Important Tips To Help Your Baby Sleep When Traveling
You’re planning a family trip! Whether you are going on a little road trip to see family or flying across the country, there is no need to stress out over your child’s sleep and let it take the fun out of your vacation.
When your kids are young, it is so essential for them to learn and grow from new experiences. As a parent, you know how special it will be to make new memories with your little bundles of joy!. But sometimes we have apprehension about the lack of sleep we will be sacrificing to gain the experience that we contemplate not even going. It is not comfortable and can be scary for a parent to be in an unknown place with a sleep-deprived child. So now, as a loving, caring, and proactive parent, what can we do? Quite a bit, actually! There a lot of premeditated things you can do to help; here are a few of the best tips:
Keep routines normal.
One of the best things you can do is keeping the same bedtime routine for your child while you are away. If you are in a different time zone, keep your child on the time they are used to. For example, If their normal bedtime is 7 pm pst and you are on the east coast of the United States, adjust everything up three hours, so their bedtime would be 10 pm. Also, if you bathe them every night, followed by a bedtime story, do that too. So whatever your routine, keep it the same. This will comfort your child into better sleep.
Keep mealtime and nap time as normal as possible.
I know this one is tough when traveling because sometimes the thought of just having a little more fun is always lingering over our heads. But trust me, it will be worth it to do this. Try trading off who stays for nap time, so everyone gets to have a little fun. It is ok to bend the rules a little bit and extend nap time 30 minutes to an hour for one day. If nap time is extended be sure that bedtime is adjusted as well; just don’t do this too much as it will throw off the sleep routine. Remember, the overall goal is for sound sleep for your child, so everyone has a good trip.
Make their room comfortable for sleeping.
This is the easiest part, and most of this will be planned out before you even get to where you are going. Bring what you need from home to comfort your child. Pack things like swaddle blankets, sheets for the bed, a pack-n-play, sound machine, something to keep their space dark if needed, and their favorite Frankie Dean lovey too! All this will help them think of the comforts of home while they are away and help give them a peaceful night’s sleep.
There are many other things you can do that would help as well, but as a parent who has traveled a lot, these are my top three. Always do your research and find what works best for you and your family!
Jenavie Noggle
Founder and CEO