Hellobee Boards

I know they say 1 day/hour of time difference, but apparently the best way to adjust yourself to your local time is to eat on the local time.

Welcome back! I don't know how to cure jet lag - I either suffer or just sleep it away

For us it was just coincidence that our arrival time was dinner time. So with the lack of sleep on the trip there and back my son adjusted quite well with zero jet lag. And this is with a 15 hour difference. Totally lucked out!! Maybe you can wake them up a little earlier each day and stretch out their awake time to as close to their nap time. And drink lots of coffee for you!

I think melatonin is helpful too. I try to stay awake as long as I can to get back in schedule but a 12 hour difference will take a while.

As an adult, it's always been easy for me to adjust - just nap and then eat dinner and go to bed at the normal time for where you are. (or breakfast and stay up, depending on when you land). Easy-peasy, never had jet lag for more than 1-2 days, even when traveling internationally. Kids though? Ugh, I have no idea, and dread traveling across time zones while LO is small and sleeps on HER schedule, not when we want her to.

Yikes, one day per hour of time difference? If that were a hard-and-fast rule, every international vacation I've ever taken would have been pretty much ruined. It can be really tough, but I take a brutal approach to it, since I don't want to be miserable after spending a ton of money to fly halfway around the world. So here's my formula: Step 1, get outside and absorb as much sun during the day as possible, and stay active, even when you're exhausted. Step 2, NO NAPPING! (Way too easy to turn a "nap" into your full night's sleep in the middle of the day.) Step 3, force yourself to stay up until a reasonable time of night, I usually say 9pm. Step 4, take a sleeping pill before bed, even if you're exhausted and don't think you'll need it - this helps prevent me from waking up in the middle of the night.

My husband and I followed those instructions when we flew 9 timezones away earlier this year, and were were on track within two days. Brutal on the first day, but so worth it!

Now that's just the two of us - I have no idea how this works with young kids. Sorry, not my expertise just yet! Good luck. Can't wait for vacation recaps.