How to Deal with Jet Lag on a Trip to Europe with an 18 Month Old

We go sometimes with our baby to Europe, and I have found that for kids is not difficult the time change, (it is more difficult for adults). In the second day the baby has her new schedule.

But the long trips are not very fun, so it is necesary to walk or to have toys. Travel by nigth is better.

Good look!

A.

You never know how they'll do on the long flight over there.
Our daughter stayed awake the ENTIRE time! When we got there, we took a very long nap, took a walk, had dinner, and went to bed. During the days, we carried her in the Bjorn (she was about 11 months old) and she could even nap in there. We just did our sightseeing with her needs in mind, stopping when she needed to, letting her just play when she needed to, etc. She did wake up LOTS during the night. For the first several days to a week, she would wake in the middle of the night for about an hour and insist on having the light turned on and looking at books. During the day when she napped in the hotel room, we would usually nap too. You just have to be flexible and go with the flow. If there is a carrier/backpack that your child will ride in/nap in, definitely bring it! Lots of people use strollers, but we found the carrier to be easier to navigate the old ruins/church steps/etc. Just be open-minded, have fun, and take lots of pictures!

Hi,
I have been to Europe with my Hubby before... and my Hubby and our 6 year old daughter just went there as a summer trip.

From my State (Hawaii), it takes 24-hours just to fly to Paris... it was 2 stop-overs and a 6 hour layover.
For the jet-lag... on this trip, it took both my daughter and Husband about 1 week+ just to get over the jet lag. Then by the time they had adjusted, it was time to come home.
They stayed there for 2 weeks.
It is a 12 hour time-difference for us, compared to Europe. Total opposite in day/night orientation.

BUT, what they did was go according to their body... and need for rest/naps & sleep. My Hubby, went according to my daughter and her well-being... and they would go back to their room to sleep/rest whenever they/she needed to. And they slept in and woke up when they did, naturally. The "priority" was not to have my girl go walking around for hours on end- just for the sake of sightseeing. They went there to see Disneyland Paris, and to visit my In-Laws. And to have a nice relaxing time. So, they did not feel "rushed" to go here and there. It was meant to be a leisurely trip, to experience another culture/foods/sights/smells/people...because my Hubby & I did not want our 6 year old girl to feel "pressured" or "rushed" or overwhelmed with "having to" deal with getting in the "quota" of sightseeing tourist-y venues.

So, my daughter enjoyed it
... and when she was tired, she would simply tell my Husband "I'm tired. I can't walk around anymore.... I want to go back to the room..." and that was it. No pressure. When she is older, then her experience of Europe can be more detailed. Just not yet. She did not for example, want to go to the Louver. She also did not like the Metro or trains.... it scared her & she didn't like being underground. So, she and my Hubby walked mostly everywhere, per her "stamina" for a 6 year old.

Ideally, just go with the flow...
Some say to get on the time/sleep schedule of the place you are visiting, PRIOR to your flight. But it's not real practical.
And, if possible, allow for your baby/any family member to rest/nap, when needed.

Drink lots of water too. Its supposed to help.

All the best,
Susan

We took our 11 month old to London, but have taken them to the east coast every year, and now I have a 5 and 6 year old. He will sleep. Just get new toys for the trip that he can play with (finger toys). Bring tons of snack foods, fruits and drinks. It should be fine.
Good luck

I'm not sure what your departure times are, but we just completed a trip to Hungary (10:45 minutes to Munich, 3.5 hour layover, 1 hour to Budapest, 4 hour drive to my in-laws' home) with my 21 month old. We scheduled it so that we left LAX at 9:30pm, so the kid was ready for bed. We did not purchase a seat for him, nor rent a bassinett or get seats in that row with extra legroom. He fell asleep about an hour after takeoff and didn't wake up until we landed in munich (save for about 1 hour halfway through where the darkness bored him so we watched cartoons till he feel back asleep). He spent the next 3.5 hours in Munich just running amuck in the airport, with either me or dad running after him. Then he slept again on the flight to Budapest. In Budapest, he was a little disoriented, feeling untired but it's still nighttime. The drive to my in-laws was about 3 hours long, but we stopped 3 times when he got too fidgety for the carseat at reststops so he could run around. We arrived at my in-laws' home about 3am and with all the excitement the baby feel asleep around 5am with the rest of us. We slept until about noon and were basically all reset.

On the way back, we left Budapest at 11am, so I feared he'd be awake most of the trip. THis time, however, the gate attendant changed our seat to give us the bulkhead row and got us a bassinett (for free!). Surprisingly, the baby went down for a nap after about 1.5 hours, and actually slept until about 1.5 hours before landing. Those 3 hours were tough because all he wanted to do was jump around and we couldn't let him. We carried a backpack full of new toys he hadn't seen, but they weren't interested enough for him. We tried videos which lasted him about 10 minutes... it was tough, but like I said, we got super lucky. I hope you do too!

Words of wisdom, carry a small backpack with extra clothes, diapers, drinks, snacks and some toys. We left out the snacks part by accident and he got cranky. As an infant, they don't actually get a meal, so both hubby and I had to share parts of ours, leaving us hungry!

PATIENCE is the biggest component, and also to be self-centered in that you need to focus on your baby's needs, not the distraction or discomfort of others. If your baby cries, oh well. You're never gonna see those strangers again, so don't worry about trying to please them and make THEIR flight comfortable. You'll get stares and even some comments, but don't worry about them, worry about pleasing your kid!