could have given the indication of when a certain thing is useful, so (6+) means 6 months and above. I do not recommend road trips with kids below the age of 6 months until they have a steady head and stronger neck support. So nothing in this list goes below 6 months. This list is entirely based on inputs of my wife while I have only penned them down, hope it helps all.

Devices & Appliances

1. Electric kettle (6+) - Prepare drinking water (minimum 3 auto cut-offs, packaged water), use hot water for sterilization
2. Metal Bowl with lid (6+) - Cooling down heated drinking water, immerse feeding bottles in heated water for sterilization
3. Bottle sterilization (6+) - Self explanatory, if bottle usage reduces can be done through electric kettle method also.
4. Pressure cooker (8+) - In case you need, but Rice Cooker can do most of it.
5. Rice cooker (6+)- Cooking boiled rice or even khichdi if you are uncertain about the competency of the kitchen of your hotel
6. Large Aluminium 2L+ Bottle (6-24) - Store drinking water after cooling down for refilling feeding bottles
7. Thermal Flask (6+) - Store boiled water, even better if it fits in your door / car bottle holders and avoid flasks with inner glass walls
8. Car Baby Seats (6+) - You must make an habbit from early days otherwise difficult to get them accustomed to this later on
9. Extension board / Spike buster (6+)- to circumvent not having adequate plug points or not placed at the right spot

Some more Tools

1. Infrared Thermometer (6+)
2. Pram (6+) can be useful even for hills or other places where long walking or waiting required and you may not be able to carry them around for the whole duration, even if your child has gone past the pram age. Make sure pram is with brakes or wheel locks.
3. Manicure Sets (6+)
4. Ear Buds (6+)
5. Toilet Seat / Training Kits as per habbit (12+)

Clothes

1. 6 set of cloths per day on an average (6+). You can save a few if you diligently wrap the kid around in towels or put Bibs during meals / feeding
2. If you are going to stay at a hotel with laundry facility, take clothes for a minimum of 3 days provided you dump to laundry every morning so that they can deliver back to you on the subsequent day evening and you still have the 3rd day's reserve.
3. If otherwise you intend to wash them yourselves then carry few hanging clips and cloth drying hook with elastic wire just in case you are unable to dry them on the balcony or some common area.
4. If you can carry more fresh set of clothes and avoid laundry / washing completely, its even better but we have tried all options and all work fine.
5. Small Blankets 2-3 minimum enough for 1 - 2 days, you can reuse
6. Towels and Oil cloth / Quick Dry
7. Diapers 6-7 a day under normal conditions unless the kid has stomach upsets that might call for more, instead of carrying the full pack, take them out and slide in all corners of the bags for better use of storage space, what more, you can buy these anywhere you go

Safety & Hygiene

1. All-Out or Goodnight liquid for kids or branded mosquito repellent sticker patches (6+)
2. Alcohol free Wipes for Babies (6+)
3. Hand Sanitizer (6+)
4. 2 full size news paper pages for each day of travel (6+)
5. Garbage Bags 1/2 per day with tie strings, avoid paper made bags, you can keep one on the car floor too to dispose diapers, etc(6+)

Recreation / Entertainment

1. Keep an extra mobile phone with separate charger for the kid based on his habbit and must be charged overnight
2. Ensure some of his favorite youtube videos are pre-downloaded for offline watching, internet can be unpredictable at times in tourist locations.
3. Suitable toys and games as per habbit

Medicines as per Dr advice

1. Most important, keep the contact number of your kids pediatrician handy
2. Probiotic digestive
3. Fever
4. Vomitting
5. Stool softener, if they drink less than usual water
6. Stomach Upset
7. Arnica ointment
8. Bandaids
9. Thrombophob for inflammation or swelling
10. SunsCreams and Oils
11. Regular supplements (Iron, Vitamin D3, etc
12. Antiseptic

Food based on habbit

1. Cereals (like Cerelac, etc) (12+)
2. Milk as per habbit (6+), we have also carried Soya based milk substitutes as per Dr advise to avoid indigestion with over usage of milk with growing age (14+).
3. Rice for emergency (12+)
4. Small Butter cubes / packets (12+)
5. Salt and Sugar in mini ziplock pouches (6+)
6. Biscuits / Chocolates as per habbit (12+)
7. Packages Drinking Water to buy locally - On an average if kid requires boiled drinking water then 2 litres of water per day and for bottle / utensil sterilization another 1 litre is required

Bags and Packing (6+)

1. 1 Handy Bag that you can keep with you in the cabin having medicines, spare dresses, diapers, water bottles, milk, hand towels which are the essential ones
2. 1 Bag for utensils and devices
3. 1 Bag for cloths and other items. Better segregate the cloths by type or day in cloth organizer zipped enclosures that are easily available online
4. Keep ample ziplocks for carrying milk (buy refill packs and keep only the foiled milk pack with spoon, not the entire container, will reduce bulk and weight). Do the same for the soaps, medicines, everything under separate ziplocks, easier to get hold of them when needed and prevents any spill overs.

Driving Habit

1. After a meal, try to give the kid some rest / running around without starting to drive immediately. Otherwise they might throw up at times. Fresh Air is must especially after the meal.
2. Mind your braking habbit, more in ladder frame cars which have a higher tendency of passengers leaping forward than in a monocoque design. Nevertheless plan your speeding up and slowing down better to avoid touching the brake pedal. Otherwise kids will have a tendency to vomit, more so after a meal.

That is all for now, suggestions and ideas are welcome from all to keep refining this knowledge.

[LoneWolf9]

Originally Posted by haisaikat

[*]After a meal, try to give the kid some rest / running around without starting to drive immediately. Otherwise they might throw up at times. Fresh Air is must especially after the meal.[*]Mind your braking habbit, more in ladder frame cars which have a higher tendency of passengers leaping forward than in a monocoque design. Nevertheless plan your speeding up and slowing down better to avoid touching the brake pedal. Otherwise kids will have a tendency to vomit, more so after a meal.[/list]
That is all for now, suggestions and ideas are welcome from all to keep refining this knowledge.

All infants and toddlers should always be in a rear facing car seat reclined to a comfortable position.
This is the most safest position for infant and toddlers.

[VSD]

It's good to have this information for many new parents, more so now in current scenario as many will not be using trains/flights for traveling.
I'd add pocket tool set and spare AA & AAA batteries or battery chargers to the list as many toys work on them.

For people adding product suggestions to the list, it'll be helpful for others to have a link of the products mentioned here as most things are available online.