Family Travel: Best Bedtime Rituals for Traveling Kids

Posted on Feb 3, 2016 | 0 comments

best bedtime rituals for traveling kids

Any parent will tell you that the day after their child has not slept well is a nightmare, and my family is no exception to this!! Add in that you are travelling and it may just be enough to put you over the edge…

I know how important sleep is so as a general rule of thumb, when travelling, I will grab any opportunity to encourage my children to grab a few Z’s! Like on the airplane or in the car during the travel days.

When it comes time for bed at night, my kids will amp up when at a new place. So I have found it best to stick to the same familiar bedtime routine that we have going at home.

Here are our Best Bedtime Rituals for Traveling Kids

Try to be understanding, expect the excitement. Being conscious of how our kids react to situations ahead of time will save ourselves a lot of aggravation. At this point I expect my kids to get very excited when in a new location, I know I do. So when I am ready for them to sleep and they are not ready for sleep, I take a deep breath – because I knew this was coming and begin our bedtime ritual.

Make the space theirs. If traveling with an infant, I would always bring a crib sheet from home, their blankies and a few fave stuffed animals. Toddlers I would bring blankies and stuffed animals. Elementary age kids and up can choose a few of their things to bring for comfort. Not only does this bring the scent of home, naturally relaxing them, but it also helps them to feel secure.

Warm shower or bath. Nothing feels better than a warm shower or bath after a day of exploring. This is a great way to get the kids relaxed and start to bring down their energy. Be sure to bring their favorite, cozy pajamas and to get some lotion with a relaxing scent on them – traveling is sure to dry out the skin!!

Brush teeth and floss. All that amazing food you tried today can cause trouble if you forget to brush – even when traveling!! Don’t forget to brush and floss those pearly whites!

Watch a show together and do a few night-time yoga poses. Most resorts have TV’s in the bedrooms, which is a big treat for my kids. So the deal is, we can watch one (or two!) shows in bed but first we have to do a few yoga stretches to help our bodies wind down.

Read a story. Once the show is over, each child gets to pick a book and we read them together. So many studies show it is really hard/bad to go to sleep after watching TV so I find that a story is the perfect was to wind down. At this time I also turn on our sound machine – something I never leave home without. You never know what kind of conditions you will find so I always travel with a sound machine to help drown out any outside noise and keep us all nicely asleep!!

Below is the sound machine that I use (and have been using for 7 years now, this is a great product). You can buy it here on Amazon (and thank you for helping to support this blog!).

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Have snuggle time. Nothing makes a child feel more safe, secure and sleepy than a snuggle with mom or dad (or mom & dad!!). Put a time limit on it though, for toddlers and older, as you want them to learn to fall asleep on their own while traveling – which is the best gift of all!

If we are traveling to a different time zone, I have been known to use Zarbee’s Natural Children’s Sleep Melatonin Supplements for the first two nights to help them adjust. This is a safe, natural grape tasting pill that helps my children relax and get to sleep naturally – and it really works. Please check with your child’s pediatrician first before giving this to your child, I checked with ours. I also have never used this for more than 2 nights in a row. You can find it here on Amazon:

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For one last family travel tip – arriving a few hours BEFORE bedtime is helpful to so that they have time to explore their new digs and get comfortable. Of course, this can’t always happen but I do try for it!