Holiday Sleep Tips
We all know the holidays are coming, which means parties, late nights, early mornings, and busy schedules. This affects our baby’s schedule and it can be hard to get them back on track when there is so much going on. I’m hoping that this blog post can be your guide through the holidays to get you through the busy schedules and turn out in January without too much trouble.
The question I find a lot of parents asking is whether to go to late holiday parties or whether to skip them in favor of bedtime. This will take a bit of planning and picking and choosing on your part as the parent. I wouldn’t advise skipping every family event in favor of bedtime; making memories through the holidays is a big priority. However, I would suggest limiting late bedtimes to once- twice at the very most- each week.
So how do we balance the late nights? If you know an event is going to keep you out of the house past bedtime, you can balance it with an early bedtime the night before or the night after. So if you have a family party on Friday night, pick Thursday night or Saturday night to have an early night. In addition- if your child starts waking early after a late night, it is a sign of being overtired and you should add another night or two of early bedtime to catch up on sleep.
If putting Baby down at your event is an option, this might be a good alternative to just keeping your baby up the whole time. You know your child best. If you feel like your child will be able to transfer from the temporary sleeping spot to the car to their bed, definitely go for that. If you know your child will wake up and not go back to sleep, it may be best to keep your child awake until you get home. If you do preserve bedtime and transfer your child, watch their cues for overtiredness the next day. Still use an early bedtime if they show early sleep signs or extra crankiness in the evening.
On days when you may spend the whole day away from home- Thanksgiving or Christmas- make sure to bring some comforts from home to try and preserve naptimes. A pack-n-play, a favorite blanket or lovey, a portable white noise machine, and something to cover windows are all great tools to keep naps on track while in someone else’s home.
For longer travel away from home, all the same information in my Summer Travel Blog will still apply here, so check that one out as well.
If you need help with your baby’s sleep through the holidays, or if you’re reading this after the holidays and things are off track, click over to my Work With Me page to book a one-on-one support package.
