8 Ways to Help Your Kids Sleep Well During the Holidays
It’s that time of year again where endless travel and holiday chaos is in full swing. That means lots of opportunities for your kids’ sleep to go completely out the window.
You’ve got shared rooms or beds, unfamiliar sleep spaces, different lighting, new sights and sounds, family and friends with different agendas, late nights, lots of sugar, changing time zones…the list goes on and it all impacts our kids’ quality and quantity of sleep.
And for those of us who’s kids are finally sleeping well with a reliable routine, we know in our heart of hearts that things are about to get c-r-a-z-y as soon as we’re in a new environment (cue the anxiety and heart palpitations now).
Over the last few years, I’ve put together a list of things that have proven to keep not only my kids’ sleep on track, but has also worked wonders for families in my sleep training network.
Listen — the holidays are amazing and full of fun, but if you’re stressing the entire time about your children’s sleep (or lack thereof), then you need to check this list (maybe even print it out) as a reminder of how to keep your sanity during the upcoming holiday season.
Consider keeping the same time zone. If you’re crossing time zones, even if it’s a 2-hour difference, I always recommend staying on the same time zone that you’re on at home. Reason being, it takes about 3-5 days for kids to adjust to a new time (anybody remember Daylight Savings not too long ago…?), and if you’re only going to be gone for a week or less, it doesn’t work in your favor to move them to the new time. They might inherently start to adjust anyway by the end of the trip, but the less time hopping you have to do, the better off their sleep will be.
Bring your own sleep equipment. Most hotels will provide crib or pack-n-play when asked, but during the holidays, it might be slim pickin’s. I always like to be prepared and bring my own during this time of year, just in case. Generally speaking, bring whatever you can to help replicate your child’s sleep environment at home – dark, quiet, cool. The goal is to make sure everyone has their own sleep space whenever possible, including older toddlers or preschoolers that could technically share a bed with you. Unless you want to create a whole mess of issues when you’re home, I always suggest sticking with individual sleep spaces for everyone.
Here’s a great list of items I typically bring with me: Pack-n-play, blow-up toddler mattress, blackout crib tent, blackout shades, and a sound machine.
Stick to your normal routine. While it might be tempting to just “go with the flow” or skip naps here and there to opt for a fun outing instead, your child’s body doesn’t understand that reasoning and that decision will come back to bite you. While some children do fine skipping naps or having a later bedtime occasionally, most don’t fare too well with that, especially if it happens multiple times over the course of a few days. Your best bet is to stick to your usual routine and get your kiddos down for naps (if they take them) and bed at their normal times.
Have separate rooms for kids and parents. Lots of families get stuck having to share a room with their children during the holidays, but if you have the option, opt for separate space. This gives everyone a little more freedom and flexibility to make noise and move around at different times of the day or night. But – if you must share a room, the SlumberPod will change your life. This little thing folds up perfectly for travel with its own carrying case, offers true blackout, and fits neatly offer a standard pack-n-play and their new toddler blow-up mattress (the SlumberTot). I couldn’t recommend this more, as it will make sleeping in a shared space so much easier for everyone in your family.
Oh, an p.s. – the Slumberpod links here will get you a 5% discount on any of their products 😊.
Bring healthy snacks and opt for healthier meals when possible. This might seem obvious, but if you’ve ever driven a car through middle America for more than an hour, you know how limited food options can be. Packing easy, healthy snacks can make your child’s sleep a lot easier to come by and help you avoid a hangry situation in a pinch. Poor blood sugar regulation is a big reason why many kids have trouble sleeping, so opt for the healthier options whenever you can to support the most restful, restorative sleep possible.
Hire a sitter. This is a polarizing one and may not be possible or serve everyone the same way, so do what works for you. But if you know you’re going to have a late night out or fun activities are going to keep you out all day long, consider hiring a babysitter to help take the load off and preserve your kiddos’ sleep. Lots of college students are home for the holidays, so finding someone to help for a few hours while you get some much-deserved adult time away is fairly easy.
Hold your boundaries. Many moms I work with have admitted that they’ve sacrificed their kids’ sleep because their friends or family’s opinions. While being flexible is necessary sometimes, foregoing your children’s sleep needs because grandma doesn’t want to have dinner that early isn’t fair or legitimate. Your kids are your responsibility, so if you want or need to preserve their sleep habits to keep yourself sane, then you’ll need to be bold and stand firm your decisions as the parent. Other people don’t have to like it, and that’s okay! You’re still a great mom.
Get back to your normal routine ASAP. As soon as you get home, it’s time to get back into the groove of normal life. That means if there were bad habits formed on vacation, it’s time to change those. If you originally sleep trained and it worked out great but now everything has fallen apart since being gone for two weeks, it’s time to re-train and go back to the basics. Just because things aren’t perfect when you get home doesn’t mean they can’t be ever again. With patience and consistency, things will eventually fall back into place.
The holidays can be exhausting for everyone, including our kids, so let’s not make it any more challenging for ourselves. Using any one of these tactics will help make your holidays that much smoother, but layering a few together will make it infinitely easier.
And don’t forget – if the holidays just do a number on your family and you don’t know where to turn, I’m here to help you sort it all out whenever you’re ready. Book a free 20-minute discovery call with me and let’s figure it out together!
Sweet dreams,
Ashley
*P.s. This post may include affiliate links, but don’t worry – they don’t cost you anything 😉.
