Something we all struggle with and been through in our motherhood journey. Here to the rescue is Vicky Scott, Sleep consultant sharing her tips and advice to help children sleep while on holiday.
When my oldest son was less than two years old, we flew to Melbourne, Australia, and then spent many family holidays in Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Thailand so long-distance flights were part of all three of our children’s holiday.
The buzz of airport experience is exciting for children, and then onto the plane. Under two-year-olds sitting on your lap for a flight of 24 hours is an experience, despite packing special treats and toys to keep the children entertained, they are bound to get bored. When taking off and landing try to encourage children to eat or drink so their ears will be less effected. If your baby is still suckling from breast or bottle this can help. My toddler enjoyed the activity of standing up and toddling about the aircraft whenever the seat belt sign was off as much as he could and he naturally fell asleep in his usual rhythm, so the flight out to Australia was not too much of an ordeal. The hum of the aircraft lulled him into sleep even though as adults we were tired from sitting upright for over 24 hours, we had the excitement of meeting our friends in Melbourne and arriving in Australia.
Then, we hit jet lag. We wanted to sleep yet we had this lively toddler who did not want to settle after being cooped up in an airplane seat for 24 hours let alone go to sleep! That is not easy, there is no simple way around this problem, except to remain calm and encourage the toddler to realise that night is day in Australia and day is night. All the fun of the experience of the holiday made the jetlag tolerable. I do remember on the flight home that we hit turbulence over India, and with my son sitting on my lap on a seatbelt extension, when the aircraft dropped suddenly my sons seat belt dug into his tummy momentarily as he took off from my lap and then all the recently eaten chocolate Koala bears came up all over me.
- First Top tip parents, remember your changes of clothing for long flights or you will be wearing the contents of your special treat bag into the next country.
- Second top tip– buy cheap and exciting little, easily packed toys to help relieve the boredom of the flight. Finger puppets helped while away hours of time flying to Australia and meeting other parents and children on the flight. Some children struggled with the journey because they could not sleep. It is a long journey without proper sleep for 24 to 26 hours.
- Make packing lists of everything you use on a day-to-day basis in the UK before you leave. Starting first thing in the morning including your little one’s favourite cuddly toy, bottles/cups to all the bedtime routine equipment from the toothbrush and story book. Research if you can get the same formula milk in the holiday destination so you do not need to carry all the supplies. When you have your packing list including high factor suntan cream for children, paracetamol/ibuprofen, including the medicine cabinet of essentials, then you can start packing the items for your child that smell like home. Do not be washing everything like a new pin before you go. Clothing, pillowcase, and a sheet that smells like home will help your little one settle in a new cot or bed, which can help immensely. Remember the window blackout portable blind, the white noise machine, and don’t forget to organise the families’ vaccinations well ahead of your holiday abroad.
Perhaps you are not going so far afield, maybe your holiday is just a car distance away? Check where the local GP is situated, as I remember the most sleepless night ever when we were away in the west Country and my son was discovered to have an ear infection after suddenly waking hourly all night.
In new environments children are bound to be excited, curious, and sleep poorly on the first night of the holiday. Remember to check the children’s area for safety depending on the child’s age.
If the children wake and get up at night, remain calm, reassuring and send them back to bed, stay with them briefly and leave the room saying you will be back in a minute and stay consistent, or you will end up with all your children in bed with you and no one will get any sleep.
Who am I and what do I do?
Vicky Scott – senior children’s nurse and specialist family health visitor, Practice teacher and now working as a private sleep consultant.
I have been through many of the challenges you are facing with your little one whilst somehow managing to juggle work and home life with 3 children as they grew from babyhood and throughout their school years.
During my NHS career I worked with all sorts of families from pregnancy to starting school and beyond. I have a wealth of experience in child behaviour management and development, parenting, and access to expert colleagues.
Over the years I have supported thousands of families whilst providing extra support when families need it most from when they have Newborn babies up to school years and beyond.
My aim is to improve family health and relationships with better sleep for all including families when their children have all sorts of complex health conditions, including allergies.
I have helped parents manage various sleep difficulties of all types and for all ages of children. I am successful in helping parents with their little one’s behaviour challenges such as teething, mealtime battles, tantrums, toilet training and promoting children’s physical and emotional development.
My skills enable families to build on their strengths using in depth assessment and bespoke behavioural/sleep plans for every child.
I offer a free 30-minute discovery call so we can discuss your concerns about your little one and whether I can help you. I will connect families to the right support and find solutions together.
You may also like the Do-Re-Mi of Sleep.
