Beating Jet Lag?

[monzmom]

Howdy all! We leave for WDW in 33 days Pinkbounc ) and I wanted to get some tips on how to quickly recover from jet lag. This is my 6 year old DD's first cross country trip. We're taking a red-eye out of SFO and will land at MCO at 11 AM the following morning. Does anyone have any tips on how to get adjusted to a new time zone?

TIA! DU

 

[tink2dw]

Leave your watch on Calif. time then you can better schedule your childs meal, naps and bedtimes to what it is at home. then nap will be on time and you won't be wondering why your childs so cranky.

 

[Muffy]

Try melatonin! suppose to help with jet lag.

 

[NCRedding]

I've found a west to east flights (USA to Europe), I do much better if I stay awake the first day until a reasonable bed time and sleep through the night, getting up on the new time at a reasonable hour. Last trip to Scotland, I arrived at 9 am, and forced myself to stay awake until 8 pm that night. Slept through til about 8 the next am and had no jet lag. The first day was rough, but the rest of my week was great. Not sure if that is a good plan of action for just a 3 hour difference or a 3 year old child, but it worked for me.

 

[KarenT]

That may be hard since Florida is 3 hours ahead so if your child is used to going to sleep at 8PM it will be like trying to get them to sleep at 5PM Cali time. With a red eye flight you should be tired out pretty early though. You really won't feel too much jet lag, but it will be VERY hard to get up in the morning and get going. 8AM is 5 AM at home UGH! I think after a day at the parks you'll adjust to the time without a problem. Oh, and drink lots of water on your flight. That is supposed to help also. Have fun and tell Mickey I'm comming.



KarenT

 

[BostonTigger]

Would the staying awake thing work for the red eye? My thought is to have you child stay awake just a little longer in hopes that they will sleep for most of the flight. It may keeping your child awake for about three more hours than usual I don't know, but it's just a thought.


Steven

 

[tjmw2727]

Actually we have found the opposite! I recommend changing your time to the adjusted (FL) time asap, we usually do it an hour or two into the flight. We have traveled across country with our kids (now 6&8) many times including even Boston to Hawaii. A key for us is to keep hydraded - lots of water or even diluted juice or lemonaide, avoid milk if you can. Let her sleep when she is ready on the airplane and don't worry, they seem to adjust better than we do at the destination. The first day at WDW take it slow and at her pace, likely you will all be pretty excited and run on adrenaline (sp?). Plan on being in the hotel and to bed at a reasonable Florida time and go from there. Have a great trip.
TJ

 

[EmptyNester]

I think it's much more difficult to adjust to West-East travel than East-West.

Drink plenty of fluids on the plane(water is best). Try to start "living" in local time ASAP - i.e. if it's lunch time when you arrive - eat at least a light lunch; same with Dinner. Go to bed when it's "bedtime" locally - an early bedtime is OK. With little ones, maybe a short morning/afternoon nap could be beneficial, but chances are, your DD will be so excited about being at WDW, she won't want to take a nap! Try to take it easy the first day (no commando park trips) and you'll be ready to go the next morning!

Enjoy your trip!

-Sharon

 

[d'Isigny]

be advised...red eye cross country can be a bit of a challenge. We did this on our 2000 trip and did not have the best luck - At Atlanta....we had to go from one end of the airport to the other...AND the tram was 'down for maintance'.

One main advantage of a 'red eye'....your flight will prob be empty...you can usually get a row of seats and try to get some sleep.

Try to avoid alchol and cafeene...drink plenty of water.

...we start getting up 1 hour earlier 2 weeks before going...then, 2 hours the week we go.

I agree with those that recommend 'staying up' to get used to the time difference ---- as soon as you can.

Plan on 'taking it easy' the following day. An afternoon nap is 'highly suggested'.

Take coloring books...etc to keep 'little ones' busy if they are unable (won't) to fall asleep on the plane.

Finally, 'keep your sence of humor'...a long flight, excitement, and WDW anticpation is 'alot' for little ones to handle.

Safe travel and have a wonderful time.

 

[monzmom]

Thanks for the tips everyone. We're only 14 days away from the trip and I'm am so excited. We'll take your advice and take it easy on the first day. We'll probably explore the resort (ASMu), do some window shopping at DTD, and then do an early dinner & an early bedtime for the entire family.

Thanks again for your help! DU

 

[disneefamily]

Disnee Dad Says.....................................See if you can check in right away. The first time we did red eye, we were able to check in by 8:30am! Took a three hour nap that was as good as a whole nights sleep. The last trip it was a little bit of a problem, we couldn't check in, so we went to EPCOT on no sleep! Well DD slept fine on the flight so she was ok. By 1:00pm we were wiped, checked in , slept for a couple hours and were good as new.
Be careful with that early to bed plan, 9:00pm is 6:00pm west coast time. Set your clock ahead as soon as you leave SFO. When we land at Atlanta it is better on the mind to think "god it's 6:00 am gotta get coffee and food", rather than " oh my god it's 3:00 am(west coast time), what the hell was I thinking!"

 

[Luvdancink]

Maybe you can go to Disney Quest for a couple of hours on your first day and spend part of it at the pool? Save the parks for day #2


~Kristy

 

[SamSam]

We have always found that going on your 'destinations' time as soon as your flight starts is helpful. When you arrive at your destination, you are on there time and so the first day may be a little 'strange', but I think it helps you adjust faster to local time.
With a little one, it's important to allow regular naptimes, even if it's only resting and not sleeping.