Travel Series Part 6 - Jet Lag and Sleep Planning

I know the thought of travelling with children can be stressful, and sometimes, quite frankly terrifying! So I have decided to do a travel series with all my top tips, advice and essentials, walking you through every step off the planning and preparation, the travel, the holiday and return travel, as well as how to reset on return.

So if you’ve got the urge to travel with your kiddos, but are feeling overwhelmed, please read on. My travel series is a comprehensive guide that will give you the toolkit you need for staycations, short-haul, and long-haul travel.

Managing sleep whilst on holiday

Whether you have travelled overseas, or are on a staycation, your little one may be tired on the day of arrival at your holiday destination as their routine is likely to be out of sync.

Tips for managing jet lag

Travelling long-haul will likely entail time differences. You can approach this in one of two ways. You may want to go with the flow and adjust to the new time zone now that you are on holiday.

Alternatively, you may have begun to adjust your child to the new time zone ahead of time in the week before travel. Travelling West is typically easier on the body clock than travelling East from the U.K. If you have travelled West, younger children could continue their awake window followed by a nap in the week or few days before travel and keep this pattern going throughout the flight until reaching your holiday destination. If you have travelled East, in the week before the flight, you can gradually wake your little one slightly earlier each morning and also plan a slightly earlier bedtime every day too.

Travelling west may result in earlier bedtimes and wake up times, whilst travelling east can result in later bedtimes and wake up times. It can be helpful to adjust sleep and meal times to local time either on your flight or as soon as you reach your destination.

Recreating your bubba’s home sleep space

On arrival at your destination, the best advice I can give is to set up your little one’s sleep space. You want to recreate their home sleep environment as best you can. Having some familiarity will ease their transition. Whatever your little one associates with sleep, whether that be their snuggly, bedsheets from home, favourite blanket or portable white noise machine, please do bring these things along and set them all up just as you would in their home sleep space.

If you are taking your travel cot along for the holiday, it’s worth your bubba having a few sleeps in there before you travel to make the adjustment easier.

A dark room will optimise sleep, so although extra luggage isn’t ideal, I really do feel it's worth bringing along some travel blackout blinds. They will help you all sleep! It is also important to consider the room temperature in your place of stay. This should ideally be between 16 and 20 degrees Celsius. Hotels generally have an inbuilt thermostat, but if you are staying elsewhere, you can always take a room thermometer with you.

Sleep on the day of arrival

It is worth thinking about your bubba’s sleep schedule when you reach your destination. For those of you arriving in the morning, especially if your little one has not slept well during the overnight flight, offering a nap to catch up on lost sleep is perfectly fine. Just be sure to ensure that this nap doesn’t turn into a marathon sleep, as this will then disrupt night time sleep. The idea is that you want to take the edge off their overtiredness so I would suggest capping this nap to 2 hours.

If you are arriving in the afternoon and feel that your little one is shattered, offering them a short cat nap for 20 to 30 minutes to tide them over till bedtime is fine.

When holidaying in a different time zone, your little one may wake up during the night, or wake early in the morning. In this instance, I recommend keeping your interaction non-stimulating whilst aiming to resettle them back to sleep without turning on the lights.

Daylight exposure

If you are travelling into a different time zone, the quickest way to reset the internal body clock is to expose your bubba and yourself to daylight first thing. This can really help get in line with the local time quickly.

Recreating the bedtime routine

Your little one is probably used to a regular bedtime routine at home. Recreating this routine on holiday as best you can will help your bubba adjust well and signal sleep cues. Simple steps such as a warm bath with your little one’s favourite bath toys, a change into sleepwear, and a bedtime story or lullaby are just perfect for this before they settle to sleep.

Sleep schedules

I always recommend doing what best suits your family regarding your bubba’s sleep schedule on holiday. You might prefer to stick to the same routine as you would at home and that is perfectly fine. Alternatively, if you want to be a little more flexible and go with the flow with sleep schedules whilst away, this is totally fine too. Holidays are a time for you all to unwind, connect, and enjoy a change of scenery. Please don’t worry if the routine goes out of the window, as you can always get back on track once you’re back home.

Managing naps

Many of you won't want to be stuck in a hotel room while your baby naps, and that's completely understandable. Please remember that naps won’t necessarily happen in the exact same way and at the same time as they do at home. It is okay for your bubba to fall asleep in a pushchair or sling while you’re out and about if that’s what you want. As I always say, do what suits you and your family. If your little one is napping whilst you are out, a portable white noise machine can be a godsend. I also suggest using a pushchair shade such as the SnoozeShade (Coupon Code – SDREAM10 FOR 10% off) for naps on the go. If possible, planning ahead for naps can be useful and help you plan your day.

What if you don’t want to have your dinner at 5 pm with your little one?

Please don’t get too tied down with timings if you want to sway away from normal routines whilst away. After all, it’s your holiday too. You can still go out for dinner if that suits your family. There are a couple of options to consider if you have young children.

You could follow your bubba’s bedtime routine and pop on their sleepwear before you head out for dinner. A walk can often help them drift off to sleep in a sling or pram before you dine. If they want to sleep before you leave for dinner, you can allow them to fall asleep in their sleep space and attempt a transfer into their sling or pram when you need to leave.

· If you want your bubba to join you for dinner at a time they would normally be asleep, offering a little extra day sleep can really help to see them through to a later bedtime. This can be managed according to the age of your little one. I find that an additional afternoon or early evening nap can work wonders for babies and toddlers,

depending on their nap schedule. If you have a pre-schooler who no longer naps but would struggle to stay away for your dinner time, offering them a nap in the afternoon, especially if they have had an active day, can often work well. Some children will sleep whilst others may protest sleep! It’s still worth a try, and if your child cannot manage an afternoon nap, you can offer them some quiet time, which could involve some colouring or even some screen time. This will take the edge off any overtiredness in the evening whilst you are out for dinner.

We all know things don’t always go according to plan with little ones, so if your dinner doesn’t work out as you had hoped, you can always head back. It doesn’t have to stop you trying again another day if that’s what you want.

I don’t want you to assume that your bubba’s sleep will always be plain sailing while you are away. Being flexible when things don’t go exactly to plan and adapting to change will take the pressure off you. You may not want to be constantly clock-watching and worrying about sticking to a schedule. It’s completely fine to take a more relaxed approach, and it’s also perfectly fine to stick to a routine and time frame similar to the one you have at home. I always advise that there really isn’t a right or wrong way to holiday with your children. Each family is unique, and so it's all about doing what suits your family best.

So there you go, I hope my tips for managing sleep whilst on holiday give you some helpful guidance and help to take the pressure off.

Stay tuned for my reset on return from your holiday article, coming soon!