Avoiding sleep disruption during holidays

Plan on traveling to your parent’s house for the holidays?  You imagine enjoying your mother’s cooking and relaxing in front of the TV afterwards? But then you remember that you have a little one that refuses to sleep. If this sounds familiar than you probably have travel fears, thinking any kind of disruption to your children’s  normal routine or environment will make them want to sleep even less.  Thankfully there are some tricks you can use to do that that trip a little less disruptive and a little more enjoyable for you and your family. 

Take the bed with you

If your child is a sensitive sleeper, you can forget about packing lightly.  To make your child as comfortable as possible, recreate its best baby crib by bringing the nursery bedding: same baby blankets, sheets and pillows. You can even read the same book story to your child. This will create a familiar and comfortable setting, reminding your child of the bedtime routine, and solving some sleep issues.

Sound management

You can use a white noise machine to drown out unfamiliar noises for your child.  Your child will find itself trying to sleep in not so familiar place. Noises are more noticeable at night when people in the house are quiet.  Your child might get scared by a heating system or branches hitting a window.

Light management

If your child can’t sleep in a bright room, you can solve all that with some black plastic bags and tape.  Cover all the windows with the plastic bags, which will keep the room as dark as possible. It is not very pretty to look at, but it is an effective and inexpensive solution.

Regular napping

It is almost impossible to maintain your child’s nap routing while traveling, but at least try to find a way for a short nap, even if you have to act as a crib. Any kind of nap in the nap routing time is better than no nap at all, because the lack of daytime sleep will impact the nighttime sleep.

If your child is still refusing to sleep when you’ve tried everything, remember that everything will change back to normal in a few days when you get home.  Holiday sleep disruptions are short lived, but if they after you get back, consult a professional.

Have fun on the holidays with your family and remember that healthy napping chases away the nagging.