Babies and toddlers seems to change their behaviors just as soon as we think we have them figured out. But one thing you can expect when traveling is jet lag when you go across time zones. Jet lag will affect us all, but adults can just sleep when they know they should, you can’t just tell that to a little one. But, this is not a reason to not travel with your babies!

I remember when we flew with Isabel (at 12 months) from Chicago to Hanoi, Vietnam (an 11 hour time difference) we hadn’t even thought about jet lag. I think that was for the better because we weren’t dreading it or stressing out about it. We just had to roll with it the best we could. But, if you haven’t taken your trip yet and you’re already stressing just remember this – baby’s will adjust. After making many more long hauls, here’s my best advice for what you can do to make the effects of jet lag a bit easier.

Don’t Stress About Jet Lag

The first and maybe most important piece of advice I can give you is to try not to stress about jet lag and not sleeping. If you are prepared not to sleep, than every little bit of sleep you get will be a bonus. Jet lag does not last forever. In fact, the longest it’s ever taken us to get completely back on schedule is 4 days. Just try to roll with the ups and downs in the first couple days and you’re life will be much more pleasant. Patience is a virtue as they say.

Now, there are two different ways to think about tackling jet lag. One is to do everything you can before you go to make the transition a little bit less painful, and the other is to try and recover from it once it’s hit. We’ll talk about the former first.

Preparing for Baby and Toddler Jet Lag Before Your Trip

1. Start adjusting bed time before you go
   • As you prepare for your trip, start putting baby/toddler to bed a little bit earlier or later depending on where you are going. You don’t want to completely flip their schedule upside down in the days leading up to the trip, but if you can adjust by just 1 hour that will make a difference in jet lag recover time and transition for baby/toddler.
   • Think about doing this for yourself as well. You’re sleep is going to be dependent on babies sleep, so you might as well do what you can before you go to set yourself up for success as well.
2. Take a night flight
   • Taking a flight when baby would normally be asleep is a lot less work than trying to keep them entertained on a long haul flight. It will give you an opportunity to rest as well, so that when you arrive to your destination you aren’t feeling like a zombie. Airlines turn off the lights and do limited service over night flights so it is easier to sleep without interruption anyway. Getting rest or sleeping on a plane is not the same as getting a good night sleep in your bed, so although you probably won’t need to immediately crash when you get to your destination, you likely won’t be ready to tackle a 12 hour day either.
   • If you’re traveling with a little one small enough to fit into an airline bassinet, make sure you request those seats when booking the flight. Isabel fit nicely until she was about 18 months which made sleeping for me a lot easier. Once they hit 2 and require their own seat you also have flexibility, so really its about 6 months where baby might have to sleep on your lap.
3. Use a stopover
   • If you don’t have the ability to fly directly through the night and have to take a connection, consider doing a stopover in that city. Multiple flights back to back can sometimes be tough on babies/toddlers (and you).
   • Fortunately, a lot of typical stopover cities have programs specifically for stop over flyers that can keep you and your children entertained. You can usually find this information on the airports website, but you could also call in to get the information as well.
4. Get Comfortable
   • The best way to tell a baby or toddler that it is bed time is to follow your typical bedtime routine as close as you can. That means getting them in their pajamas, maybe reading them a book, and maybe giving them a nursing session or bottle.
   • If you got the bassinet seat on the plane, then try to let baby sleep there. If you weren’t able to get the bassinet, or if your baby/toddler is too big, then think about getting an airplane mattress or bed which transforms a seat into a bed for a small child. You can check Amazon for a few different options. Searching “airplane beds for toddlers” will yield you a few results to get started. If you can’t do either, just use the baby carrier that you would normally use at home. We like the Lille Baby Complete a lot.
   • This comfortable sleep will go a long way in helping with the transition of baby and toddler jet lag, so try to have baby get as much of it as possible!
5. Plan Your First Days Strategically
   • Do not schedule a full day of activities the moment you arrive to your destination or back home.  If you’re just getting to your destination, the first day might be good for just taking a stroll through the neighborhood whenever you’re awake, grabbing a coffee or lunch somewhere nearby, and just taking it easy. If you’re headed back home, plan for a low key day at home, maybe a even a movie night. If you’re traveling back from a big time difference, try not to go straight back to work the next day. Give yourself and your kids some time to adjust. Planning for an adjustment day will help your stress levels immensely.

