How to Deal with Overseas Travel Time Adjustment

We've traveled to Europe twice with our 2.5 year old and the best advice I can give you is to be flexible! We weren't able to get too much done on arrival day or the day after because we just needed to catch up on sleep. But then after that, we had wonderful vacations! Our little boy easily adjusted after the initial change, and then was an angel, sightseeing, sleeping regularly, and having a wonderful time! We were so happy that we brought him with us, and I'm sure you will be too. Have a great trip!

Hi F.,

I have done this very often with my kids as we are Dutch and go back once or twice a year to visit family. Each child is different but with my kids (now age 16mo and 4) I do the following. My kids hardly sleep during the trip and usually fall asleep in the car on the way to my parents. I try to have them take a nap in the afternoon too but dont let them sleep too long, say about 3 hours max. then try to get them in bed on their normal time or if they really are not tired a litte later.

You can expect them to wake up around 1 or 2am as this is their biological wake up time in the US. I go to them and give them something to drink and explain (you can do this in the days up front and before they go to bed as well) that it is still in the middle of the night and try to go to sleep again. My kids did that, sometimes they were awake for an hour or so. Then they wake up early in the morning.

Best is to go outside and give them plenty of day light as this will set their biological clock. On day 2 I try to push them into their normal schedule wat usually works or takes a few days.

Good luck and have a safe trip!

Mirjam

My daughter has been to Europe with me twice now. For the first trip, she was 18 months old. Her pediatrician recommended that when the meal on the flight was served, I give my daughter children's Benedryl. That way by the end of the meal, she would get sleepy. Most international flights have TVs built into each seat now and individual programming choices. With that option, kids would not go to sleep at all without an aid. The Benedryl was perfect, because by the time we arrived, she was able to wake up without being groggy. While she didn't get a "full night's sleep", it certainly helped contribute to her adjusting to the time difference.

Oh, her pediatrician also warned me that some little kids get hyper from Benedryl, so I should try it once at home to see how she reacted.

Good luck. My daughter loved the places we visited in Europe. Have safe travels and a good time!

Hi! We just took our 2 year old to Hawaii last month, where the time change is significant in the other direction (it is earlier there). I agree with what a lot of moms have written about trying to keep them on their schedule as much as possible. This seemed to work well for us too. But regardless of whatever you try, just be prepared for their adjustment to the time change to take a few days - and be patient with it. For the first few nights, my daughter was waking up at 3:30 in the morning (8:30am Chicago time), jumping up in her crib and demanding to go swimming! These types of things are bound to happen, so just be ready mentally and you'll be able to handle anything!

Have a great trip!

We have traveled twice to Europe with our now 3.5 year old, once when he was just 2 and again when he was 2.5. Going over, if you have an "overnight" flight, try to get them to sleep as much as possible, putting them in PJ's, tucking them into their seats with blanket and pillow, etc (even though you may be bringing car seats with you, I wouldn't bring them on the plane - they take up too much space and it may make it more difficult for your boys to fall asleep). My observations of our son's adjustment was that kids are more resilient than we think - when it's dark, they sleep, when it's light, they wake up. I would just try to get them to be asleep and awake during normal waking hours in your new time zone. They may need a nap during the day, but keep it short so that you can still get them to sleep at night. Also, the more you tire them out during the day with fun activities and sightseeing, the easier it will be to get them to sleep well at night. Good luck!

We lived in London where I had my first child. I always found taveling to the states easier than the other way for the time adjustment. Just try to get back into your routine as quickly as possible whichever direction you are going - it helps.

hello!

i've dealt with this a lot over the past 3 years because we lived overseas and travelled a great deal. we have a 4 year old and 1 year old. my recommendation is to immediately switch to the new time zone. keep them awake as much as you can during their normal waking hours on the new time zone and definitely wake them in the morning if you have to. the mornings will be rough at first, but if you just go into the new time zone as best as you can, that's what's always worked best for us. good luck and have a great trip!

Last summer my family (including my 7.5 year old and 3.5 year old sons) traveled to Ireland. I never really worried about the time difference, funny enough, and it didn't really effect them. We traveled over night and arrived in the morning, both boys getting very little sleep. We kept them awake until around 4pm which was when all of us crashed. They woke up around 7pm for dinner, then went to sleep for the night around 10. The next morning they slept late, until 11am, then sleeping was not an issue...they were back to their "normal" Irish time.

I would not plan anything for the first two days, you know play it by ear. If your children are tired, let them sleep, but do try and enforce your regular bedtime routine while traveling to help them.

Happy journey!

My experience has also been to work with the new time zone right away as well (for both you and the kids). Try not to take a nap when you first get in, but rather give them their naps at the normal time (if they nap) or just keep them up until bed time. Get them up at the usual time in the morning as well. On the first day, maybe you can schedule some very exciting outings to keep them awake.
Obviously keeping them up might be impossible, but do the best you can and you will find that the adjustment will be fast.

Hi F.,

My husband's family is in Ireland and we go there once or twice a year with our kids. I agree with the other moms who suggest to just get on the time zone as soon as you arrive. Try to get them to sleep on the plane (we have tried Benadryl, but alas we have the type of kids who get hyper from it). Regardless whether or not they sleep on the plane, try to keep them awake until their regular nap time when you arrive (e.g. if you arrive at 8:00 am, try to keep them awake until after lunch). Then only let them have a short nap, get them up for playtime and an early dinner, and put them to bed as close tot their regular bedtime as you can. I have found that my kids adjust almost immediately if we do these things. Good luck!

The cool thing is that you can enjoy late night meals with wide-awake children. The bad thing is that the first night or two they will be up until 1:30 a.m. and during the whole trip they will probably sleep heavily during the day.

You could try melatonin, if you can find it in a low enough dosage. I haven't been able to find it in drops. Here's an abstract of an article about a study of safety and effectiveness in children (I can't find a full-text source, but I've seen a copy of the article) - but of course you would want to check with your pediatrician first. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12635982