Looking for a few tips on how to keep your child sleeping well while traveling? Here are a few suggestions to make the process more smooth.
First, let’s look at what your child’s experience is. Children above all else want to be safe and secure and know that their parents are nearby. They like things to stay the same. While going new places may be exciting for an adult, children find a lot of safety in things being familiar. As we get older we have more of an internalized sense of safety and familiarity; children are building what we already have. Therefore, as parents, we get to help our children adjust by packing as much familiarity in our suitcases as will fit!
That being said we’ve outlined some ways to create that familiarity:
Practice before you go. If your child will be sleeping in a portable crib, have some naps or nights in it at home to get used to it.
Bring your child’s sleeping environment with you as much as you can. If your child sleeps in a crib, then bring a portable crib (some hotels have cribs or portable cribs you can use) and your child’s lovey. You can use the same sheet you use to cover the crib mattress on the portable one. If you bedshare, make sure the room you will be sleeping in has the same safety precautions that you have at home (consider distance the bed is from the wall, thickness of covers, etc). Be prepared to darken windows with temporary solutions (temporary window covers are sold, or even flattened cardboard boxes work). Bring a source of white noise. Some hotel rooms are pretty noisy. If staying in a hotel, consider asking to be away from the elevator and pool, since both are noisier places. Bring a wake-up-light if you use one.
Keep the same routine to go to bed. Whether it’s reading and singing or bathing and cuddling. As much as possible, keep bedtime and naptimes the same as at home, if some naps need to be on the go, try to not have them on consecutive days. In the car, make sure child is fed and changed about a half an hour before the nap is to begin, and taper off entertaining them with reading and music, so that it is easier for them to drift off to sleep without becoming overly tired. Also, if at all possible, try to schedule your travel so the nap hits at a time when there will be open highway as opposed to stops and starts.
Introduce your child to his/her new sleep environment, allowing time to play in that space before it is time to sleep, and explaining where you are and why, where he/she will be sleeping and where you will be sleeping and that you will be just as responsive as at home. Regardless of how young your child is, this is an important step. Plan for extra settling time while adjusting to a new sleep environment. He/she may need some extra reassurance that he/she is safe and that you are nearby.
Don’t let a time change get in the way of you enjoying yourself. If you will be staying there more than a day or two, wake your child up at the normal time, let’s say 7am, and go about the day on the normal schedule.
Don’t take big steps back. Schedules may be disrupted, but if you’ve night weaned, don’t start night feeds again, or if you’ve stopped co-sleeping, don’t reintroduce it. Making big changes like night feeding and co-sleeping are too confusing to your child. Although, it won’t take much to get back on schedule once you’re home if your vacation disrupted it.
Enjoy seeing new places with your child!