https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Fri, 03 Apr 2026 20:00:44 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-187301 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:59:36 +0000 mynoahbear 187301@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: I tend to be a Type A too. I bought a couple of bottled waters right before we boarded. I also made sure to take a water whenever the flight attendants were walking around with water. Normally on long flights, I hate drinking too much water because I don't like using the bathroom but since I'm BF, I had to force myself to stay hydrated. </p> <p>On the flight to Hawaii, LO slept the entire time and didn't BF, so by the time we landed, I was in a little bit of pain. She had good long feeding session before we got on our connecting flight to Maui, though. </p> <p>I didn't see any nursing rooms anywhere we went in Hawaii, so I usually ended up nursing her in the car if we were out sightseeing. Here in Tokyo, there's nursing and diaper changing rooms everywhere. It's really nice to have those. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-187130 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:11:31 +0000 irene 187130@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mynoahbear: This is so reassuring and helpful! Thank you so much! I am a super Type-A person but I will relax and let him adjust himself. </p> <p>For a long flight sometimes it is hard to stay hydrated... Do you bring a bottle and ask the flight attendant to keep filling it up? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-186927 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 10:18:21 +0000 mynoahbear 186927@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: We just let her sleep. The only time we woke her up was in the morning the first few days, so we could go get breakfast, because she was sleeping until 9:30 or 10 am. I'm breastfeeding and my supply was fine. LO would still want to eat every 3 hours or so during the day. She sleeps through the night and she did even when we were on vacation. I did have some formula with me just in case. I used it a couple of times, not because of lack of supply but because we were out and there really wasn't anywhere I could breastfeed. I forgot to pack my medela swing pump so a couple of times, I had to hand express in the morning because my breasts hurt so much from being full.</p> <p>Before we left, I was stressing about how LO would do with the time change. My DH told me to just relax and let her be since we are on vacation. He was right. She did fine and adjusted herself. I was also stressing about the plane ride but she did great there too. She basically slept the entire flight, going and coming.</p> <p>I think just like LO adjusting her own clock to the time change, your body will do the same, so your supply should be fine. Besides, your LO will still be feeding on a regular basis, so the milk should continue coming in as normal. Just remember to stay hydrated. I tend to not drink as much water when I'm not at home, so I had to remember to do that. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-186745 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 08:21:35 +0000 irene 186745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mynoahbear: That's very reassuring! Now I feel much better.<br /> Did you wake her up during her daytime naps, or just let her sleep, and she naturally adjusts herself? Also, were you breastfeeding ? I am curious what the time difference would do to my milk supply because I am exclusively breastfeeding. Since I can't bring my freezer-ful of milk, and he hasn't had formula since when he was 2 weeks old, I am a tad bit concern if the jet lag may mess up with my supply.</p> <p>@looch: @mrbee: Thanks for sharing and the info! I also think getting him to shift his schedule before the trip doesn't do much anyway because of the huge time change. I do have to eat + drink on the plane though or I'll be making no milk! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-186644 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:30:50 +0000 mrbee 186644@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: This won't work for a baby but as for your own jetlag, a quick fast on the plane can completely cure it:<br /> <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1021332/The-fast-way-beat-jet-lag-Dont-eat-air.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1021332/The-fast-way-beat-jet-lag-Dont-eat-air.html</a></p> <p>Just don't eat on the plane and eat when you land... it should work great for an adult.</p> <p>For a child, I would normally suggest that you shift their sleep ahead of time, one hour per week. But with such a huge time shift, I'm not sure that would help. But a basic understanding of how light affects sleep schedules is super helpful. I wrote a bit about it here:<br /> <a href="http://www.hellobee.com/2012/03/22/how-to-cure-mommy-or-daddy-insomnia/" rel="nofollow">http://www.hellobee.com/2012/03/22/how-to-cure-mommy-or-daddy-insomnia/</a></p> <p>If the area where you're traveling is not sunny, you can buy a little lamp which puts out the sort of light that your body needs to shift its circadian rhythm. I bought one a few years ago when I was dealing with my own "night owl" problems and it was hugely helpful.</p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-186619 Tue, 12 Jun 2012 02:37:00 +0000 looch 186619@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It takes my son 4 days to adjust to his new time zone, usually a 6 hour difference. The first two days, he's up at crazy hours and sleeping when he shouldn't be, but we try to tag team and one of us sleeps while the other stays awake.</p> <p>I tried to get him to go down earlier or later in preparation for the trip, but it just messed him up even more, so now, I just go with it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-186337 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:58:41 +0000 mynoahbear 186337@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@irene: the first few days in Hawaii, she wouldn't go to sleep until midnight or 1am (her normal bedtime is 7-7:30). She also wouldn't fall asleep in the hotel crib, so DH would soothe her to sleep on the big bed and once she fell asleep, I moved her into the crib. But once she fell asleep, she slept through until 9 or 10 am. She never fully adjusted to her regular bedtime but after those first few days, she went to bed around 9pm. For her naps, we were usually out doing things, so she would sleep in her car seat or stroller. </p> <p>Once we got back home, it took maybe, 2 days for her to get back on her normal schedule of asleep by 7:30 and waking up at 6:00. </p> <p>I though it would be too hard to train LO to the time adjustment since we were only there for 2 weeks and we weren't always in our room during naptimes. Plus, we would go out for dinner so we weren't back in the room for her normal bedtime anyway, so it was much easier to just let LO come up with her own schedule. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-185662 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:56:47 +0000 irene 185662@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@mynoahbear: So she adjusted herself to hawaii time, and when she goes back to tokyo she adjusted herself to tokyo time, naturally? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-185653 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:52:04 +0000 mynoahbear 185653@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went to Hawaii last month, which is a 19 hour difference from here(tokyo). At first, we thought we should try and keep LO awake to get her to sleep at night but we decided to just let her be. We thought it was better to keep her on Tokyo time because it would be easier once we got home but after a couple of days, she adjusted herself to the time difference. She was 4 months old when we went. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/traveling-how-to-adjust-an-infant-to-a-different-time-zone#post-185623 Mon, 11 Jun 2012 11:31:08 +0000 irene 185623@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We may be traveling to Australia, aka the other end of the world, when my LO is 5-6 months. Any tips for adjusting him to a completely different time zone (14 hours difference) and back? Should we cut it cold turkey or do it gradually ?</p> <p>Any success stories of traveling with your infant to a very different timezone is welcomed too! </p>