Columbus, OH -- (SBWIRE) -- 11/16/2015 -- With the holidays fast-approaching, many families are beginning to firm up holiday travel plans. But as Nicole Johnson of The Baby Sleep Site® points out, all of that holiday traveling and celebrating can have a huge impact on sleep. "Nap and bedtime schedules tend to go haywire over the holidays," says Johnson, "and we see a significant uptick in visitors to our site, who are looking for help getting sleep back on track after the holiday festivities are done."
But parents can do some prep work before the holidays, says Johnson — prep work that can help to prevent sleep drama and keep naps and bedtime on track. When it comes to managing sleep during traveling, Johnson offers the following tips:
- Try to travel in the afternoon. "The morning nap is the most restorative," explains Johnson, "so it's best if it happens at home, in your child's usual sleeping area instead of on the road or in an airplane."
- Bring familiar "sleepy" objects along with you when traveling. "By bringing your child's usual sheets, favorite PJs, and lovey, you'll make an unfamiliar sleeping area more restful and sleep-inducing," says Johnson. She also recommends bringing along a white noise machine and some portable room-darkening shades in case the home you're visiting is too bright or noisy for your child to sleep comfortably.
- Offer an earlier bedtime if traveling and celebrating result in missed naps. "If your child skips naps or has unusually short naps over the holidays, bump bedtime up in order to prevent over tiredness," Johnson recommends. "Over tiredness can mean night waking and earlier-than-usual morning waking."
- A few late bedtimes may be fine, but avoid too many in a row. "You don't need to say 'no' to every evening holiday party," explains Johnson, "but too many late nights can wreak havoc on even the best sleeper's usual sleeping patterns." Instead, Johnson recommends that you keep late bedtimes to a minimum as best you can.
- After the New Year, allow several days for your child to adjust back his usual sleeping schedule. "Those few days will feel really off, most likely," says Johnson. "But spending a bit of concentrated time in order to get sleep back on track will pay off in the long run - within a matter of days, everyone will be back to normal."
For more holiday sleep tips from Johnson and her team of expert consultants, check out The Baby Sleep Site®'s holiday sleep guide.
For more information about how to help babies and toddlers sleep well, visit:
Links:
Web: http://www.babysleepsite.com
Blog: http://www.babysleepsite.com/blog
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About Nicole Johnson
Nicole Johnson is the President of The Baby Sleep Site®, which was founded in 2008. She began her journey to help moms cope with their babies' sleep schedule by leading an internet-based message board. Her goal was for new parents to overcome their own sleeping challenges much quicker than she had. Following that, she created The Baby Sleep Site® (http://www.babysleepsite.com) and expanded her offerings to include e-books, articles, a blog, and customized sleep consulting. The feedback from around the world has been incredible. The Baby Sleep Site® enjoys over 1 million visitors per month and has personally helped almost more than 25,000 families overcome their babies' sleep challenges. Nicole and her team offer professional, sound support that works.
Nicole Johnson is available for interviews by phone, email and in-person. Nicole Johnson can also offer supplementary content on various parenting topics.