Travel and time zone change

aeh8810

A week from today we leave for vacation. We are going on a cruise out of Miami. We live in Seattle. I'm trying to figure out what we are going to do about the 3 hour time change. Should we keep him on Pacific time and just put him to bed at 10 and have him wake up around 9 (that would be ideal for me)? Is that even possible? Or do we try and adjust him so he is going to bed at his regular time? Anyone have any experience with this? We are only gone for 9 days.

aeh8810

Good point. I didn't even think about how this would affect his naps. I'm sure he won't be sleeping as well as he normally does, so all of this worrying on my part is pointless. I'm just hoping we don't have a cranky and exhausted 9 month old the whole trip.

laowaigringa

I live in Asia and went back to the US this summer, a 13 hour time difference. We actually didn't have huge problems with jet lag, though I was bracing for them, although I also think it would be different if we went again now that she's older and more "set in her ways." I think your plan to put him to bed at 10 could possibly work, but I think in reality it probably won't. Babies' bodies will respond to the daylight and darkness just like ours do. It is likley that you will have a few rough days so I would be prepared, but my best advice is to just go with the flow, relax, let him nap when he's tired (but don't let him nap too long during the day), except some middle of the night wakings and some early mornings. Stick to your bedtime routine that you have at home as a way to signal to him that it's nighttime and time for a long sleep, same with any morning or naptime routines you have. But again, just be prepared for crazy hours but try to enjoy the trip anyway and not stress too much about it!

painttheair14

We just traveled to one hour different and just let DS dictate his schedule.

Who knows if that was the right choice, but it worked well for us.