Follow our Holiday Travel Sleep Tips!
Over the river and through the woods—it’s the holiday travel season! Families are cramming into cars, hopping on planes and trains to be closer to the ones they love and to spend quality time together. When you have kids, traveling at the holidays can be stressful—especially if your children are sleeping in different environments than they are used to. Here are some tips to help your holiday travel be merry and bright.
1. A well-rested child will be much more flexible
We all know that kid. The one that screams at the top of his lungs. For. The. Entire. Flight. Every parent hopes they don’t have that kid, right? A child that has healthy sleep habits and good sleep hygiene will be a much better travel companion. Taking the time to make sure good routines, bedtimes, and naptimes are in order in the weeks before you travel can pay off big time when you go someplace else for the holidays. It means that a skipped nap here and there or a slightly later bedtime will not throw everything off track because your child will be more adaptable.
2. Try to travel in the morning or around naps whenever possible.
If you can control your holiday travel times, try to arrange travel that occurs in the morning. Children tend to do better after a full night’s sleep and you may be able to heed off a few meltdowns in the earlier parts of the day. I know many families that try to wait to travel until nighttime (especially for car travel) and get surprised when their children stay up the entire time mesmerized at the lights on the side of the highway (been there!). Traveling around a nap time will give you the best chance for your child to snooze while you are en route, but it isn’t a guarantee. Just go with it and do the best you can.
3. Bring pieces of home with you
If your child uses white noise, bring the white noise machine or use an app on your phone to provide white noise for your child while you are away from home. Bring the favorite lovey (it’s always good to have a double on hand in case one gets lost while traveling) or blanket. If you child is old enough to have an opinion, ask them which pjs they would like to wear while they are gone. You obviously can’t take everything with you, but bring the things that are essential for your child’s sleep routine so that the new sleeping space doesn’t feel so different.
4. Be patient with your mother in-law
Ok, so maybe I wrote this one as a reminder to myself. It can be extremely difficult to follow all of your sleep routines if you are spending time in a hotel or with a relative. Try to stick to your schedule when possible, but understand that things may not stay exactly the same. You will likely get stares and complaints if you put your child to bed during Christmas dinner at 6 pm. Take a deep breath and do the best you can. While you can gently explain that your child does best with an earlier bedtime, the holidays are not the time to get into an argument about who has better parenting instincts. Be flexible when you can be and firm when you can’t. Know that millions of moms and dads are in the same boat as you this holiday season.
5. Bring some trash bags
This probably sounds crazy, huh? Some people don’t have dark guest rooms. Some rooms don’t have any curtains on the windows at all. I have been to relatives homes for the past 8 years with kids and have often had to make impromptu adjustments to windows so that my kids can sleep past the 5 am sunrise. Enter the trash bag. Dark trash bags are cheap, they take up very little room in your suitcase, and they can be used in a pinch to darken a room. Bring some painters tape with you as well for easy sticking options that won’t ruin your grandma’s flower wallpaper or bright pink paint job in the guest room. There are other options on the market if you are interested in purchasing portable darkening shades, but a trash bag works in a pinch.
Hopefully your child will sleep while getting to your destination! If not, do the best you can to entertain and go with the flow.
6. Back to basics when you return
Many families we work with often write, “Everything was great until we got back from our trip to Cancun and now everything is awful.” If things get off track while you are gone, return to the routines you had before your trip as quickly as possible. There may be some adjustments for a few days to a week, but consistency will get things back to normal.
If you ended up having to rock your child to sleep for a week while you were away, you’re going to need to break this habit when you get home. Did you start giving an extra feeding at night to avoid the evil eye the next morning at the breakfast table? It’s time to get rid of that, too. Were you sleeping with your child in the same room because there was only one spare bedroom? Go back to the sleeping arrangements you had before you left. The sooner you go back to your old routines, the easier your child will have adjusting.
Are you traveling this holiday season and want to go over details to help protect your child’s sleep? An ask us anything session might be perfect for you! Find details here.
Have a great time this holiday season!