Dreading international trip...

[flashy09]

Earlier in the year I posted a bunch of paranoid questions about flying with a young baby. Now I have done that 4 times no problem (besides a blow out diaper or two that she seems to save for the plane!), but now I am really anxious about an international trip.

My main issue is the time change and completely ruining her sleep cycles!! She is such a good little sleeper right now and really knows her days and nights. She has an early bedtime (her choice), which is really nice for babysitters in the future and she wakes up at a reasonable hour (630 pm to 630 am with a feeding somewhere in the middle). We are going to England and the time is 5 hrs ahead. My plan is to keep her on American time - so let her stay up with us until 11 and then let her sleep late in the mornings. I have even booked plane tickets to coincide with her bedtime and wake up times. But will this actually work?? Will her body clock somehow know that it is dark/light outside even if we try to trick her with lights and curtains? Or is it not that big of a deal to switch time zones and it will be easy to get back on track at home and I should just relax? She will be 6 months.

[american_mama]

I'm mostly replying to bump. But my inclination is to say, relax. Probably nobody knows exactly how she will react, how quickly she will get back to her normal self, but guaranteed she will not be scarred and, in all likelihood, she will adjust before your trip is over and, after a few days, return to her normal self when you return.

My only relevant experience is with children at a very different age. My 16 month old did have jetlag when we flew to Europe, and it was quite a difficult first night, for DH and I to deal with her and have patience when we were so tired and confused ourselves. In subsequent cross-ocean travel, neither my 20 month old nor my 5 week old had jet lag or seemed confused with time.

[Simon]

I have only done smaller time changes with our kids (3 hours) and, hey, they are crap sleepers to begin with. But we were able to keep them on our own time zone for most of the trip. The key factor is getting them to keep sleeping once it is daytime/light outside. We used hotel blackout curtains, but the one morning they weren't shut tight, the kids woke early.

We like keeping them on our time because we are often up a lot later when traveling and it is just much more convenient. The down side, though, is that you cannot disrupt their morning sleep so you get a late start.

Finally, let me just say that it is awesome she is a good sleeper, but you can't really control whether that will last or not. It may be disrupted by many factors (teething milestones, illness, etc.) or it may be smooth no matter what. Either way, you can only take what you can get since you can't make a baby sleep. Try not to stress too much and cross your fingers and toes!

[lfp2n]

My daughter has traveled to England about twice a year since that age and she does well with the time change. I keep her on american time for sleeping (and eating jet lag makes you randomly hungry) as much as possible but don't go too crazy trying to stick to a rigid schedule, she bounces back to her old routine after a couple of days back.

[Philly Mom]

I am not sure how old your LO is. We went to England when my daughter was four months and (knock on wood) was and continues to be a good sleeper. We decided to adjust her three hours instead of the full five and she essentially made that decision herself as well. We took off right around her bedtime and she slept most of the flight except when they made us wake her. BA can be annoying. If you are flying with an international airline, PM me and I will give some additional advice. Once we got there, we had a two hour car ride, which she slept through, and then continued to sleep for a while until when she normally would wake up. We put her to bed around 11:30. She cried for a small bit, fell asleep and woke up at 9. After that, she woke up between 9 and 10 every day and we put her to bed between 9 and 10. We will be going back in July and intend to do the same and hope it works as well.

[flashy09]

Thanks everyone. I guess I should just relax and not worry so much.

For the people who have been to England, did you get a cot/bassinet during the flight? I can ask for one, but not sure whether to do that or just buy her a seat or do the lap infant (that sounds a little miserable for 8 hrs though)

[Philly Mom]

What airline? It actually matters because each airline provides different things. Also, what is the set up of the airplane that you will be flying?

[baileygirl]

We flew to London when ds1 was 9 months. DH was working and only free at night, so I kept ds on a later schedule (he went to bed around midnight). Flying we purchased him a seat and he sat in his car seat. It was a great trip and one of my favorite experiences in London.

[Tondi G]

I would buy her a seat and bring her car seat so when she is sleeping you can put her down in a seat that she is comfortable in and know she is safe.... and maybe sleep a little yourself. I've heard that the cots tend to be quite small.

[niccig]

We frequently fly internationally and I've found that DS adapts to the time change better than I do. He immediately swaps to the new time zone and I'm a zombie. It's fine when we're visiting family as they will take DS and DH and I can sleep. Problem is the trip home when there is no one to help.