It’s finally that wonderful time of year- summertime!  This means warmer weather, beautiful natural sunlight, and a possible family holiday.  How exciting!  Except that going on vacation with your little ones means a change to their environment and routine…something that makes it challenging to keep your little one sleeping through the night! I can’t think of anything more annoying than spending ALL that time and money planning a wickedly awesome vacation, only for you to be bleary-eyed the whole week because your little one decided that 2am was suddenly a great time for a visit from Mommy.

To help prevent your little one’s sleep from going down the toilet, here are my top 5 sleep tips for traveling during the summer months:

1. Be patient.  It’s takes anyone a few days to adjust to a new sleep space, and babies are no different.
2. Don’t mess with your little one’s schedule!  Respect naps and their early bedtime as much as possible.  The more overtired your child becomes, the more likely he is to start fighting bedtime and waking up at night!  Remember- overtiredness CAUSES poor sleep.
3. Recreate your little one’s sleep environment and bedtime so that everything is as familiar as possible for your little one.  Bring your child’s lovey, white noise machine, sleep sack, bedtime music, bedtime stories, and anything else you feasibly can bring!  Bring travel blackout blinds with you so that your baby doesn’t struggle to fall asleep in a room with tons of sunlight.  Don’t forget to do your child’s bedtime routine from home, which will make it easier for her to wind down and fall asleep in this new environment.
4. Ensure that your little one has his own room to sleep in, if possible.  Sharing one room as a family is not ideal because your baby could easily become distracted by your presence.  Booking a hotel suite or an Air BnB with two rooms is strongly recommended for this reason.
5. When you’re back at home, get your little one back onto her schedule and routine as quickly as possible.  Reinstate any sleep habits you had before you went away immediately!  New habits can form in a matter of days.  And if you began introducing some new habits on your vacation that you don’t want in the long-run, get rid of them as soon as possible so that they don’t become your new reality!

Watch the video below for more detail!