Best Strategies for Jet Lag - young kids

On the day of arrival..just rest and sleep.

If u get in by 11am or so, make sure ur room is available so that the kids can take a good shower and rest.

On our recent trip we got in by 9 am but the hotel room was not available till 3pm. Really messed up our day. My recommendation is to also book for the prior night, so that way u are sure to have the room available in ur arrival at the hotel

I don't remember problems with my children's sleep patterns on yearly visits to my in-laws in France. They would sleep in the plane. Some years we had 9 hours time change, others six. It was more difficult for the adults. And it was difficult with an infant who has its own internal needs, but easy enough when they were toddlers and children.

My own granddaughter, now 8, came to France to visit us last year. She stayed up until she went to bed at 7 and woke twelve hours later. She never woke up out of step with our time zone. On the other hand, her father, our son who traveled so easily as a child, struggled for days. He did need a deep-sleep nap when he arrived at our place.

I think that when it's not part of the conversation unless one, or more, do have trouble, you have a better chance of it being a non-issue. I was spoiled to have in-laws that allowed us to sleep in to get over our jetlag. Our sons, excited to be at their grandparents, were up and playing right on time. That said, IMHO, it will be harder for you who will want to sleep than for your young ones.

Our first overseas trip was when the kids were 4 and 7. We arrived in the morning and just went out and wandered that day, going to bed a bit early. We do that on every trip, and we always took the kids with us (they are grown now). On one trip, by myself, I took a nap during the day and that was the worst thing for me. I was messed up for a couple days. So now we just power through. With young kids you obviously need to take cues fro them as you don't want them falling asleep during a meal, etc, but overall we found just a slower first day worked wonders.

Bets' experience paralleled our own when we traveled with our kids years ago. Though my wife and I felt the effects of the time change for several days, the kids just shrugged it off without too much drama.
Though jet lag can affect different people in different ways, my impression is that kids in general are pretty resilient - I wouldn't worry about it too much.

I do with there was a section of the forum for Traveling with Kids! I last traveled internationally with my kids when they were 6 and 2. They didn't sleep much on the long overnight flight (maybe 2-3 hours at most) but both slept the entire shorter flight (around 90 minutes). My youngest also napped a bit at the airport due to a long layover. When we got to our destination, it was around dinner time, so we showered, did takeout dinner, and "normal" bedtime of around 8pm. Kids slept about 12 hours and were good to go the next day. I almost think they adjusted better than the adults! You can also chat with your pediatrician about melatonin, as there are children's formulas. Good luck!

Many flights to Europe schedule early morning arrivals (6:00 am-7:00 am). We only take flights that arrive mid morning so by the time we get to our hotels our rooms are available for our afternoon naps. We'll get up in time to eat a late dinner.

Traveling with kids requires a lot of give and take. You've got to schedule cities and places that are interesting to them. You just have to travel slower with young kids.

My parents loved taking care of our daughter until age 11 when she started traveling with us. Now we're raising an 11 year old granddaughter, and she's been with us on two European trips. She notified me this week that we've got to return to Italy--for the spaghetti.

It's important to realize we're all physiologically different.

Some people can stay up all day after arrival, no problem, while others do quite well with a nap limited to perhaps an hour.

There are so many variables. Do you sleep well on a plane? If not, do you function well after being up all night? People are all over the spectrum here. I'd say if the kids are grumpy then get them a nap instead of torturing yourself by staying up all day. If they slept well on the plane, great!

We have always done well with a shower and no more than 1-hour nap, waking up refreshed and in a much better mood for site-seeing. For others that might interfere with sleeping that night. Be flexible and know thyself.

I always am surprised by how many people say “land and go take a nap”

We and especially the kids were exhausted, but we pushed through nothing major but lunch then early dinner, walking about, sitting at a park, etc.

Then at 7pm we all crashed. The kids were asleep until 11am the next day.

IMO the most vital thing is to sleep overnight, whatever that looks like so the kids aren’t waking up 3am or struggling a long time do best to adhere to hours/sleep you want from day one even if that makes day 1 hard.

Day 2 was sights and activities and lunch, 6pm dinner and asleep by 830pm. Day 3 a bit better, day 4 we were all completely normal/ideal schedule of sleeping and such.

We took one of our two sons to Italy when he was just turning 9 --- he slept on the plane and didn't seem to be bothered at all. His older brother, who was 16, joined us in Italy after first spending a couple weeks in China with his youth orchestra, flying home to Minnesota for half a day, then getting on the plane to Italy the very next day --- again, it just didn't seem to affect him.

Our two grandchildren going to Italy with us were an entirely different story at ages almost 4 and a baby of 5 months. They slept on the planes, were great little travelers, very cheerful, and then just could not sleep the night of the day we all arrived (early that morning) --- they kept their parents up off and on all night. Then were fine from then on.

