Traveling with kids can be a challenge, especially when trying to keep their sleep routine intact. There’s always something exciting going on, friends and relatives who are excited to spend time with your child, not to mention you want to have some fun too.
Is it possible to enjoy your vacation without wreaking havoc on your child’s sleep?
The answer is yes! With a little planning and prep work, you can have a great vacation and return home with your same rockstar sleeper.
Here are some tips to help:
1. Plan travel time around your child’s sleep schedule
Whenever possible, choose travel times that are least disruptive to your little one’s sleep schedule. Obviously, this will vary depending on the age of your child and the distance you’re traveling. For example, if you have a 4 month old and you’re only driving for one hour, you may want to plan to leave as soon as they’re awake from a nap and do the next nap after you arrive. And if you have half a day of travel with a toddler, you may find it helpful to leave during their regular naptime (providing they sleep well on the road).
2. Stay on routine
As tempting as it may be to let your child skip a nap or let bedtime go a little later so that you can fit extra activities into your trip, I highly recommend you resist the temptation and stick to your little one’s schedule as closely as possible. Changes in routine are the quickest way to end up with an overtired child, and overtiredness can cause a re-emergence of those negative sleep habits you’ve worked so hard to prevent. Plus, if your child is tired and cranky, you’re not going to have much fun anyways. Sticking to the schedule and keeping your little one well-rested will assure that the time you do get to spend time with friends and family is fun, happy and relaxed.
3. Re-create their home sleeping environment
Bring along everything your little one uses to sleep at home. Pack their sleep sac, blanket, lovey, pajamas, white noise, etc. If your child sleeps in a crib at home, bring along a pack-and-play. The idea is to re-create their sleeping environment from home. And anything that smells familiar and reminds them of their home sleeping environment will help them get to sleep in their new surroundings.
4. Find a way to darken it up
Do everything you can to make the sleeping space as dark as possible. Hang some dark sheets or a dark blanket, cover the windows with tinfoil or garbage bags. I find it’s best to plan ahead – either bring what you need or find out what supplies are available at your vacation spot.
5. Maintain separate sleeping spaces
If at all possible, try to maintain separate sleeping spaces. In the event you have to share a room with your baby, try to create some kind of partition in the room so that they can’t see you from their crib.
If they wake up in the night and see their favourite person sleeping across the room, they may be too excited to fall back asleep. So, try to find a way to separate their sleeping space from yours.
6. Don’t deviate from awesome sleep habits!
Continue to be consistent in your expectations around your child’s sleep. Try to resist the temptation to use an old sleep prop (like nursing or rocking to sleep) or trying a new one for that matter (like bringing your baby into bed with you). Any sleep habits formed while on vacation are bound to persist once you’re home and they can be hard habits to break! So if you don’t want your baby sharing your bed with you at home, then it’s best to not even start that habit while on vacation.
If you do get a little off routine and it causes your child some difficulty falling asleep, a short nap, or a wake-up in the night, use the same strategies you’d use if you were at home. You might be surprised how quickly your little one can fall asleep and get right back into routine if you give them the opportunity.
With consistency and proper planning, you can have an amazing vacation with a well-rested child, which will make for an easier transition once you’re back home as well.
If, for whatever reason, your child’s sleep gets off-track and you need help getting them back on track once you’re home, schedule a FREE Sleep Evaluation to learn how I can help.