Natural Remedies for Sleep (Traveling Baby)

Do not give a 6 month old melatonin. His system is far to young to be interfering with. I looked into it for my 6 year old and didn't like what I read as far as children were concerned and we decided against trying it with him.

Lavender never did anything for my kids to help make them sleepy.

You can only do what you can do. He is 6 months old. Babies get tired, cranky, etc. Just try to stick to his feeding and sleeping schedule. Get up and walk with him in the aisle periodically.

Not at that age. At 6 months old, their systems are still so new, I wouldn't give anything that wasn't medically necessary. If you are nursing, I recommend you get a nursing cover and just feed your baby as much as he will take, especially during take-off and landing when the pressure changes can hurt their little ears. Otherwise, pacis and bottles. Good luck to you.

I was going to say lavendar too. Get a travel-sized lotion with lavendar in it. Rub that on baby's chest or clothing or on yourself.

But I traveled alone once with my 11 month old. He nursed on the way up and fell asleep and slept 2 hours in my arms. 16 hours by yourself? You are a brave woman. Brave Brave Brave.

My sil swears by melatonin. You could wear lavender scented body spray, maybe that will be soothing as well? They do have lavender baby lotion. Nursing/pacifier will help too.

**fingers crossed** you have an additional seat.

Single best thing: book a bassinet seat. Call your airline to ask for one in advance. Other than that I thought traveling at 6 months was lot easier than travelling at 2 years. Have a hand free carrier, so when he gets antsy, you can easily get up and carry/rock him. My daughter was breastfed, so at that age I would just nurse her to sleep or when cranky. Worked like a charm.
Sometimes they get upset and there is not much you can do, I remember one flight she was screaming straight for about 3 hours (she was about 4 months old at the time)... it's not pleasant, but it will pass.
I never medicated for a flight, for me it's too much of a risk for adverse effects...
Good luck.

T,
If you are still nursing - congratulations! So good for your baby, and convenient for you. Best thing to do ascending or descending.

Play with your baby. While you are in the air, let your baby fall asleep on your chest. BEST there is for getting rest. If He rests, you rest! You (and the rest of the plane) WIN!

Good luck,
M.

When we flew with our 6 month old son, we left at night,so he slept for most of the flight.

As for jet lag, We forced him into the new time zone with his regular routine at the same time. At home,he wakes upat 6:30, ao we woke him up at 6:30 even though it seemed like 3:30 to him. You do have to be alittle fexible, as he will be a little extra sleepy throughout the day, and might need one or two ectra cat naps. And don't let him sleep too long at naps because he might hink it is his night time sleep and might not want to go to bed until the wee hours of the morning. It was tough at first, but it only took a cpouple of days for him toget the hang of it .

GOOD LUCK!

We live in Africa, but travel quite a bit to the States with our two kids. My son was 6 mos. when we first moved and he was the easy one on the plane. Your son is still young enough that he'll sleep when he needs to, despite all that is going on on the plane. If you nurse be ready for lots and lots of nursing, it'll keep him occupied and he can nurse to sleep. The noise of planes often act as white noise to babies and they can sleep well. Also, ask for the bulkhead seat where they can attach the bassinet for him to sleep in. Just about all international flights have the bassinet option.

As for jet lag, don't worry about it. Once you get to your destination let him nap whenever and wherever, but put him down to bed at the new time and wake him at the new time. It will take about three days for him to adjust. Traveling east is always easier to adjust then going west. When they go east they sleep in more in the night and when they go west they wake at night, but you can usually get them back to sleep pretty easily.

Good Luck! It's never as bad as we make it out to be in our heads- you and him will do great!

I would not give any sleep aids to a baby. Sleep aids are not always healthy for adults, much less such a tiny person! There is a natural product called colic calm that I gave my baby as a newborn, which seemed to help with her settling (the pediatrician also recommended it). I would probably take that because it will at least do no harm and has some herbs in it that might be soothing.
Good luck!

I feel your fear! I traveled with my daughter alone, 21 hour flight in all, when she was 7 mo. She did not sleep at all, (I didn't try any of those methods, also worried about side effects—and melatonin never helped ME) and tho she was ok on the plane, she screamed like she was being murdered the whole ride home. Then once in bed she promptly and gratefully fell asleep. So at least, don't fear ramifications once you get to your destination!
I will say this, though: however you feed him, bottle, breastmilk, try to arrange a feeding for takeoff and landing. The swallowing helps prevent the ear pain from the change in pressure and trust one who knows from bitter experience, that's a screaming baby you'd like to avoid!
DEFINITELY get the bassinet seat if you can. The bulkhead seats, where they put the bassinet, have more legroom anyway!
As to lavender, I don't know if it works, but it sure smells good. Mix some straight lavender oil with olive oil (20 drops into 1/4 cup or so) and rub it on the bottoms of his feet. My daughter loves that. It is also a really effective preventive/cure for diaper rash.
Good luck!