So, yeah, different kids are different. We are planning to take our grandchildren to Italy again later this year, at ages 9 and 6, so we'll see how that goes. But we and their parents will for sure talk with them about jet lag and what to do if they are awake at night and will provide them with quiet entertainment. Books and flashlights, iPads and headphones, coloring books, stickers, etc. Ideally, new stuff. Plus they will hear some good advice about what is worth waking up your parents for and what is not. It will be a good idea to separate our grandkids in different rooms since at our cabin and when doing a sleepover weekend with us they are inclined to wake up super early and start horsing around together. Maybe one parent with each kid.

We always stay in apartments when traveling with kids --- I would think sharing one hotel room would be gruesome with your three kids, no matter how reasonable they are. I would also think it would be good to stay the first few days in the same place, just to allow everybody to feel settled (and remember where the bathroom is....)

Many people disagree, but we think it's totally, totally worth it to take kids on such trips, even if the first night is rocky. Good luck with your adventure!

Many people, me included, find resting on arrival makes things worse. I push through the day as close to normal as possible then sleep at my normal time. I wake at the normal time with my biological clock reset to local time.

For the kids, duct tape.

Our adult experience has been to push ourselves to walk and sightsee the day of arrival. One time we rested right away ( and we knew better)…slept way too long… boy we were messed up!
We taking our 5 grandkids with parents ithis summer. Their parents give them melatonin when traveling and it seems to help. Both families consult their pediatricians. I hope it helps on flights over. We again will avoid naps and try to be out….our hotel has a pool….that usually wins out! Hoping to then find food for early dinner…could be tricky….dinner is at 9:00 in Barcelona !? But that is my hope….with kids one must be flexible.

Dinner service begins at 8 in Barcelona, but you should be able to find something, somewhere earlier.

Thank you…when I read 9:00 somewhere I though that’s mightily late. 8:00 makes more sense.

We just returned from our 7th European trip with our two kids, now 16 and 17. The first trip was when they were almost 1 and 2 and my most valuable lesson from that trip (after spending the early morning hours in the bathroom with the youngest) was to always have an extra room to accommodate jet lag. From then on we have always booked an apartment for the first few nights.

With kids these ages, I’d also suggest setting yourself up in the centre of town to accommodate those needing downtime. In this way, one parent can stay back and the other can go out with the more energetic kids who still want to be out and about. Being close to parks/green spaces is also helpful.

For the flight, I always made a travel pack for each of the kids, filled with snacks, activities, games, stickers, etc. They also had their audio books, electronic games, shows and movies for entertainment. I didn’t count on them sleeping, but just tried to fill the time, knowing it would be worth it in the end.

Have a wonderful trip!

Dinner service begins at 8 in Barcelona, but you should be able to find something, somewhere earlier.

It will be NO problem. Most places either are casual and open all day or open for dinner at 7. I was worried based on comments like above, found it to be absolutely FALSE we did not have to eat or stay up really late.

Mary57, good advice. I would never try a forced march on everyone in the family as each person is different. Nothing says "fun" like pushing grumpy, jet-lagged kids (and some adults) to stay awake all day. That sounds like torture.

We set an alarm and nap for no more than one hour. It makes a world of difference. Yes, if you sleep longer you're probably screwed trying to sleep that night. But that limited nap takes the edge off and makes the rest of the day so much better.

The question should be “How can we kids help our parents adapt to jet lag.”

Seriously, we have travelled with our kids since the youngest was 3. They have never had any more problems than we did. Usually, they are so amped to get off the plane and start exploring, it is all we can do to drop our bags at the hotel and start moving.

These tips have really helped for us…

1. Find a kids guidebook or scavenger hunt book for your first destination, or the bigger cities you will be visiting. They will spend days planning their trip ahead of time and be too excited when they land to even think about how tired they are.

2. Promise them a great dessert after lunch and say that they have to pick what and where. The sugar buzz will keep them going until an early dinner.

3. Plan on a casual early dinner (no later than 6 for us) the first night and then let them look forward to spending time on devices at the hotel afterwards. They will crash within 15 minutes.

I stand corrected on my Barcelona dinner hour mistake. I should have researched that better….and know better. I had read an article how meal times are much later there than what we are used to here. I was truly concerned having to deal with “hangry” jet lagged grandkids. I have since read and see more meal options at different times and venues. My bad…..

It can be confusing because Catalonia is different from other areas of Spain. Dinner and lunch are earlier. Some casual places are open all day with late tapas blending into early apéro hour. And dinner is earlier but still later than just over the border where we are. Go to La Fourchette to see a variety of restaurants and the hours they take reservations.

These tips have helped us while traveling with kids:

Rent an apartment. That way you’re not stuck together in a small space if someone wakes up at 3 am due to the time difference. Give the kids clear instructions on what they can do if they wake up: go to the living room and watch a movie on the iPad, etc. An apartment is also great because you can have snacks available when they wake up starving at 3 am.

