Key Takeaways

• Traveling with kids, whether they are toddlers or teens, but doing your best to avoid extreme disruptions to their sleep schedule can make the whole trip less stressful

• The best place to start when planning your trip is to choose a flight time that reduces the chance that your child will

• Those flight times vary by age, but one thing our experts agree on is that once your family reached their destination, parents should align their at-home bedtime routine with the new time zone as quickly as possible

Whether this is your first time flying with the kids or you’re a seasoned traveler with little ones in tow, you know how important it is to minimize jet lag and protect sleep. After all, jet lag can turn even the most well-planned family vacation into a disaster waiting to happen. The good news is with the right timing and a little advance planning, you can minimize the effects of jet lag—and start the trip off on the right foot.

“We set ourselves up for success when we are intentional with our travel, especially when kids are involved,” says Daniella Marchetti, PhD, DBSM, is a licensed clinical psychologist, PSYPACT-certified sleep specialist, and RISE app clinician. “It’s hard enough for adults to manage their own jet lag symptoms, let alone children who still have developing frontal lobes and may not be experts at emotional and behavioral regulation.”

To help make your trip more seamless and stress-free, we asked sleep experts to help us craft an age-by-age guide of the best flight times—and tips—to minimize jet lag and keep your child’s sleep schedule on track. Here’s what they recommend.

Infants up to 12 Months

• Ideal flight times: For longer flights, Marchetti recommends flying during their longest stretch of sleep. This often means selecting a red-eye flight, especially for longer flights. For shorter flights, she suggests trying to fly early enough in the day so that the bedtime routine does not have to be delayed.

• Other tips and insight: For infants and young babies, Carrie Bradley, a former flight attendant and founder of the travel site Flying With a Baby, recommends embracing the world and traveling as much as you can. “At this age, they are so portable and it is much easier flying before they can properly walk and crawl. Their frequent naps mean you have more flexibility—and they can sleep through significant portions of the journey.”

You Should Know

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that you wait until your baby is at least 7 days old before flying. Ideally, wait until they are at least 2 months old due to the risk of catching an infectious disease.

12 months to 24 months

• Ideal flight times: According to Bradley overnight flights for long haul flights (flights 6 hours or more) are still useful, but this age group may also benefit from daytime flights during naptime if they are down to one nap and struggle in new environments. “Once toddlers are walking, they have a lot more energy pent up for a flight. I recommend boarding last with them [and] having your partner [if traveling with one] board earlier with all the baggage.”

• How to adjust: A daytime flight reduces the risk of a full night’s sleep being disrupted by jet lag, as they arrive ready for a normal bedtime in the new time zone, says Bradley.

• Other tips or insight: Long haul flights are much easier with kids 2 and younger than it is for kids around the ages of 6, 7, or 8, says Bradley. “By that age they find it uncomfortable to sit in a seat and struggle to sleep as soundly as a young baby or toddler.”

4 to 7 year olds

• Ideal flight times: Because kids this age typically do not nap and can have trouble sitting on a plane for a long time, Bradley says her family does not restrict screen time for long haul flights. Whether you choose a night or daytime flight, a bit of screen time can help pass the time while sitting in one place. However, “if it’s a night flight and they are sleepy, we tend to board the plane with everyone else, and if a day flight board last (but have a partner board with any bags prior),” she adds.

• How to adjust: With naps no longer a key part of their normal routine, Bradley says from day one it can be helpful to keep meals, snacks, and bedtimes in line with the destination time as soon as you arrive. She explains that after a long day of travel, “Kids will inevitably have a nap but beware of the danger of napping around 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. Let them nap earlier if needed and not for long. Use natural daylight and outdoor activities to help their body clock reset faster.”

• Other tips: Bradley says on long haul flights or international flights, a proper stopover of 12 to 24 hours in-between such as LAX to SYD to UK and back really helps kids’ body clock gradually adjust. You can also try bringing small games and toys that they have not seen before to keep them entertained. And, remember, jet lag can still cause middle-of-the-night wake-ups. Once you’re at your destination and settling into your bedtime routine, keep lights low and avoid stimulating activities to encourage them to sleep, she says.

8 to 12 year olds

• Ideal flight times: There is no magic flight time for these age groups, says Marchetti, because it depends on your starting and ending points and individual sleep schedules. For changes going eastward of six hours or more, red-eyes can be helpful if your child manages to fall asleep on the plane. This way, you can arrive in the morning and start the day. For changes going westward, daytime flights are recommended so bedtime doesn’t land in the middle of the flight.

• How to adjust: Prioritize sunlight earlier in the day if you traveled east, and sunlight in the afternoon if you traveled west, says Marchetti.

• Other tips: For older children, you can use strategies like advancing sleep ahead of traveling to help with time zone adjustments. For example, if you have a three hour time difference and you are going eastward, wake your child earlier by 30 to 60 minutes in the two to three days leading to flying, says Marchetti.

13 to 18 year olds

• Ideal flight times: For teenagers, you can choose a flight time that is convenient for the entire family, but if you are traveling to a timezone that is six hours ahead, for instance, wake them up 30 to 60 minutes earlier in the six days leading up to their travel (as much as their schedule allows), says Marchetti. “Teens tend to have more of a ‘night owl’ chronotype, going to bed later and waking up later when able. Because of this, they struggle more with time changes in the eastward direction.”

• How to adjust: Once you are at your destination, start to operate according to your regular schedule in your new time zone as quickly as you can—for example, go to  sleep when the sun goes down, says Marcehetti. You also should start eating and planning activities according to the new time zone as soon as you can.

• Other tips and insight: Age plays a role because older kids have different sleep needs, different circadian tendencies, and differing levels of adaptability, says Marchetti—a teenager might have more flexibility with the flight time since they can stay up longer and are less likely meltdown if tired (in theory at least), whereas younger kids rely more on reliable routines. But she adds that because teenagers are night owls, there’s a chance they will be hit hard by jet lag. Younger kids may surprise their parents with how well they are able to adapt to changes in their sleep schedule.

What Else to Know About Flying With Babies, Kids, and Teens

While jet lag cannot be completely avoided, there are things you can do to minimize the effects—or even just be aware of so you aren’t caught off guard. Here are some additional things to keep in mind when planning your trip.

• It can take one day for each hour of time difference to fully adjust, says Marchetti. So, traveling four timezones ahead or behind could take four days until you feel at ease.

• Trying to wear your kids out before a flight can backfire. Being overtired activates the sympathetic nervous system and cortisol is released. This inhibits the promotion of natural melatonin and shoots adrenaline to create an alertness effect creating a tired but wired effect, says Marchetti.

• When traveling west to east, you want to be careful not to get sunlight too early in the morning in the first few days of your trip, says Marchetti, as it can sometimes set your clock in the opposite direction. This effect is nuanced, and is based on how big of a time difference you have.

• In the week leading up to your trip, move your child’s sleep and wake times 15 minutes in the direction of your new time zone, says Rebecca Robbins, PhD, an assistant professor in the Division of Sleep Medicine for Harvard Medical School, associate scientist in the Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and sleep advisor for Hilton. Once on the plane, change your clocks to the time at your destination.

Read the original article on Parents