5 Ways to Help Your Baby Nap On The Go

Are you daunted by traveling with your baby and keeping their sleep schedule? After traveling for 5 months I've learned a lot and can share my tips to help your baby nap on the go.

Kymani napping in the Canadian Rockies

1. Get Your Baby Used to the Carrier

One of my top travel tips is to use a carrier instead of a stroller, but that's a whole other post. Whether you will be using a carrier or a stroller is up to you, either way you need to get your baby used to being in it. Before we started traveling, I would put him into the carrier near nap time and take him for a walk around the neighbourhood or a park. I would try to walk for at least an hour to ensure he fell into a deep sleep. Having him used to sleeping in the carrier at home really helped our transition to traveling.

2. Bring a Comfort Item

Your baby can thrive on new adventures, but they will seek comfort from familiarity. For most babies this will be a pacifier or blanket they always have. If you do things while traveling to recreate their normal sleep environment it will go a lot smoother. For us, this meant bringing his own travel crib so he would have a consistent place to sleep. I would advise testing anything new at home before implementing it while traveling.

Kymani on his first international flight!

3. Dress Your Baby Comfortably

If I asked what would help you sleep while traveling, I am sure your response would be to say you'd wear comfortable clothes. It's no different for your baby, they will sleep better in comfortable clothes. This can be as simple as avoiding buttons and zippers so there's no pressure points. For us, this meant footed pyjamas if it will be at all chilly - think in the airport or anywhere with ac. Just remember to size them up in the carrier so their toes don't get squished!

4. Don’t Stress About Their Sleep Schedule

Since we knew we were going to be traveling with him, we focused from birth on having a routine rather than a schedule. Instead of stressing ourselves out about always having him in bed at the exact same time, we concentrated on following the same steps: for us at bedtime, this was nursing, bathing, pyjamas and then bed.

Kymani napping in the ocean

Kymani napping on the beach

Barbados was good for naps

Kymani napping on a tour through the floating village in Cat Ba, Vietnam

Many people will recommend having a stricter routine - white noise and a dark room being the most common. However, this can become a crutch and make napping anywhere more complicated. We avoided always putting him to bed in a dark room with white noise to allow more flexibility while travelling. This did get harder as he aged, and by seven months we did find we had to keep the room darker and quieter at bedtime for him. Just remember if you're booking a room and not a suite you will be in the same room as baby after bedtime.

Kymani napping in Dubai

5. Be Aware of Wake Windows

If your travels will take you through multiple time zones then you really want to pay attention to your baby's wake windows. They say it takes a day to adjust for every hour in time difference, and focusing on this instead of specific times can make your life easier.

Essentially, instead of making our baby nap at the same time every single day, we focus on how long he was awake between sleep sessions. When he was 6 months old, this meant encouraging a nap two hours after he first woke up. Each age has different lengths for wake windows so make sure to check what is considered average for your baby.

Kymani sleeping through meeting an eagle in Da Lat, Vietnam

Traveling with your baby can seem overwhelming, but you are their whole world and having you there counts more than you think. They will learn to enjoy the time exploring with you and you will create precious memories.