Advice Needed: Travel and Sleep Nine Month Old

Hi C.,

In my experience as a big traveler. We go visit family in San Diego aver 3 months. And every time we come back we have behavior issues or more like adjustments. We have a pretty regular schedule at home.

When she was a baby she would always sleep less and wake up more often when we get home.

I have never found anythgin to fix this other then 3 to 5 days being home again. I wish I had a suggestion.. I just thinks babys and kids seem to react this way when they have a break in the normal routine..

Good Luck!

My husband and I have traveled with our son since he was about 3 months old (he is now 2 1/2), although not as much as you and your husband. The first few times were rough, with our son waking a few times during the night and crying, but this should be expected because your child knows when he is in a different house or different bed. We then purchased a travel bed for him from One Step Ahead. It is similar to an air mattress, but it has sides all around it (to keep your child from rolling off of it), and, of course, it is smaller. Everytime that we travel, our son sleeps on this mattress on the floor. It took about two different travel times for him to get used to it and sleep through the night without waking up, but, after that, we had no problems. Also, we made sure that when we traveled, his night time ritual was the same as at home; reading a book before bed, taking a bath, etc. This seemed to help also.
I hope this helps!

i have travled a lot with my 12 month old and every time has been completely different regarding his sleep pattern. Returning home from Christmas we are dealing with newborn like sleep habits again (waking every 2 hours.) Sorry to say, I don't think there is a solution. Sucks, huh? Unfortunately I think WE need to change instead of the baby. If you want to go on a trip just know the baby is going to be messed up sleep wise for a while and deal, knowing that "this too shall pass." The only thing that has helped my husband and I get through the sleepless nights and tired days is enjoying our boy and repeating the mantra "This too shall pass."

Traveling with little ones can be a challenge. It sounds like you have a fairly good idea of how he will behave when you are there. Maybe just being prepared can help you deal with it.
You can take comfort in knowing that if you are consistent when you get home he will settle back to normal. Although this is the hardest on you and your husband it is also temporary.

Here are a couple of things that you may already know but that helped me keep it all in perspective with my kids:

1. Your 9 month old is just getting to the age where
separation anxiety begins this may come out at night.
2. Some babies (and kids) practice new skills or work through stresses at night. This was true with my 2 oldest and maybe why your little one has a harder time when he is away from home.

I hope you have a great time and he surprises you and sleeps all night at your sisters.

Good Luck,
J.

If you haven't already left, you may want to try taking his crib sheet (right from the mattress, do not wash) and some of his crib stuff. Loveys, blanket, etc. We travelled with my daughter some when she was a baby for weddings, funeral and such. We brought a bunch of her favorite things and maintained her daily routine as much as possible. Wake him at same time, breakfast, lunch, story time, dinner and bath time/bedtime. Routine is the ticket to a happy baby. Trust me.

Also, if you're a nursing mother on a plane, I recommend nursing at take off and descending. It will help with their ears and sooth them. Let him hang out there as long as needed. We bought Anna her own seat and that allowed us comfort, privacy and space for her to lay down without disturbing others.

Hi C.,
I also worried about this when we traveled with our son. And the same things happened with us too...waking while we were on vacation, and not sleeping well for a few weeks when we got back home. Our son also sleeps in his own bed, in the dark and does pretty good aside from a few night wakings. I dread going on vacation and also passed up on a few over the last year because I just did not want to deal with the messded up schedule. Once you get them on somewhat of a normal sleep cycle, you almost dont want to do anything to disrupt it...and rightfully so. :>) Babies respond better to a routein as it is, so sticking to them is beneficial for them. However, that does not mean you should never go anywhere. What I have ended up doing is making the environment as similar as his own room back at home. For example, at my parents house in Minnesota (where we travel to a few times a year) I had them get a crib, some similar toys/stuffed animals and a rocking chair. I also made sure there was some kind of fan or white noise thing, to block out any strange sounds that might wake the baby up. He is use to that noise at home too, so that helped keep consistant. I kept with the same routein for bed too. There is only so much you can do while on vacation. But if you mimic as much as possible for the sleep surroundings, I have found that to be really helpful. Being that your baby will be in the same room as you, I would really make sure to have something to dulute the noise so you dont disturbe (I may have spelled that wrong...) your son when you come into the room to go to bed, etc. I have kinda rambled on and on, but basically I have found it best to have the surroundings he will be sleeping in, seem as close to what he is use to as possible. Good luck!

-J.

Make a night time routine. Read or sing to him for 5 or 10 min., say goodnight and wind up a music box or musical mobile before you leave. Kids love a routine that happens the same everyday. Do the same routine when you go out of town. When he wakes during the night, don't speak to him, be very quiet and just rub his back and tuck him in and wind up the music box. Then go back to bed. Don't spend a lot of time doing this part or he'll want more of your attention. You need to establish that this is not the time for attention, it's the time for sleep.

We've had the same problem with both kids (13 months and 22 months old), until this most recent Christmas. They had a rough first night, but slept beautifully the rest of our visit back east. Both girls now have stuffed animals and/or dolls that they are attached to. We travel with those and it seems to make it much easier for them to sleep on the plane and to get acclimated once we are at our destination. Traveling to someplace they've been before also seems to help.

I have two children, my youngest being 9 months as well. We travel quite a bit since most of our family live out of town. On thing I have found that works well for long distance travel is to drive at night. We leave about an hour before the earliest bed time. My son goes to bed at 8:30 and my daughter (9 mo) goes to bed at 8:00. That way they can sleep in the car and there is no real big interruption to their sleep. This only works if you have family or friends at your destination point that can visit with the children when they wake so mom and dad can have a moment to catch up on their missed sleep. Also when we arrive we quietly unpack the car and get both of the children's beds ready while they stay sound and asleep in the car. They we carry them quietly to their beds (they travel in their PJS) and they go right back to sleep. We give them about 20 min to get sound asleep while we are out of the room brushing teeth etc. then we slip into bed as well. This works for short trips to, just make sure to travel around nap times. Children will sleep better if their sleep patterns are not disturbed even their naps are crucial to this. Good luck with your travel, be safe and I hope this helps : )

Hi C.,
You may already be doing this, but just in case...
When our son was that age, we spent a week away from home. We put him in the hotel crib following the same routine we did at home. We brought a monitor with us, and we would take the receiver and literally sit in the hotel hall with it for about 20-30 minutes until we were pretty certain he had fallen asleep. We wanted him to think that he still had his own room. Delusional on our part? Perhaps, but it seemed to work. Once he was deeply asleep, we would sneak back in and read or watch TV quietly. At least at you sister's place you will have better options than the hall and will be able to stay outside the room until you're ready to go to bed. I also remember, though, that kids do not sleep well whenever they are about to hit a developmental milestone, and there are so many developmental milestones in that first year (and then the teething!) that temporary sleep disruptions popped up every few months. I'm exhausted just remembering this!
K.