Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Sleep

Join our Sleep forum for tips on creating a sleep routine for your baby or toddler. Need more advice on your childs development? Sign up to our Ages and Stages newsletter here.

any tips on jet lag??

4 replies

amijee · 27/09/2006 08:16

My ds will be nearly 10 weeks when we go to the states. At the moment, he is no where near sleeping thru the night as he is feeding frequently but he does have a good bed time routine of going to bed around 8pm and staying down until 1am, then waking again at 4am. ( after that it goes downhill a bit!)

I don't want his sleep pattern to deteriorate when we go abroad - any tips on coping with time differences?

OP posts:
amijee · 01/10/2006 17:44

bump

OP posts:
mamama · 01/10/2006 19:24

I flew with my 15 week old ds from the states to the UK & back again. From the US to the UK he slept almost the entire trip as it was a night flight - would def book night flights in future. On the way back to the states he was awful! Fussy, & refused to stay in his seat - think it was a mix of a daytime flight and being away from home & his routine that did it. But lots of people helped - walked with him, made faces at him etc. Sorry to say, it did take several weeks for him to settle back into his old routine...

FYI, for adults, I know several people who take Melatonin (avaiable in any drugstore in the USA, usually in the vitamins aisle) and swear they do;t get jet-lagged on the way home. Doesn't help you with the baby though, sorry!

I hope someone else is able to be more help than I am. Congrats on having such a good sleeper. Lucky you. I'm sure that will help. Mine never slept well and, at 12 months, still isn't great.

Best of luck.

USAUKMum · 01/10/2006 20:15

Hey amijee --

My DC have been 4.5 mths, 9 mths, & 3.8yrs on the various trips (that's 2 children on 2 trips) from the UK to the US. Guess the experience with the 4.5 mth old most relevant -- as he had similar sleep to your DS at the time
(BTW the 3.8yr was the best , plugged her in to the TV for UK-US leg, she slept most of way back, 2 days of delayed sleep, then back to normal -- leaving me to deal with DS )

On the way over, I stick to their schedule, except add in a extra naps/feeding to cover the time difference (BTW you don't say where you are going -- I did a 5 hr time shift to midwest). We landed about 6pm, so followed the bedtime routine and put them to bed "normal" time in the US. They are so knackered, they slept fine. This seems to set them up for US time, as both then proceded to wake at "usual" times. If they happen to wake early, I'd treat it as a night waking.

Coming back is a bit different. If at all possible, follow as much of routine as you can on the plane with any props (e.g. sleeping bag, etc) Your DS should be able to fit in a skycot. Hopefully will sleep for you -- though you may consider having your DS sleep with you, as if the seat belt light goes on, you have to remove the baby from the cot. This is what I did with my DC. DS managed to sleep for about 75% of flight. Try to get some sleep yourself. Then, when you get back, if you need a nap, have one, but only a short one (no longer than 2 hrs for you) and get into the daylight. See how DS goes, with sleep, try and wake near normal times. Follow bedtime routine at normal time if poss, but it may be delayed. But I found with my DC the first night back, they went to sleep 3 hrs later, second night 1.5 hrs later, and the following night on time. I did wake them close to their "normal" waking time though.

That was long, but hope it helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

amijee · 02/10/2006 07:54

thanks for your input x

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread