ISO tips on cross-country travel and time change

[divabell]

We are taking DS to California on Monday (Napa). We have a nonstop flight that leaves Boston at 3:40 pm and arrives around 7 pm Pacific time. Anyone have any tips on getting DS through the time change? I did read somewhere about trying to keep a baby awake to help them adjust... sounds like a nightmare since his bedtime is around 7 at home. Does that work?

Thanks!

[RwnMayfair]

I wish I had some good advice to offer, but Taran adjusts relatively easily without me doing much of anything beyond trying to stick to a specific schedule for the first couple of days. His bedtime isn't quite that early either though, so I think that helps.

Whenever we've gone from one coast to the other (we live on one, my mother on the other), I generally let him nap on the plane and try to put him to bed as close to his normal bedtime as possible at the other end. (The normal bedtime for whatever time zone we're in.) Obviously since you're arriving at what his normal bedtime would be, that might be a bit hard, but my only suggestion is to try and put him down as soon as you can after you arrive. Doing that and then sticking to a schedule for the next couple of days like I mentioned above has always worked for us. Taran's a pretty easy going baby though, so I don't know how much of this has to do with his temperment, and how much has to do with what I'm doing. After a day or two though, he's adjusted to the new time zone.

I can't say I'd want to try to keep him awake though, since he just gets ugly when he gets overtired. But it's possible that's not a problem for you either.

Anyway, I know this may not have been very helpful, but it works for us! You may end up finding something totally different that works for you all, but I do wish you luck! :)

-Melissa

Taran Reed - Nov, 20, 2003

[divabell]

Thanks, Melissa! We have the added problem of an hour's drive from SFO to Napa, so I'm sure Ben will be out in the car. Then let's hope once we get settled into the hotel we can get him back to sleep easily. I think we're just going to play this by ear! We're only there until Friday (DH has a conference), so it's not even enough time to really get Ben on a different schedule. He is a good-tempered kid as long as he gets his sleep, so keeping him awake for three hours past his bedtime doesn't sound like a good option, especially on a plane. I just hope that at the end of the week I don't regret taking Ben along... I really need the vacation! :)

[crl]

I hear that exposure to sunshine helps reset people's (including babies') clocks. So, it might help to try to get a lot of sunshine the first full day you are there. Have fun in Napa!

[miki]

We've done the cross country thing a couple of times now. On each trip, my baby seems to adjust by about an hour each day. By the third day, she was always back on her schedule according to the new time zone's clock.