How to Help Your Baby Adjust to a New Time Zone While Traveling
Are you traveling this summer with your baby or toddler? As a sleep specialist, I get a lot of questions about adjusting to new time zones while traveling – especially around big travel times of the year. It can be challenging enough to handle jet lag as an adult who understands what’s happening. So, what can you do to support your child to adjust their sleep on vacation?
First, figure out if it even makes sense to try and adjust their schedule. If you are only traveling one or two time zones, you might decide to just keep your little one on their normal schedule. This works well when you are going west, and the baby has a late bedtime and morning wake time. Or, if you are traveling east, and baby has an early bedtime and morning wake time.
Depending on your child’s rhythms and the time difference, another option is to shift your baby’s schedule, but not all the way. Many times, you can shift their schedule to somewhere in the middle. This may allow you to get away with less adjustment, and also with sleep times that fit your travel schedule better. There are no set rules here, it’s all about what feels easiest and logistically works for your trip.
If you know you’ll need to make some sleep schedule adjustments while on vacation, here are my top tips for how to support your child.
Use circadian rhythm tools to your advantage.
Our circadian rhythm is our body’s internal clock that regulates our day night cycle among many other things. Light, meal times, and other social and environmental cues influence and support our circadian rhythm. When your body is adjusting to a new sleep rhythm and time zone, use strong, clear signals to your body.
Get morning sunlight (not filtered through glass) shortly after you wake up in the morning.
If your baby wakes up before the sun, get sunlight shortly after sunrise.
Try to wake up at a reasonable local time the first full day of your trip.
Get lots of sunlight throughout the day.
Try to time your meals to local time as much as possible.
Follow your baby’s sleep cues and nap rhythm, and get them to a reasonable bedtime if possible (even if that means an extra cat nap).
Dim the lights an hour ahead of when you expect them to fall asleep.
Keep nighttime dark.
Have a light management plan.
Having a plan for blocking light can be really helpful when traveling. Many hotels already have close to black out curtains, but if you aren’t sure, or are staying in an Airbnb you may want to bring travel black out curtains. Even babies who don’t need them at home can benefit when trying to quickly adjust to a new time zone.
Keep some predictability.
Traveling brings a lot of new environments and routine changes for your child. Including some familiar things as part of your sleep process can help your little feel more secure. Be prepared to do your regular sleep routines as much as possible, especially with kids who are more sensitive to changes in routines. familiarity of their normal routines will help cue their body to sleep.
Be flexible.
Supporting sleep while traveling involves flexibility and the ability to adapt to what your little one needs in a new environment. Adjusting a nap approach or skipping a normal routine here and there is probably ok. As with everything in parenting, it’s a balance of predictability and flexibility. Which side you lean into more depends on your little’s temperament.
Think through your nap approach.
Be prepared with some nap on the go strategies (babywearing or stroller). For most babies and toddlers, the ability to nap on the go while traveling can really give you a lot more freedom. It won’t work for all littles, so sometimes you’ll have to plan regular nap breaks in your day.
Remember, babies are little, and may struggle to adapt.
Some people adjust to time changes better than others, and that’s true for babies and toddlers. Just because you love to travel as an adult, doesn’t mean your child will be an easy traveler. And just because they struggle as a baby, doesn’t mean they will always be a challenging traveler.
Remember you’ll have time change adjustments on both sides of your trip.
Your baby will need support to adjust to the local time when you arrive, and you’ll also need to support them to adjust back to your regular time when back home. For some people, this can take a couple of weeks. Remember to be patient with your little’s sleep even after your trip.