Fighting Baby Jet Lag
A few tips that will hopefully improve your travels
I have to admit, I travelled a lot before having a baby and I am not sure what is worse the adult or baby jet lag. Prior to having a Baby I would stay up and do an all-nighter before a flight that was longer than 8 hours and I would then sleep through the entire flight and be adjusted to the new time zone when I land.
This no longer works as a Mom…Now I normally stay up late the night before a flight to make sure we are all packed and have everything we need in the carry on and suitcase and then I can´t sleep the entire flight over. So then by the time I land I am mega tired.
I am by no means a pro at this yet, but here are some tips that I follow myself when booking trips with our daughter. I realised that as they eat and sleep so much during the first 6 months they don’t really get jet lagged.
Therefore if you need to book a long trip to visit family abroad or want to travel for pleasure during your maternity leave, that might actually be a great time to go. Babies generally start feeling the jet lag once they take less frequent naps and have transitioned to longer sleeps at night.
Top 6 Tips for Helping Babies and Toddlers with Jetlag
1. Book a night flight:
If your baby is sleep trained try to book an evening/night flight so that they will sleep most for the majority of the flight. This way when you land your child will most probably be fresh, happy and ready to take on the day in a new city/country.
2. Keep active:
If you took an evening/night flight and your baby slept on the plane it is probably best to keep your Baby or Toddler busy with outdoor or indoor activities. Do something to keep your child entertained, do help forget about the baby jet lag.
3. Naps:
If your baby didn´t sleep on the plane and is tired, do let them catch up on some sleep. There is nothing worse than a tired and cranky baby. If you land in the morning, I wouldn´t let your baby sleep for too many hours. Probably let him/her take a 1-2hour nap and then wake your baby up, followed by some activities.
4. Nap with your Baby:
You will need your rest just as much as your child. So try to get some shut eye as well.
5. Stick to the same bedtime routine:
Babies adapt really well to routine and love it. So if you tend to give your baby a bath before bed time, read a story, play music/whitenoise, etc. make sure you do the same when you are traveling.
6. One hour per day:
Normally people say it takes 1 day to adjust per 1 hour that you change in time zones. You might want to take this into consideration when considering the length of your trip.
As our daughter is growing and we are learning along the way, I will try to update the blog accordingly as well. In the meantime feel free to comment or write us an email or via IM if you have any comments, questions or suggestions. And do remember if you are traveling and your baby is feeling out of it take that time to rest and relax as I am sure you will need it as well. xo
Happy Baby Happy Travels
Marisa
