Traveling in August - are we crazy?

[neongreen]

FTM here with twins due in June. (And obviously we know twins have a tendency to come early!) My parents have a vacation house in Cape Cod, and they're pushing for us to come up the third week in August. It's about a five hour drive for us, stopping for food, gas, bathrooms, etc. along the way. At the house, DH and I would have our own bedroom, and we'd bring the Pack n Plays. There are laundry facilities there, and except for occasional lunches, we usually don't eat meals out. Though we might pop over to the beaches to walk around a little, we're not the types to camp out on the sand all day anyway. MIL is considering coming as well, so we'd have an extra set of hands if she did.

Are we crazy for even considering this? I'm assuming the twins will be around 8-12 weeks old by then, so I don't know what sort of a routine we'd be in (and if this trip would screw up any routine we established). Really, it's the car ride that has me the most concerned, though I've heard that in some ways, traveling is easier when they're smaller and sleep a lot. We're lucky in that we don't have to make a decision until the last minute, but did anyone else go on vacation with their twins when they were about that age?

[SassyPants150]

I haven't had my twins yet but I did travel with DD when she was around that age. It was easy. She wasn't affected at all sleep or routine wise. During the ride I fed her some of her bottles and rode in the back seat with her. We stopped for diaper changes. All this during an 8 hour drive to my parent's house.

When DD turned 4 months we also went to the beach. We had a tent set up (the other couple we went with had a baby 10 days older than DD) so we kept them out of the sun and had everything we needed. It didn't affect her sleep/routine at all.

After turning one traveling became a pain in the ass. Enjoy the simple while you can. 

[ashb62]

I actually think traveling with newborns is easy and preferable. They'll sleep pretty much anywhere, still sleep a lot, and don't really require any entertainment at that age.

ETA: We didn't really have a predictable schedule/routine until about 7 months. Their needs change a lot in those early days as they grow and change.

[carrotcake]

I'd definitely do it. They'll sleep the entire time in the car except when they need to eat. There's no schedule or routine until much later.

It will take a bit longer bc you will have to stop and feed them every 2-3hours. I found the logistics of feeding twins on the road much more difficult than a singleton, though.

We routinely drive 5-6 hrs to my ILs and when it was just my oldest, we'd stop and I'd nurse in the car. Done. I tandem nursed the twins normally, but I found it difficult and awkward to do in the car. It can be done, but I didn't prefer it.

Anyway, what worked for me was to try and anticipate the next stop and pump in advance of that stop while driving. That way I had fresh bottles ready to go when we did stop. Then I could tandem bottle feed in their car seats at the rest stop while MH fed our oldest.

Nursing one at a time took too long, tried that also. One always screamed and MH had to deal w an infant and a big kid and it just didn't work for us.

You'll learn what works and what you prefer after you do it once and try a couple different things. It took us at least two round trips to find our travel groove.

[quinncat]

I would go. You'll appreciate the extra hands that can hold babies. I doubt you'll be in much of a routine by then. Have fun! I would have loved something like that when the twins were really little.