How to Travel with Children and Still Sleep!

I remember our first “vacation” after having a child.

It wasn’t what it used to be!

As a friend joked, “It is not a vacation, it is a trip!”

No more sleeping in till whenever we wanted, no long romantic walks with my sweetheart, dinner out late or movies at the theater.

While it took a bit of adjusting, we have now learned how to travel and enjoy our “new normal” with now 4 young children.

If you will be traveling soon and have little ones you’ll want to read this article…

When you are about to travel with your little one, it is easy to worry about sleep!

For most children travel does affect their sleep.

I know you probably didn’t want to hear that!  

However, expecting that your young child’s sleep likely won’t be as great as at home (though some kids are the exception!) can relieve some of the stress you might experience when sleep struggles are present. And hey anytiem we can relieve stress as a parent – that is a good thing!!

Instead of finding yourself stressed the whole time, I want to help you to focus on the things you can do to help sleep be the best it can be while traveling!  And I know you will enjoy your time even with the bumps along the way. Here are tips I have discovered with my own family and from working with families….

• Starting Sleep Coaching?

If you just started sleep coaching, I like Kim West’s recommendation in “Good Night, Sleep Tight” to delay any travel for 3 weeks. By this point, your child should have reached a place where they know how to soothe themselves to sleep and have had some time to practice their new skills. Sometimes parents decide to just wait until after the vacation to start sleep coaching, which can be a good decision also. If you think you will need to start co-sleeping again while traveling or using another method to soothe your child to sleep I would recommend waiting until after the trip to do the sleep coaching.

• Sleep Skills Taught Yet?

If your child already has good sleep skills and knows how to put themselves to sleep they will likely do much better sleeping away from home. If you haven’t reached that point yet with your child you may find that their sleep worsens while away from home. Whether they have the skills already or not following these tips will help them and as a result you! (If you need help teaching your child sleep skills check out this online class I created for you)!

• Switching Time Zones

If you are traveling somewhere with a 3 hr time difference for a few days, see if it is possible during your trip to keep your baby on your “home” time zone. If it will be a longer trip, get on the new time as soon as possible, most likely your first full day in the new place. This includes meals, naps, bedtime and morning wake up time.

It may take a few days to adjust (depending on how far you traveled) but keep at it so that you can find a routine at some point. When we used to live in Germany and traveled back to the states we found that it took 1 day per each hour of change to fully adjust (meaning feeling like yourself and getting tired at the right times) to the new time zone. Also we found it to be true that traveling West was Best and East was Least – going west will typically be easier for you and your child to adjust and going east will be harder.

• Scheduling Travel

If you are able, consider the times of travel. Perhaps you can schedule your flights so that your baby is able to get to the new place in time for a good bedtime, or so baby can nap on the flight.

• Prioritize Naps

Naps while traveling are the easiest to neglect and yet a greater and greater nap deficit can result in an overtired child who starts struggling to sleep at night and is cranky during the day.

Of course a young baby will need more nap time than a preschooler so take into account the age of your child and their current nap needs. Aim to get your baby at least two good naps and your older child at least one good nap in a good nap environment (dark and quiet) each day.

• Props and Set Up

Plan for ways to make the sleep set up similar to at home. Don’t forget to pack or plan for the following: pack & play, a portable crib, a cot, blankets or pillows from home, a lovey, a sound machine, dark sheets and push pins to cover bright windows (or my personal favorite – black garbage bags and some tape!) etc.

Some parents create a barrier between their bed and the baby’s if in the same room (even a sheet pinned up can work or a particular placement in the room). We have put our babies in a large bathroom in a hotel room or extra room or large closet at a house to give them a quiet sleep space without disruption.

• Consider Comfort

Many children need a little extra comfort and soothing for sleep while traveling. I find it is helpful to think through what you extra soothing you might want to provide and also what you don’t want to provide to your child. For instance perhaps you don’t want to go back to nursing in the same bed throughout the night. Instead you may choose to place a chair next to your child’s port-a-crib to sit in at bedtime until they fall asleep or during any wake-ups. Remember that if you “regress” and go back to old ways of soothing that you don’t plan to keep once back home it will be hard for your baby or child once you are back home. If your child is old enough you can share with them that while traveling it is special thing to get to do ____________ (i.e. sleep in the same room as mom and dad) but once they are back home they will be sleeping in their room again.

• Establish a Home Base

We have tried to stay at different homes when visiting family and friends found it only caused more sleep disruption for our children. It can be very helpful to establish one place for sleeping and then visit during the day other places or have common places to meet or people come to you. Sometimes it is hard for family to understand but the benefit of having better rested children may be worth explaining it to your loved ones!

• Plan for You

What will you need to be able to enjoy yourself once the kid(s) are asleep? Are you able to have a place to go where you can monitor your child and yet not have to go to sleep at the same time as them? My husband and I have at times sat in the hallway of our hotel when that was the only option. A monitor when staying at someone’s home comes in handy or you may want to spend a little extra to have get a suite so you can shut the bedroom and enjoy time watching a movie or reading in the “living room”.

• Get Back On Track

As soon as you are back home and able to function give your children a refresher for their good sleep skills. If you have already taught your child how to self soothe to sleep, this is a good time to do a short version to remind your child of their sleep manners.

Your baby or child may have a difficult time with less comfort or soothing.

The good news is that if they already have good sleep skills they will be able to “re-learn” them with a little refresher.

The hard news is some kids feel mad about any changes and any sleep deficit they gained while traveling may make it harder.

If you notice extra crying or screaming, you can know this is common and staying consistent is your best bet to getting back to a good place. Stick with it and within a few days to a week your little one should be back “on track”.

I hope you enjoy your travels and that you are able to make some long lasting memories as a family!