Young Children And Time Zones

[boppia]

I am planning to travel abroad sometime in the near future with my child and I'm worried that she may not be able to adapt to the time change. We will be going to the US so there will be a 12 hour change in time. My child is only 2 so she has her special hours of the day for sleeping as well as her bedtime at night. We will have to run on the opposite hours and I'm not sure what is going to happen. Well only be there for a few weeks. Will she end up sleeping during the day and be awake during the night? Will she get jet lag? Does anyone have any experience travelling with young kids into such a drastic time change?

[donx]

I have traveled several times to Thailand from the US and back with our small children. Every time we did it it took several days for them to adjust to the new time zone. Generally, they would adjust about 2 to 3 hours a day so that within 4 or 5 days they were adjusted to the new time zone.

[guardian]

My son was 1 and half years old when we went to the US from here. Stayed for about 2 months and returned. He adjusted well both ways. Did not get any jet lag or waking up in the night or sleeping in the daytime.

Guardian

[Thaiboxer]

It's always harder jet lag wise coming here than going back to the States across the Pacific. I think small kids should adjust even more easily than us adults; they also seem to sleep well on planes.

[donx]

Last year, my wife and two kids returned to the US and they had a flight that went from Bangkok to Korea and then onto San Francisco. They all slept the entire way from Korea to San Fran. Then they had a flight from San Fran to Washington which was a red-eye. My wife said the kids made the entire plane upset because they were wide awake for the entire night flight.

Obviously, my kids are quite different from guardian's and Thaiboxer's experiences. I'd be interested to hear how your daughter responds.

[Thaiboxer]

We're going to travel to the States with our baby son this year, so it will be a first for us.

[boppia]

Well, from the posts so far it looks as if there's a good chance we will survive. I worry that my daughter will irritate the other passengers too. I often wonder if we should try to keep her up late so that she feels absolutely tired and goes straight to sleep once we take off.

Thanks for the responses.

Edited August 4, 2006 by boppia

[daleyboy]

Our son was 2 months when we flew into bkk from the uk and 3 months when we flew back. He certainly seemed to suffer jet lag for a few days in each direction, the one bonus though he slept all the way there and all the way back

[boppia]

I hope mine does too.

[guardian]

keep us updated on how your kids cope up with the jet lag.

guardian