Traveling Across Timezones with Babies
Traveling with little ones can be exhausting no matter how far you’re going, but adding in a time change can make things a little more tricky! Read below for my best tips for traveling with babies and toddlers and helping them adjust to a new time zone.
What’s easier to adjust to- East to West or West to East?
Technically, it’s tougher on the human body to travel West to East. A study published in 2016 shared why traveling East is the worse direction for jet lag. In short, your body’s natural rhythm follows a 24.5-hour day, slightly longer than the standard 24-hour sun-up, sun-down rhythm. That means that if you’re traveling east over many timezones, you’ll ‘lose’ additional time and your body has to catch up.
However, if you're only going east one or two timezones OR if you're bringing a baby, it can actually be easier to go in this direction in my personal opinion! Let me explain:
If you're traveling West to East, you have 2 options:
- adjust before your trip by waking your baby a bit earlier in the morning and shifting your whole day earlier. You don't necessarily have to transition to your vacation location's time if you aren't going for very long- maybe just split the difference.
- you could also just say F- it, and not adjust at all, and allow your baby to have a later bedtime while you're gone. You'll just want to be sure that you bring some travel blackout curtains so they can ALSO sleep later in the morning, or else they'll be losing out on total overall sleep.
But, If you're going from East to West:
- since it'll be earlier in the vacation location than it is at home, you may need to add a late afternoon cat nap (when your baby would normally be going to bed) so they aren't going down too early.
- you can also adjust them before you leave by having them stay up a bit later every couple of nights- but this isn't always a sure thing because lots of babies wake early no matter when they go to bed, and will just be grumpy from the lost sleep.
Tips for no Matter WHICH Direction You’re Going:
When in doubt, try to focus on adjusting to your new timezone on the first FULL day you arrive. Use light and darkness to your advantage, being sure to get your baby in full sunlight within 30 minutes of waking in the morning (even if it doesn’t feel like it’s time to be up yet), and shooting for darkness 12(ish) hours later. Again, if you’re only going for a few days, you might let baby sleep in, stay up late, whatever! But if you plan on being gone for a while, it’s going to be easier to adjust slowly over time.
Use your same bedtime routine that you do at home so that your child gets the cue it’s time for sleep. Bring the same comfort items you use at home too, like a sleep sack, white noise machine, etc.
Bringing items like portable black-out blinds can be helpful to help your baby’s body clock adjust.
Prepare for some on-the-go napping! If your travel plans include lots of sight seeing, you won’t want to be tied to the hotel room trying to get a nap in. Allow your baby to sleep in a baby carrier or backpack or in their travel stroller- sleep is sleep!
Traveling with little ones can be so hard and so stressful. I hope this blog will help you adjust to your new timezone so you can enjoy your trip! For much more on traveling with little ones, visit this blog post for ALL the travel tips including my favorite items and tips for car rides, airplanes, beach trips, camping and more!
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