How to Beat Jet Lag When Traveling with Kids... And One Tip That Doesn't Work!
Well-rested kids. Is there anything more wonderful than a happy, bright-eyed little human ready to explore the world with you? It’s the dream!
After traveling the world with Liesel, we have seen toddler jet lag from every angle. Traveling east (US - Europe - Asia - US), we barely noticed an impact from jet-lag, beside all of us sleeping in a bit later the first few mornings. However, flying west (e.g., from Michigan to California), the time change of only three hours almost ruined us. Seriously, at one point, in the wee hours of the morning, Ben and I looked at each other and said “I don’t know if this is worth it” (spoiler alert: it’s totally worth it, you just need to prepare!).
Traveling east from the US was an easier adjustment for us, even all the way to Europe!
The reason for the struggle? Traveling east to west has been proven to be a more difficult time zone adjustment for kids than traveling west to east. For example, if you live in Michigan (like us) and want to travel to the west coast (like we did), it’s naturally a difficult adjustment. Kids are exhausted by 5pm PST and often wide awake by 3am! On the other hand, when we lived in CA and traveled to Michigan to see family, life was great! Liesel would stay up later (often until 9 or 10 pm EST) and then we would all be able to sleep in until 8 or 9 am the following morning!
So how did we deal with child jet lag? How did we make sure jet-lag didn’t ruin our trip? Here are our favorite kids and toddler jet lag tips and how they have worked for us. We’ve also included one tip that was a massive fail for our family…
Ready for a transatlantic flight and prepared to conquer jet lag!
Sleep when the kids sleep
The advice you get repeatedly when having a baby applies to traveling with jet lagged kids, too. Try and keep your kids up as late as possible those first nights. When they go to bed, you should try to go to sleep as well. I say this mostly because there is a high probability that they’ll be up for the day at 3 am, and by default, so will you. That goes for naps, too. Don’t be afraid to take a little snooze when your kids do. You’ll all wake up with a bit more energy to squeeze some more fun out of the day.
Take advantage of the early mornings
Kids up at 4 am? Take advantage of the early wake up call! Shower, get dressed and go explore! Early-morning lighting, around dawn, is great for photos and most people don’t get to capture this special, peaceful time of day. You can watch sunrise! You can visit busy tourist sites with almost no one around! And by the time you’ve had your fourth cup of coffee in the cool morning air, you’ll be feeling a sense of gratitude that you woke up with the sun!
Getting out and exploring early in the day can help fight the effects of jet-lag AND start your day off on the right foot!
Keep routines in tact
As flexible as we are with early mornings, one of the best ways to get kids adjusted to a new time zone is to eat meals at local meal times, nap at local nap times, and sleep when it’s dark outside. Does this sometimes mean there’s a 10 minute cat-nap in the car while driving somewhere? Of course! But to get on a local schedule and beat jet lag, we always try to plan on being back in our condo or hotel early in the afternoon for naps, and around 7pm to start our bedtime routine. Speaking of routine, we keep our bedtime / naptime routines consistent with what Liesel experiences at home. PJs, milk, and quiet story time before bed every night signal to her that it’s time to wind down from the day, which helps her adjust to a new time zone and fight jet lag on her own.
Plan for one day of adjustment per hour of time change
It will generally take people about 1 day per time zone to adjust to jet lag, but often no more than a week. When we flew to California (3 hours behind Michigan), our first two mornings in California included a 3 am and 4:30 am wake up call. The third morning? 5:30 for milk and then snuggles till 6 am. We were back on our schedule! Alternatively, when we flew direct to Asia last fall, we were facing a 12-hour time change! By sticking to a routine and being super patient, we were able to get Liesel (more or less) back on schedule in 7 days! Some families also suggest a sleep training clock so that kids can see for themselves if it’s “wake up time” yet.
Best way to fight jet lag? Get active…
Be healthy
This is probably just good life advice in general, but we try extra hard to fuel our bodies with wholesome, nutritional foods when we are sleep deprived. We like to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies and avoid too much junk food and sugar while we’re adjusting to a new time zone. We also make it a point every day to spend as much time outside walking, stretching our legs, or swimming as we could. The exercise, sunlight and fresh air help us stay energized and alert during the day, but wipe us out enough that we all sleep well at night!
Be flexible
One key thing to remember when traveling with kids and dealing with toddler jet-lag is to BE FLEXIBLE! As much as we tried to get outside during our first few days, we purposely didn’t overbook or over-commit because we knew we would all need to adjust to the new time zone. For example, Liesel was REALLY sleepy on the second day so we just walked around town and she napped in the baby carrier, on restaurant benches, and wherever else she could snooze. It helped to keep things low-key and simple for us, because we didn’t feel the pressure of missing out on big touristy activities.
… and fuel your body with healthy food!
Limit screen time
I have a guilty parenting confession. Sometimes, ONLY SOMETIMES, when I’m extremely tired in the morning, I give Liesel and iPad and let her go to town so I can catch a few extra minutes of sleep. I know, I know. Not my proudest parenting habit. For this trip, though, I did not give in to that temptation! It would have been SO EASY, but I knew this quick fix wouldn’t set us up for success in actually adjusting to a new time zone. Rewarding Liesel’s early wake-up calls with screen time isn’t the best way to encourage her to sleep in later! Plus, every time we eventually take the iPad away, Liesel is always cranky and groggy. Ben and I both realized it wasn’t worth it and just decided to roll with the early mornings!
The melatonin debate
We know some parents who swear by melatonin for kids. We have personally never used it for ourselves or for Liesel, but if that’s your jam, we have heard it can deliver great results! I am (obviously) not a doctor, so I will leave it at this: there is a TON of research and discussion online about using melatonin with kids and the proper dosage. Also, if you have any questions about using melatonin with your kids to help fight jet lag, you should absolutely speak with your pediatrician or family doctor! One thing we do love is a roll-on lavender oil to soothe and relax, but (of course!) I realized I’d forgotten ours as we were parking at the airport.
Liesel’s been flying since 4 months, so she’s a pro at dealing with jet lag!
One tip that didn’t work for us
One toddler jet lag tip was a massive fail for us, which was surprising because we had read it all over the internet before traveling! The advice is to “try to adjust bedtimes at home, before you leave, to line up with your new time zone.” We tried this theory before we left, letting Liesel stay up a bit later the last couple nights before our flight. End result? A kid who went from sleeping 10 hours per night to a kid who slept for about 7 hours per night! You could argue that maybe this level of exhaustion helped her adjust by day 3 in California, but I don’t really think it helped us at all!
Jet lag in a nutshell…
Jet lag can be one of the biggest challenges of traveling at any age. Be sure to plan ahead and do your research to ensure you make the most of every day of your trip! No one wants to spend the first week of vacation walking around like a zombie! I hope our tips for fighting jet lag in kids help you with your travels too! What tips do you use to help beat jet lag?
Now that you are armed with the best tips to beat jet lag in kids, be sure to check out our other family travel tips. We’ve got a great article about everything you need for a successful European road trip here and 5 summer travel essentials here!