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Time Change with a toddler

vicky7139vicky7139 member
in Toddlers: 24 Months+
So I will be traveling in a couple of weeks with my 2 year old (28 month old at time of travel). We will be traveling West  where there will be a time difference of 3 hours (from the East coast). Any advice on how to handle...I was thinking about starting to push her schedule forward in increments of 1/2 hour until the trip and then jus do it again when we get back to get her back on track...For example..she wakes up at 8 AM now and goes to bed at 8 PM...so start waking her at 8:30 and putting her to bed at 8:30...and adjust meals and naps in between as well. And then push her to 9, etc....thoughts?

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Re: Time Change with a toddler

  • Eskimokisses13Eskimokisses13 member
    I agree with PPs.  Don't worry about it and roll with it when you get there.  More than likely traveling will be exciting and wear them out more than usual so they won't be on the same schedule anyway. 
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  • sarahandeddiejune212008sarahandeddiejune212008 member
    We just got back from vacation and avoided adjusting for the time change. My girls (3 1/2 and 23months) just stayed up later and slept later.
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  • carlab44carlab44 member
    I agree with the others that you are overthinking it and shouldn't try and adjust ahead of time. We are on the west coast and travel to the east coast every summer. In my experience the kids adjust quickly on their own.
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  • TiffanyBerryTiffanyBerry member
    One reason not to adjust much early is that the sunlight hours will not change until you travel. Their bodies will still make the hormones for being awake or going to sleep won't change no matter how you try to adjust their schedule ahead of timez
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  • LSU628LSU628 member
    Ugh- I just dealt with this last week. We went to MA which is ahead an hour. It's never fun to hear your toddler say at 5:15- Mommy- the sun is awake!! My DS work up around 5-5:30 every single day that we were there, but as a trade off he did take a big fat 3 hour nap every afternoon which gave me a chance to rest. Next week we will be flying to CO which is an hour behind, so I'm sure we will have bumps along the way there as well. I'd give you the same advice as the pp- just roll with it. After all, you really can't force them to sleep if they aren't tired.
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  • sucredeesucredee member
    I wouldn't bother with trying to switch things before leaving. Just go with it and when you get to our destination just get her back on her normal schedule right away. She will wake up early probably the first couple of days but just stick to her schedule even if she wakes up early. Our travel day is usually so messed up that it helps her get on whatever schedule fairly quickly (we usually get up at 230 or 3 am and she isn't one of those kids that will fall back asleep in the car to the airport, once she is awake she stays awake at least for a few hours). With my DD when she goes to bed later for whatever reason (when we've been out and about usually) she doesn't tend to sleep later, she usually wakes up earlier. So in her case it would be useless to try and switch her before the trip anyway. Don't overthinking it and just go with it
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