How do you help your preschooler with jet-lag for the European cruises?

[coloradocutie]

How do you help your little one with the jet lag required for the European cruises? Do you have them push through on the first day, as an adult would? Do you fly in a few days early? How do you optimize the travel to Europe for the little ones so that they can enjoy their European cruise?

Thanks in advance!

 

[disneyholic family]

the adults need to fly in a few days early - i don't know about the toddlers...
i'm trying to remember how our kids reacted on the return flights home after 3 weeks in WDW..(we cross seven time zones to get home from WDW)..
if memory serves the jet lag hit them less as toddlers than when they were in school....
but i honestly don't recall...

but in any case, the adults need the the days to acclimate, so at least 2 days early is highly recommended, if not more..

 

[Snyders22000]

We traveled to Europe this past summer with our 7,5, and 3 year olds. It was the 12 night Norway/Iceland cruise. We flew in 3 days early to Copenhagen to help adjust to the time change before the cruise. We left our hometown (TN) mid morning, and after all connections and overnight flight, arrived in Copenhagen around 2 pm their time. We pushed through to keep everyone awake until around 7 pm (I'll admit 3 year was grumpy) and then crashed lol. We slept in the next few days (only until around 9 am) and it was kind of nice because due to the time change kids felt like staying up later than they do at home (until around 9-10 pm) and sleeping in. By the time we got on the ship we were over the jet lag. Coming home wasn't too bad either and took us 1-2 days to adjust. My advice would be to fly in 3 days early. This gives you time to adjust to the time change but also an extra cushion in case of delays. We also really enjoyed having that time to explore Copenhagen before the cruise. Good luck!

 

[TrySomethingNew]

Toddlers and kids seem to be a little more flexible in adjusting than adults, but a couple days to adjust is helpful as PP suggests. However, your kid's temperament will play a role. For example, my oldest was a nightmare whenever they missed a half hour of sleep one night (exponentially worse if more was missed). Other kid much more able to adjust and deal with changed schedule, missed sleep. Good luck and have a fun trip!

 

[bumbershoot]

At least with a kid that age you could carry them in a pinch. My son was unbearable with jet lag but he was 10 and nearing my height.

Seems no matter what we do we (my son and I) hit a wall on the 4th day. That's for plain old east coast or to Europe. Push through or sleep early, we hit that wall and have to sleep.

 

[aggiedog]

I think it depends on the kids. If you have kids that NEED their nap, make sure you plan time for that. Our kids usually handle jet lag better than the adults, though it didn't bother them to be up and chipper at 4:00am, while the adults just wanted to sleep. I also think it's a good idea to get to your departure city, or even just Europe, a few days ahead for multiple reasons. If you're making the trek to Europe, make it count with more days there. It's safer to plan to arrive at least 24 hours ahead, incase of flight delays. Our flight to Rome was delayed 18 hours once. We weren't cruising, but we did miss an entire day of touring we'd had planned.

 

[tee11]

It's super hard for adults, sometimes, so don't expect kids to be able to push through - it depends on your arrival time in Europe - I've arrived at 8am frequently as an adult and have NEVER been able to push through.
Arrive several days early.
If you arrive in am, force everyone to take a midday NAP - set an alarm though.
If arriving in pm try to hang on until 6 or 7pm and then everyone goes to bed.
Don't make any plans for that arrival day (dinner, shows, events,...)

 

[o&smom]

Arriving a few days early always helps. We also take a low dose chewable melatonin to help reset everyone to the new time zone. Our kids have adjusted pretty quickly when we have flown overseas. Enjoy your trip!

 

[PurplePencil]

It's hard (from experience) for kids to sleep on the plane. Try encouraging them to dim or turn off electronics (including the screen in seat) and to stay quite or close their eyes. This helps adjust to time difference

 

[Mil leech]

We traveled to Europe this past summer with our 7,5, and 3 year olds. It was the 12 night Norway/Iceland cruise. We flew in 3 days early to Copenhagen to help adjust to the time change before the cruise. We left our hometown (TN) mid morning, and after all connections and overnight flight, arrived in Copenhagen around 2 pm their time. We pushed through to keep everyone awake until around 7 pm (I'll admit 3 year was grumpy) and then crashed lol. We slept in the next few days (only until around 9 am) and it was kind of nice because due to the time change kids felt like staying up later than they do at home (until around 9-10 pm) and sleeping in. By the time we got on the ship we were over the jet lag. Coming home wasn't too bad either and took us 1-2 days to adjust. My advice would be to fly in 3 days early. This gives you time to adjust to the time change but also an extra cushion in case of delays. We also really enjoyed having that time to explore Copenhagen before the cruise. Good luck!

Quick question for you, we are doing the 11 night in 2017, do people dress up more or less on the European cruises? could you use the pool at all? Thanks for the help... due to work, we are only flying in the day before with DD7...

 

[jrabbit]

i would strongly suggest limiting the PED's on the flights over. And turn off the screen in the seat back. Help them to wind down and get some sleep. I find that on a multi leg flight that I am able to sleep / rest better on the second leg rather than the first (so I try to book flights with a shorter first leg and longer second - ie Seattle to Salt Lake to Orlando vs Seattle to Atlanta to Orlando)

Studies have shown that the light given off by phones, tablets, kindles, etc will stimulate you and keep you from sleeping well (reading a book on a tablet before bed is way worse than reading a real book). Kids seem to be able to squirm around and get comfy in plane seats as opposed to me (6-2 and 250lbs).

Then once you arrive at your destination, get outside and move around - sunlight and fresh air help to fight jet lag. We have visited museums first thing after arriving at our destination (London, Barcelona, Paris, etc after flying from the west coast) and they can help if the weather is not cooperating. We find that walking around the city to be the best.

Good Luck and have a great trip.