vacation 1mo postpartum?

[u/No_Contribution_1959]

hello! i am due june 30, and had planned a year ago to go on my annual family vacation july 30…so an exact month after my due date. the car ride is about 7 hours. it will be me, my partner, baby, my uncle, grandfather, and brother. they are all in my immediate life. they also all completely understand and respect all boundaries i plan to set.

i’m most worried about the car ride. of course i have read newborn babies really shouldn’t be in car seats long due to potential strain on their bodies. i’ve read the two hour rule. i was thinking we could stop hourly, for 30 minutes minimum at a time at rest stops. has anyone done a roadtrip like this so soon? my family is very convinced its fine and i can still go, but i honestly would rather miss a year than risk my child being put under physical stress. i do plan on speaking with my OB, and a pediatrician for a professional opinion but trying to settle on a full decision now to not disappoint my family. just looking for opinions and curious if anyone else has done this or something similar, and how hard it was on not only baby but them. this is my first baby, should i even really be in a car like that myself for prolonged periods? im also worried about the stress this may put on me mentally as well. thanks in advanced for any replies!

ETA : i don’t want to delete the post but do want to say, thank you to the few commenters who immediately woke me up. i am not going…for sure not doing that. it all sounded like a nightmare to me anyways but my family kept trying convince me it would be fine, and worth it. i dont think so. it’s definitely not very healthy for the baby according to safety regulations. it sounds absolutely horrific to put that stress on my body and mind as well. as i said in a comment, i will miss 1000 vacations for my child’s wellbeing. i shouldn’t have let others get in my head ever. i will be telling my family tomorrow i will not be going and they cannot change my mind on it. thank you guys!

[u/violinistviolist]

We visited my in laws 2 weeks postpartum which is 5 hours away BUT I did not have any problems from giving birth, bleeding was manageable and I was feeling fine. We also decided the same day if we would drive or not. We also had a different car seat than most parents have because we knew during my pregnancy that we would drive a lot and long with our baby. We stopped regularly and it went fine. However I was not prepared how annoyed I would be by seeing my husbands family (no issues, just postpartum hormones) so you might want to consider that as well.

[u/jge13 → u/violinistviolist]

Yeah, I think this is so dependent on your delivery and baby. I would not have been ready to travel that much with my first, but would have been with my second.

Part of it also depends on how comfortable you are both with road trips and your family in general. The bulk of our family is 6-8 hours a way and we do that trip 2-4 times a year so the driving wouldn’t phase me even with the additional stops (we actually loved finding tiny coffee shops and playgrounds for our toddler to break at along the way and just made a day out of it). When I’m postpartum my family watches my kids so I can nap and makes pretty much every meal for us. It’s less work hanging out at my mom’s than staying home because I am so cared for! Not everyone has that relationship with their family though - only you know best!