Top tips for travelling with babies and toddlers.

Travel tips:

Taking babies and children away on holidays can be a really big deal. Not having all the creature comforts of home can make it really hard. Hotel rooms, nowhere to set up a cot, different sounds, being often out and about and maybe even a timezone change. All of these things add up to your baby or toddler not getting the quiet restorative sleep that they need. Here are my top tips to help you when you’re travelling.

Tip 1.

Keep your baby’s routine as much as possible. The later nights and naps on the go that happen when travelling are ok occasionally. However just watch that their schedule isn’t thrown out too many days in a row. Try and plan for your baby to have a least one really good restorative nap in the hotel room in the cot or travel cot. Also, if you’ve had a late night, try and compensate for this by having a really early bedtime the following night.

Tip 2.

Don’t overschedule your baby. Babies and children simply cannot go at the same pace as adults when they travel. Make the whole experience easier on everyone by scheduling in some intermittent rest/chill out days where your baby can have their regular naps in a consistent manor before you get out and about again.

Tip 3.

Don’t bedshare with your baby whilst travelling. Try to always create a separate area and bed for your baby. Ideally in their own dark room, but if you are sharing a room, section off one corner to create a separate space. Taking a big (queen size) dark sheet and some duct tape with you is ideal for this. It’s amazing what you can do with a dark sheet in terms of sectioning off a corner or providing a darker space for your baby. Often walk in wardrobes in hotels make excellent dark spaces to sleep. Nights of bedsharing can quickly unravel healthy sleep habits, not to mention make everyone very tired!

Tip 4.

Know when to reign it in. Is your baby’s awake time beginning to be very challenging because of tears and tantrums? Or is your baby unsettled and beginning to wake frequently overnight? Then it’s time to pull right back. These are definite indicators that your child is simply overtired and cannot cope with what you are doing in the day. Slow down, give them a couple of days of very consistent naps and a nice early bedtime to get them back on track.

Tip 5.

Take their comfort toy with you. It is amazing how a familiar smell in a foreign bed can be extremely calming for your little one. So, don’t leave their comforter, toy or blanket at home.

When you travel it’s normal for there to be some ups and downs. Just try to be as consistent as you can, and when you get back home get things back on track as quickly as you can.

Finally, enjoy your holiday!

Want to get your baby's napping on track before you head off on holidays? If you’re struggling with napping and sleep, please book a 15-min free consultation. Or share your experience below (in the comment section) and I will respond.

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