Aulani time change with a 2 year old

[Keira1387]

Am I crazy? We are looking at going to Hawaii with a 2 1/2 dd. trip would be next year. Very nervous about a 6 hour time change with a toddler. We are eastern time. Anyone do this with any success? Thanks for any info.

Also, feel free to add any tips for Aulani with a toddler.

 

[TeeterTots]

I'd like to know this too! I think we may stay a night or two in CA on the way there and back. My kids a little older DD4.5yrs, DS 20 months.

 

[Sir William]

I suspect your toddler will do better than you. We travel a lot and I remember our kids, when young, adjusted to time zone changes much faster and easier than adults. Only took them a day or so to completely adjust. We just let them eat and sleep when they wanted on the travel day and the next full day and by the next day they were adjusted.

 

[Keira1387]

I suspect your toddler will do better than you. We travel a lot and I remember our kids, when young, adjusted to time zone changes much faster and easier than adults. Only took them a day or so to completely adjust. We just let them eat and sleep when they wanted on the travel day and the next full day and by the next day they were adjusted.

Thank you so much for this info! This is giving me hope that we can do it!

 

[TeeterTots]

Thank you so much for this info! This is giving me hope that we can do it!

Me too

 

[alohamom]

I think it totally depends on the child. My daughter was always able to do time changes without an issue, we just kept her up as late as possible on the first night and she would always sleep later the next day to compensate. Based on this, I thought my son would be the same but he was a very scheduled child, and the result was he was up at 3 in the morning-wide awake and raring to go for the first few days of the Hawaii trip we took with him when he was just about 1. If you are prepared to have this happen, ie. quiet toys and a little snack plus your own being able to get up then it is not a big deal. I found it just made for very early mornings and early evenings for the first few days and then it was ok. The pools all shut down very early anyway LOL!

 

[SevenWonkas]

Hello! We went to Hawaii with our son when he had just turned two, and again last month at 3.5 years. We are also on Eastern Time.

On our first trip, he napped during the flight on his typical schedule (didn't nap the second time). We also ate on our typical "Eastern" schedule both trips. Well, he pretty much snacked most of the 9-hour flight he first time, because that kept him happy! Anyway, the big change for us was once we landed. By the time we landed and got to our resort (both times) it was nearing dinner time in Hawaii.... Way past bedtime at home. We put him to bed for a nap for an hour or two, and then got him up for dinner. He was NOT happy about being woken up from a deep sleep, but we worked it out. We then kept him awake until about 8 or so, and we all went to sleep!

DS has always been a good sleeper, sleeping 12+ hours at night, and never tried to get out of his crib. At home if he woke up and it was dark and/or he didn't hear us up, he'd just lay contently in bed. When we went to Hawaii the first time he was still in a pack and play. We just made sure the room was as dark as possible (closing the curtains), and he had no issues waking up with us (or later!). I remember waking up a bit early the first couple days (sunrise-ish), but after that we all woke up around 8 or so.
On our trip last month he woke up at 1 A.M. that first night! 7 A.M. our time! We opened his curtains a bit (he had his own room) and told him he can't get out of bed until the sun comes up. That worked, and for the rest of the trip he waited for the sun before coming to get us. (We even forgot to open his curtains one time, and he was still waiting in bed for the sun to come out when we got up!) This worked for us because he is a low-key kid. If he was one to get out of bed the second he gets up we would've been in bad shape!

 

[Keira1387]

Hello! We went to Hawaii with our son when he had just turned two, and again last month at 3.5 years. We are also on Eastern Time.

On our first trip, he napped during the flight on his typical schedule (didn't nap the second time). We also ate on our typical "Eastern" schedule both trips. Well, he pretty much snacked most of the 9-hour flight he first time, because that kept him happy! Anyway, the big change for us was once we landed. By the time we landed and got to our resort (both times) it was nearing dinner time in Hawaii.... Way past bedtime at home. We put him to bed for a nap for an hour or two, and then got him up for dinner. He was NOT happy about being woken up from a deep sleep, but we worked it out. We then kept him awake until about 8 or so, and we all went to sleep!

DS has always been a good sleeper, sleeping 12+ hours at night, and never tried to get out of his crib. At home if he woke up and it was dark and/or he didn't hear us up, he'd just lay contently in bed. When we went to Hawaii the first time he was still in a pack and play. We just made sure the room was as dark as possible (closing the curtains), and he had no issues waking up with us (or later!). I remember waking up a bit early the first couple days (sunrise-ish), but after that we all woke up around 8 or so.
On our trip last month he woke up at 1 A.M. that first night! 7 A.M. our time! We opened his curtains a bit (he had his own room) and told him he can't get out of bed until the sun comes up. That worked, and for the rest of the trip he waited for the sun before coming to get us. (We even forgot to open his curtains one time, and he was still waiting in bed for the sun to come out when we got up!) This worked for us because he is a low-key kid. If he was one to get out of bed the second he gets up we would've been in bad shape!

Thank you so much for this information! I booked Our trip to Aulani thanks to the help of everyone. I think we can do this!

 

[karatstravels]

My husband was worse than my 2 kids, and we are on the west coast. He was up at 3am every morning and snoring by 9pm. Good thing Aulani has no nightlife

 

[Keira1387]

My husband was worse than my 2 kids, and we are on the west coast. He was up at 3am every morning and snoring by 9pm. Good thing Aulani has no nightlife

That was my thought too. How bad would it be really if we were up every morning for the sun rise!

 

[Moniqu17]

When we went to Hawaii a few years back with a 1.5 yr old and we never fully adjusted. We would end up going to bed around 8:30pm and up by 5am but that worked out ok for us. There wasn't much to do where we were on the Big Island after 8pm anyway.

 

[alohamom]

That was my thought too. How bad would it be really if we were up every morning for the sun rise!

This is one of the reasons I love going to Hawaii-the sunrises are just as beautiful as the sunsets! You will have so much fun, good for you for booking!

 

[MickeyLovestheU]

We did it January 2014 with our twin 18 month old girls from Miami. We did a red eye that left at 6PM ET had a layover in Las Vegas at 1:00 AM and got into Hawaii at 6:30 AM local time. They slept for most of the flight to Vegas and were up for half of the flight to Oahu. We went right to Pearl Harbor from the airport and let them eat breakfast and run around before doing the tour at 9:00AM. We left Pearl Harbor at 11:00AM drove towards Ko Olina and stopped at the Target on the way. We checked in at 1:00PM and let the girls sleep during their normal nap time. We napped with them and then we all got up and explored Aulani. We all made it to bed around 8:00PM and the girls were both asleep by 9:00 PM. They were up around 6:00AM the next morning and by the second day were on their normal schedule. We did the red eye on the way home as well, I really think that helped them and they definitely handled the time change better than my wife and I.
WE ARE SO GLAD THEY CAME WITH US!

 

[Keira1387]

First of all, your twins are absouletly adorable! Thank you so much for posting! I think if you guys handled two, DH and I should be able to handle one! I have been thinking a red eye would be the way to as far as the flights , so thank you for sharing about your flight!