A post with my top 4 tips to help you streamline your upcoming travels, so you can enjoy your trip AND your babe can still get awesome sleep!
As Thanksgiving approaches, I always find myself daydreaming about all of the things I am so grateful for.
This year, I’m of course SO grateful for the baby boy we are expecting in just over a month from now, and for my daughter, Kenna, who amazes me every single day with how fast she is learning and growing.
Being pregnant in my third trimester, I’ve also been waking up to pee pretty regularly, and am again very familiar with how hard it can be to try to do #momlife when not getting enough consolidated sleep. So therefore, I’m VERY grateful my toddler is an amazing sleeper.
I’ve been talking about travel with a lot of my current clients, and I know you probably have many of the same questions, so this week’s email is all about making travel as straightforward and easy as possible over the holidays.
Traveling is a tricky endeavor when you’re trying to keep baby on a sleep schedule. There’s always something exciting going on, friends and relatives who are anxious to see the baby, and they have no idea how hard you’ve worked to get your little one sleeping through the night.
As tempting as it may be to let baby skip a nap, or let bedtime fall back an hour or two, so that you can fit these extra activities into your trip, I highly recommend you resist the temptation and stick to the schedule as closely as possible.
Changes in the routine are the quickest way to end up with an overtired baby, and overtiredness will almost undoubtedly see a reemergence of those bad sleep habits you’ve all worked so hard to prevent.
Follow these tips to make your travel as seamless as possible:
1️⃣
Follow wake times as closely as possible, as well as daily wake times and bed time. If baby’s tired and cranky, you’re going to have a lousy time. Sticking to the schedule and keeping baby well-rested will assure that the time you do get to spend with friends and family is fun, happy and relaxed.
Do your best to have naps occur in a crib or Pack n Play, but car seats or strollers are OK too as long as babies are supervised (sometimes these naps will end up being shorter and less restful though).
If your child is old enough to have a consistent nap time, then you could also schedule your driving/travel around this nap.
2️⃣
Always do your naptime/bedtime routine when out and about, even if you plan to transition your child to their crib when you arrive back at home later that night. This provides strong sleep cues to let your little one it’s time to sleep.
Bring a lovey/stuffed animal with you that is present at home for nap/bedtime routine as well- it may provide additional comfort and allow for easier naps.
Still do a bath or mock bath to signal that it’s bedtime.
Bring a white noise machine, or download an app on your phone so it’s more portable- this prevents talking/music/etc. from interfering with sleep.
3️⃣
Attempt for naps to occur in a dark place, which will encourage your child to sleep a full nap.
You could bring garbage bags to tape over car windows (cheapest option).
There is a fairly new product called the Slumberpod on the market that creates a dark, tent-like environment. (Clicking on the link gets you 10% of your purchase!)
4️⃣
Stay consistent with how you respond to any nighttime wakings (go back to the sleep plan if needed!).
When you get home, you might experience a night or two of sleep regression- that’s ok! Stick to your sleep plan, stay consistent, it will pass. (If it doesn’t – reach out to Megan for help!)