Travel, time zones, and kids

[Rachel]

Just out of curiosity if you travel for a week or less to a completely different time zone, do you keep your kids (elementary or younger) on approximately their normal schedule?

We are eastern time zone people that just visited the pacific time zone for a week. The first 2-3 days it was just us and we did keep our kids on about the same schedule. For example the hotel breakfast wasn’t open when we woke up at 4 local time, so we would have fruit in the room and then more of a brunch later. The first couple nights we were in bed at 7 local time which was really late for our kids normal bedtimes.

We later were visiting family and my SIL seemed really insistent that if we normally eat at 6:00 at home and send the kids to bed at 8, it was perfectly normal to do the same in another time zone. When our kids were falling apart due to hunger or tiredness she seemed to think it odd.  When I explained that their bodies thought it was three hours later than the time the clock showed she just kind of  acted like I was silly. The second day I got wise and made sure I had substantial snacks available for my kids to eat between meals. 

My kids in general are very routine oriented and it all worked out in the end, but I’m curious what you usually do. 

[Farrar]

When my kids were little, they got up at an obscenely early hour, so there was no way that would have worked. I also think... you want to enjoy your time there. If the kids are in bed at 5pm, that's going to put a massive damper on things, especially if you're somewhere trying to sightsee or something.

That said, your SIL was obviously a bit obtuse. I mean, obviously they're going to be out of sync and need to adjust and while it would be normal to put the kids on a local schedule, it would also be normal to try and put them on some sort of in between schedule or even try to keep them more or less on your home time zone.

[Arcadia]

Ours is the reverse direction as we went from Pacific time zone to Eastern time zone. My kids go by sunrise and sunset so they woke up when the sunrise and slept hours after sunset. My oldest has a habit of eating every few hours so it doesn’t matter which time zone he is in. My youngest would want to have whatever touristy food oldest is trying so he eats as frequently as oldest when we are on holiday.

Your SIL should understand jet lag.

[Rachel]

8 minutes ago, Farrar said:

When my kids were little, they got up at an obscenely early hour, so there was no way that would have worked. I also think... you want to enjoy your time there. If the kids are in bed at 5pm, that's going to put a massive damper on things, especially if you're somewhere trying to sightsee or something.

That said, your SIL was obviously a bit obtuse. I mean, obviously they're going to be out of sync and need to adjust and while it would be normal to put the kids on a local schedule, it would also be normal to try and put them on some sort of in between schedule or even try to keep them more or less on your home time zone.

Yeah, I think middle ground would have been reasonable.   It all worked out but thinking about the future I want to make sure my expectations are reasonable.

[Rachel]

6 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

Ours is the reverse direction as we went from Pacific time zone to Eastern time zone. My kids go by sunrise and sunset so they woke up when the sunrise and slept hours after sunset. My oldest has a habit of eating every few hours so it doesn’t matter which time zone he is in. My youngest would want to have whatever touristy food oldest is trying so he eats as frequently as oldest when we are on holiday.

Your SIL should understand jet lag.

She should. Usually she comes here and understandably doesn’t want to do anything in the morning. 

I’ve heard it is easier to travel west than east but I don’t have a ton of experience with it. Usually we are going to central time zone and an hour difference doesn’t seem to matter much. 

[madteaparty]

No, though jetlag is real. I’m going to Europe twice this month and basically DD is a crazy early riser now 😞 by accident I’ve not fully changed my own time zone when I’ve been gone an extra long weekend, but that’s not a desirable thing and not something I’d try with the kids.

Edited March 6, 2019 by madteaparty

[Rachel]

1 minute ago, madteaparty said:

No, though jetlag is real. I’m going to Europe twice this month and basically DD is a crazy early riser now 😞 

Oh poor girl! That’s a much bigger time difference than my measly three hours. 

[J-rap]

We generally try to transition to the present time zone we're in, even if it's only a week.  We might not get there completely in just a week, but even waking up at 6am is better than waking up at 4am!  Plus, if there are evening events, you don't want to be going to sleep at 7pm if you can help it.

We've been on the road for about 6 weeks now, waking up in a different time zone about every week.  We don't have children with us this time around, but even when we had young children, we'd try and keep up with the present time zone.  Of course with babies and toddlers who are on a set schedule, I guess you have to go with the flow.

[Acorn]

I’m embarrassed to write this but I have a hard time with even Daylight Savings. It takes me a couple months before the wake and sleep times, and hunger adjusts. I think I am just sensitive and my body likes a routine.

[SKL]

We don't usually do anything about the time zone differences.  We sleep at night and wake up and eat in the morning etc.  That said, our schedule at home isn't super strict to begin with, and we usually have snacks available between meals, so it isn't a difficult adjustment.

But if my kids are acting tired and I explain "they are tired," what's not to understand? 

[mumto2]

For a week I would simply adjust to a level that makes life work......

When we first move to England I tried to force our bodies to instantly adjust but someone always got sick.  The return to England seems to be harder on us so now I try not to schedule much the first week back and my family follows my lead.

[Bootsie]

My kids were never routine enough for it to make much difference.  There were often enough other factors, like having to get up at a time that was not normal to catch a flight or the sun setting much earlier than what we were used to, that the time difference didn't really stand out much in an entirely different setting

[Clemsondana]

We've traveled across time zones since the kids were tiny, staying anywhere from a week to a month.  Usually we adapt fairly quickly to something close to local time.  We've done it in both directions - we lived in NM when the kids were little and visited family in the southeast, and once we moved to the southeast we visited NM most years.  We usually wind up maybe an hour off from normal, but with the change in activities compared to our usual at home schedule I'm not sure that the time zones make too much difference.  We seem to be highly influenced by light, so getting up when it's really dark, or sleeping through a lot of light, usually doesn't happen.