Managing a baby abroad, different time zone. Any advise please!

[Pastmyduedate0208]

Hello,

I have to take my baby who will be 10mo to the USA for a family wedding, it's -8 hours time difference.

Once we have gotten through the ordeal of the actual flights etc getting there, when we are there his time clock will be totally out of sync. Will be over there for 4-5 full days.

His bedtime in UK is 8pm, wake up 6-7am, which over there is the equivalent of bedtime at 12 in the afternoon, wake up 10-11 at night!

So I am predicting my all nights pacing the hotel room with a wide awake baby needing his feeds / changing etc until morning, then during his usual sleeping time, he can sleep somehow in a quiet corner while I catch up with family etc.

I was wondering if anyone else has taken a baby somewhere with such a big time difference, and how did you manage it? Should I try and adjust his body-clock at all, by keeping him awake or will this be a waste of effort resulting in lots of crying? Especially seeing as coming back we'd have the same problem in reverse...

TIA

It helps if it is an overnight flight.

Watching with interest as I've declined long haul travel with my 11 month old so far because I'm too chicken to tackle jet lag!

Not wanting to hijack but do you have tips for the journey itself as we are likely to need to fly with (now) 7 week old DD - only likely to be around 10 weeks when we go. Thank you

It's easier going west, I find. You should just try to keep him awake as much as possible and in daylight when you get to the States, then let him have a late nap and then put him to bed late on the first night. When he invariably wakes at the crack of dawn, keep him in the dark, do some quiet play (or watch a video ) and then put him back to bed 1.5-2 hours later.

Children normally manage better than adults when jetlagged.

I have taken DD1 with a +8 hour time difference. They adapt so well. I remember she's not jet legged by day 2. However we have up any semblance of routine. She was so excited about everything there was no way she would sleep at 7pm. We were out and about at that time.

I prefer day flight. Night flight was hell because DH and I couldn't stay awake. And DD1 was bouncing up and down during the flight. (It was 12 hours). During the day flight we took turn playing with her. It wasn't bad at all.

Have taken our son to the US to see family once or twice a year since he was born... Actually he was born there and we moved back to the UK when he was 10 weeks. First, none of it will be as bad as you think. There is a ton of great tips and ideas out there on the Internet to help you plan and prepare for the flight and the flights have always been much better than I aticipated. As for jet-lag, just expect the first night to be a bit crappy, but it won't be all that awful as your DC will be properly exhausted from the travel day. After that it gradually gets better, in fact your DC will probably be fully adjusted to the new time zone just in time for the return trip You may find that he goes down to sleep there pretty well but gets up at 4.30am for the first couple of days. That's a bit of a killer but then there's always nap time.

I agree with the above post about getting out in the daylight as much as possible when you're there and also being in water seems to help to so if there is a pool, get him in it on the first morning.

I recently wrote a long list of tips for long haul flights on another thread so I won't bash it out again but if you search discussions for 'long haul' it should come up.

It really is going to be easier than you think - Have a great time!

Thank a lot everyone, It's reassuring to hear it may not be that bad.
bagofsnakes I will look up your long haul posts now, thanks for that.
BlueThursday, I have never done this before, so any advice I have for the flights would be guesswork.
Try practicing the apologetic look for other passengers lol ?

I think the problem is that they adjust fine but you will be knackered.