Quality Tips for Quality Trips: How to Optimize Your Child’s Naps While Away from Home
“Now that she’s sleep-trained, can we take our baby out on a road trip?”
“What should we do if our kiddo’s grandparents don’t have a crib or blackout curtains?”
“If we let our baby nap in the car, will that mess up his nighttime sleep?”
During my wrap-up calls with my clients, I often hear these questions.
After spending a devoted 2-3 weeks towards developing healthy napping and sleep habits, parents and caregivers are eager to take their little ones out.
Cabin fever is real!
Here are four great tips that will help you preserve your child’s quality sleep any time he/she is away from home.
Visiting family or friends’ house: Make sure you talk to the individuals who you will be visiting ahead of time and ask them if they already have the proper sleep props and sleep environment you need in place. The 3 essential elements include: a dark room, noise machine, and cool temperature (68 °F-72 °F). If they do not have blackout shades or curtains, ask if you can temporarily tape black garbage bags onto their windows. Always remember to bring your kiddo’s favorite sleep props (sleep sacks, pajamas, lovies, etc.) with you when traveling.
Staying at an Airbnb or a hotel: Communicate with the Airbnb host or the hotel’s manager beforehand and see if you can bring your sleep props to their premises. Many hotels have cribs and crib mattresses available for rent, and can help you set up a sleep-inducing environment before your arrival. My favorite portable sleep gear options are Slumberpod and Pack n Play. The hotel’s closet is also a great place to let your little one take a good nap and sleep safe and sound J Just make sure that it’s big enough for his/her crib or Pack n Play. You can also rent baby cribs and other gear to have when you’re on the go from www.babyquip.com
Car-ride naps: You can plan your trips around your baby’s nap schedule. If your child still takes morning naps, try to preserve most of his/her morning nap if possible. When planning what time to set out on the road, make sure you leave about 20-30 minutes before his/her normal nap onset time so that he/she has enough time to fall asleep in the car. If he/she skips a part of his/her afternoon nap, that’s certainly fine, because he/she will likely nap again on the way home. If, however, your child happens to completely miss the afternoon nap and doesn’t nap in the car, then please offer him/her an earlier bedtime to prevent him/her from getting overtired at night.
The 80/20 Rule: For sleep-trained babies, parents can relax more when their routines get interrupted because they have very strong self-soothing skills to get back on track again. The ratio between “following routines” and “disrupting routines” should be 80/20.
Happy napping and happy traveling!