Don’t schedule things for the early morning. You don’t know how quickly any of you will adjust. Maybe you’ll wake up super early, maybe you won’t. Planning a tour for 9 am is a recipe for grouchy kids and adults.

We find it’s easier if we arrive in the afternoon, check in, explore a little, have dinner, then go to bed. That way we don’t have to struggle to stay awake all day after not sleeping on the flight. Hopefully everyone sleeps well and is relatively adjusted by the next morning. One trip my husband and youngest son woke up earlier than the rest of us, so they would go out and get breakfast from the bakery & grocery for the others. A good use of their time!

People tend to overexaggerate the effects of time change and consequently, overthink it. Kids will follow your lead. If you make a big deal out the time difference, that will make them more likely to have problems with it.
My advice to all international travelers is "embrace the suck". Stop thinking about the time zone you left. Become one with the time zone you are in. European arrivals tend to be early morning. Hotels and ABnB's are typically not available until mid-afternoon. Have a plan for where to drop off your bags and then enjoy some simple exploring near where you are staying. Go out for a lunch, take a walk, nothing that requires planning but something that will help you to fritter away some time.
After you gain access to your accommodations, get a nice shower, change your clothes and head out for some more casual exploring. Do not take a nap. Enjoy a moderately early dinner and then head back to your room. Stay up as long as you'd like but not too late. The next day, fall into the local schedule. Your hardest day with the time will be the third day so try to take that into consideration with your plans.
Your children (and you) will have much more challenging time returning to your home time zone when you return. But still, embrace and move on.

Let's get to the science from a sleep expert:

Dr. Charles Czeisler, the director of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, suggested trying Entrain, a free app that makes lighting recommendations to help you adjust to your new destination. And, despite what travelers may have heard about avoiding naps if they’re trying to beat jet lag, he said that a 30-minute to hourlong snooze is actually beneficial because it gives you enough energy to stay awake through the day but still get a good night’s rest.

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/14/travel/how-to-fight-jet-lag-naps-are-good.html

https://www.sleephealthfoundation.org.au/pdfs/Jet-Lag.pdf

The sleep experts don't appear to be travel experts. After 60 plus years of international travel, 35 of them as a road warrior,
the suggestion to add using a complicated app to record your light level exposure and other related minutia is exactly the kind of thing that will make falling into a comfortable pattern in a new time zone impossible. It's laughable. Read the reviews.
The recommendations in the sleep health foundation pdf are spot on.
Number two on their list (number one is to stick to your old time for a very short trip...agree) is embrace the suck. Change your clock. Forget what time is where you originated, step into the local pattern immediately.
Nap taking...30 minutes...OK, go for it. I cat nap constantly so that also works for me. Having said that, if you travel with inexperienced travelers, they almost always end up oversleeping and in doing so, they keep themselves 4 or 5 hours off of the new time zone schedule that need to adjust to. I have seen it literally a hundred times when I travelled with "rookies". Take my advice. Take a shower to freshen up and get out and walk. Find a place to eat. Do it on the now local time. You will not feel as fresh as a daisy but you will adjust very quickly....if you let go of your old time zone. The challenge is to make the switch quickly. This is how to do it.
As a side bar, the sleep foundation suggests using melatonin to help you sleep. Personally, I have never found it to be helpful, but I know many people who do. My "thing" is a glass or two of red wine. On a flight back from Asia, I'll be in the lounge drinking a couple glasses of red at 6:00 am. In the first hours of the flight I may have a bourbon. And then I sleep. When I wake up, I drink water. Copious amounts of water. Going to Europe, I never drink before the flight because when I arrive there I want to hit the ground running. I used to go straight to meetings/whatever. On the way back, A few nice Belgian Triples do the trick. The experts like to steer you away from a few drinks but I have never found it to be a problem...in moderation.
The NYT link is only accessible if you have an NYT account.

Agreed Mack. In this case experience wins over experts. As I posted before…we have learned what works. That one nap after checking in…where we just could NOT wake up from…a big problem for us! Messed us up! What’s hard is “killing time” after morning flight arrival and before your mid afternoon check in to hotel. So…dropping off luggage “hopefully allowed” at your lodging…then maybe use their lobby restroom…if available? Splash some water on your face and drink some more water and take off walking if possible. Scope out your area…sightseeing….and look for eateries. Don’t schedule or plan anything more. Early dinner and to bed. I am thinking our grandkids will still be hyped up enough to make it thru the afternoon! Hoping a late afternoon hotel pool time also helps. Also…Snacks…find some fruity drinks can work too!
Jump into your new timezone as much as you can! You won’t feel that great…but can be worse if you don’t.

All of the responses have been very helpful, and make us feel a lot more confident about tackling the trip with kids. Thank you!!