Tips for Jet Lag Reduction

Moving Overseas

My husband, 2 small children (2 and 4 months at the time) , and I moved overseas almost 2 years ago.  It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with emotionally.  Not only I had I recently had a baby (which does a number on my emotional state) and sold my favorite house I’ve ever lived in, I also had to say good-bye to my friends and family for 4 years while my husband earned his PhD.  I took it on myself to do the bulk of the packing because I knew I wouldn’t see any of our stuff for the duration of those 4 years- I wanted to be the one to decide what to store and what to give away.  In addition, we were still getting up with our baby at night, whether it was a feeding or a paci-replacement effort.  So, after everything was packed, sold, give away, or stored, and after we lived with family for 2 months and then said good-bye, the real fatigue set in….right when we skipped several time zones to Scotland.  It was a 6-hour time difference that I had never before experienced, much less with 2 little ones.

Tips for Jet Lag Reduction

Jet lag is pretty miserable anyway.  Arriving already exhausted only makes it worse.  But, as adults, we can reason through it and promise ourselves naps or coffee or whatever it takes to muster up the energy to keep going.  Unfortunately, children do not have the same ability to realize why they feel so tired or to talk themselves into sleeping even when they don’t feel like it.

So, we found that protecting their sleep was essential.  Here are some of the ways we ensured they (and therefore we) got good sleep:

• Count on 1 day for every hour of change.  So, we had a 6 hour change- therefore, it took about 6 days for everyone to be completely back on track and feeling well.
• Be reasonable in your expectations- you can’t expect to regain 6 hours in 1 night, no matter how tired you are.  (see #1)
• Eat meals on the NEW time schedule.  This will help your (ahem) bowels, as well as your ability to sleep at the new times.
• Shorten naps- don’t allow yourself or your children to nap for long periods during the day (unless they are infants).  This will only prolong the nighttime troubles.
• Decide on a course of action for middle of the night wakings- will you snack a bit, get a drink of water, watch a movie, etc.?  You’ll make better choices ahead of time than in the moment.
• Get black out blinds- almost everyone sleeps better in a dark room.
• Use white noise.  Chances are you’ll be sleeping at odd times, possibly when the world around you is up and about (and therefore making noise).  Thus, mask it with white noise and they even have jet lag sound machines.
• Be patient- you’ll get on track, I promise.