Combating Baby and Toddler Jet Lag

1. Take in the sunshine
   • Do you remember when you first had your precious little newborn and he/she was mixing up day and night? The best thing you can do to help them figure out what time zone they are in is to expose them to the sun when it is out. This is also the best thing you can do for yourself. This works by helping to naturally sync your internal clock with day and night.
   • If it’s too hot, or the sun is too powerful, just keeping the shades open in your room or go out to bright café. If they are a bit older, put on the sunscreen and let them play!
2. Keep it dark at night
   • Just like the sun can help babies internal clock to shift to daytime, keeping it dark at night will help babies internal clock shift to nighttime. That means when baby wake up in the middle of the night, keep the lights off. Even if they won’t go back to sleep for awhile, hanging out with baby in the dark helps them see that it’s night and they will eventually figure out that they should be sleeping.
   • Even though you want to keep it pretty dark in the room, a nightlight or phone light is okay so that no one gets hurt. You can play with baby rather than getting frustrated by trying to lull a non-tired baby back to sleep, but just do gentle, relaxing play rather than really waking them up too much. Playing with the covers, singing songs, taking a bath, letting them crawl or walk around and explore the room are all easy ways to keep them occupied while you can still relax a little.
   • Once you’ve let your baby or toddler play for a bit, start the bedtime routine again. The amount of time awake will be different depending on the age of your child, but as a parent, you will know the best time to try to put them down (it could be 1 hour, it could be 3). Lay them down and pray for the best.
3. Get fluids
   • Letting yourself get dehydrated is a sure way to make jet lag worse. Try to remember to keep drinking water, and make sure that babies and toddlers are getting their water too.
   • This is especially important if you are a breastfeeding mom! Not only are you going to have to get your sleep adjusted to jet lag, but you’re going to have to get your milk supply adjusted as well. Your body typically produces milk around baby nursing times which will be put out of whack with the time change. Staying hydrated is going to make sure that your body produces enough milk for whenever baby needs it.
4. Eat in the local time zone
   • Adjusting to the local meal time as quickly as possible will help you fight the jet lag more quickly. That’s because if your body knows when to eat, it tries to figure out sleep accordingly. So, eating a little something at the local meal time even if you’re not too hungry will help.
   • That being said, if you or your child is hungry during a NOT normal meal time, then eat! Fighting jet lag on an empty stomach is not going to help either. If you know that you are going to arrive to your destination in the middle of the night when nothing is open, make sure you bring some snacks with you in case hunger strikes.
5. Keep them awake (when necessary)
   • There may be times where keeping your baby or toddler awake for one more hour will put you on your way toward beating jet lag. If that’s the case, try to find a way to keep them entertained. Going to the playground, getting them a new toy, or giving them some screen time are ideas that I have used in the past.
   • Another time that you might want to try and keep baby or toddler awake a little longer is if they are waking up too early. If they are still napping, try to push their nap a little later.
   • With every piece of advice keep in mind that you know your baby / toddler best, so if you think that keeping them awake is too much for them at the moment, then don’t sweat it.
6. Wake them up (when necessary)
   • In most instances I live by the phrase “Don’t wake a sleeping baby”, but when trying to adjust to a new time zone, sometimes it’s necessary. If you’re finding that baby doesn’t want to go to sleep at night, they may be taking too long of a nap, or sleeping in too late in the morning. If you have to do this, try and have that thing that always cheers baby up ready to go, chances are they might be a little cranky for a bit getting woken up.

Focus on the positives of your baby or toddler being jet lagged

Although it may be hard to do, when adjusting to a new time zone, try to make the best of it and think positively. There will be times when you just want to sleep that baby / toddler will not. Try to use that time do or see something you wouldn’t have gotten to otherwise – like the sunrise over the temples in Cambodia, or the night markets in Vietnam.

Unfortunately there is no magic wand to make jet lag go away immediately. But try to keep in your mind that jet lag will not last forever. In fact, usually it doesn’t take more than a couple days. If you can learn to just roll with it, you will be happier. Try to remember: your baby will sleep again, you will sleep again, and it is all worth it.

Things to note regarding baby / toddler jet lag

If you are flying east, you are likely going to have a harder time adjusting to a new time zone than if you were flying west. When a time zone is ahead there are not as many hours in the day to recover. Keep this in mind when you are planning your trip.

Another thing to note is that if you are traveling with a newborn or very young baby, it might be easier to get them back on schedule because they already sleep so much AND they may still be confused with day and night anyway. Lucky you 🙂

I hope these ideas and tips help you when dealing with jet lag on your next trip.