Holiday sleep – before, during and after the trip

As many of us have travelled over the holidays I felt it may be of interest to write about sleep while travelling. 

Most of us find it strange to sleep in a new place but what must it be like for your baby who has barely left their own home and is suddenly in a house full of strangers having to sleep in a bed that isn’t their own?

This is how our little guy coped and helped us guide him through the toughest sleep moments so we could all enjoy our holiday abroad.

As you’ve heard me say many times before, preparation is key. When purchasing our flights we had in mind that our boy would be having his night sleep on the plane and would need as little time travelling as possible. We managed to get a flight that left before bed time and I planned to put him to bed on the first flight and gracefully carry him onto the second flight where I imagined him sleeping until the breakfast came round in the morning. Well, almost. The only problem was that I didn’t think through security and second check in etc. Poor little man had quite a shock when he woke up away from the comfortable mummy to be hanging mid air facing strangers as we went through the security checks. After a few tears he settled down but decided airports are far too exciting a place to be able to go off to sleep. By the time we boarded the second (and longest) flight he was exhausted and wanting more milk (not part of his routine). Luckily I had planned for such an event and as he wasn’t to be provided with food on the flight I had packed extra milk and any snacks I thought he could eat on a plane. He slept well on the long haul flight and we arrived not too groggy the next day. 

The first night at Grandma and Grandad’s was, as expected, a little rocky. A couple of hours before bed we went up to his room with his home bedtime toy and cover and played there for 10 minutes getting used to it. I showed him where mummy and daddy would be sleeping and although he’s too young to understand this, it’s still important to explain things to him. That night he took a little longer to go to sleep than he would have at home and woke a couple of times during the night. Here we remained consistent with our home routine of lying him back down being sure to reassure him as he was in new surroundings. After that each night got better.

Then we went to visit his aunt and uncle. Another new house and another new bed. We brought his travel tent with us so he would have a familiar place to sleep but even with this it can be tricky for him to rest easy in a new house with new sounds. We stuck to our routine as before and had two ok nights with him.

We returned to his grandparents when he caught a cold and this disrupted sleep again. We were conscious that his mouth was dry in the night and that he needed water a couple of times. We maintained a relaxed but firm approach throughout the few nights he was unwell and took turns to get up with him so we could also enjoy our holidays. One great thing when you travel as a family or to family is that there are always plenty of people to keep an eye on the kids while you have 40 min kip on the sofa! Our boy became quite clingy while he was under the weather but we tried not to pander to him and kept him as closely to his routine as possible.

After we returned he caught a bad flu and spent a few days being up at night and generally quite poorly but we again maintained our routine and gave him more comfort and time to re-adapt to life at home.

With careful planning and consistency we managed to have a relaxing fun holiday with calm flights and a smooth transition back to home-life.

We hope you all had wonderful holidays and wish you all a very Happy New Year – 2013