Getting over 15 Hours Jet Lag

Updated on June 14, 2008
L.H. asks from Pomona, CA
11 answers

My 9 months old son and I had just got back from Asia and now he is going through jet lag. Before we left he would sleep through the night but now he wakes up once or twice and it is very hard to get him back to sleep. Do you have any tips to get him back to sleeping through the night? His day time schedule is already back to normal. He takes 1.5 hours nap in the morning and in the afternoon. Tonight is our 3rd night back.

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S.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter and I travel to Sweden every year. It is always the same thing. It takes about 7-10 days to get back to normal.
No fun but that's how it goes. Good Luck

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K.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Try cherries, juice works great as well as fresh cherries. They are high in melatonin and really help you sleep. I buy the natural juice with no added sugar from Henry's or Trader Joes. You can also find it in the health food section of your market. Give him 1-2 oz about 3 hours before bed, diluted with water of course.

I just discovered this and it has worked great with my DD who has never slept through the night on a regular basis. Here is the article that was passed on to me from another mommy board. It says that cherries help ease jet lag and hasten sleep. We tried it and it really works! I am in love with cherries right now. It may be worth a try for you.

http://www.choosecherries.com/Uploads/Documents/859023473...

1 mom found this helpful
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V.A.

answers from Santa Barbara on

Hi L.,

Be patient. It can take a week to get over it. Just be really calm at night when he wakes up and don't turn on any lights.

V.

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S.H.

answers from Los Angeles on

We went through this on a much smaller scale traveling from the West coast to the East coast. It will take about a week to get him back on his schedule at night. Try to let him cry it out, he sounds as if hes just overly tired. Good Luck!

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M.C.

answers from Honolulu on

It will take about a week. Give him and you a break from the regular schedule of activities until he is sleeping again. This is the part of travelling with little ones that really stinks. I live on Maui and travel to the east coast with my two little ones every year and it really is awful. We stay on our trip for 6 weeks because the jetlag is such a factor, that I only want to do this trip once a year! And Japan is further. It will get better every day.

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S.V.

answers from Los Angeles on

I know it's hard sometimes, but please put this in perspective. It takes some adults up to a week to recuperate from very long distance travel, and we have lots more experience of sleep than little ones! You are very lucky that his daytime schedule is back in place, and the nights will follow soon enough. Whatever you do, don't cut the daytime naps short to "encourage" night time sleep. That will make it worse. I'll bet that he's back to normal at night by day 6.

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J.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi L.:
Ahhh poor lil guy.He doesn't merely have (Jet lag) His problem is the time change.When he left Asia,It may have been early morning,and when he arrived back home, it may have been early morning here! Hes just mixed up . It may take him a little time to get back into the swing of things.I'd suggest eliminating his afternoon nap, but that may make him over tired and unable to sleep by evening. I'd say,let him sleep right now when ever he needs to,until he gets back on track. He will eventualy be caught up with his rest,and our hours. Have patients mama.That was quite a trip,for a lil guy. I wish you and your sweet son the best.

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J.L.

answers from Los Angeles on

Hi L.,

We're from California but we live in Dublin, Ireland right now. The time difference is eight hours, and the flight is 10-11. I've read that it takes one day for each time zone you pass through -- so I keep that in mind when I am adjusting my toddler back to Dublin time (I often get impatient with this process because I love when he is right on schedule). So, be patient and remember that it takes some time! You will find with each passing day that your son is getting back on track. I find that it is much easier going west (to Cali) than coming east. There, he seems to adjust within a day or so -- but coming back here, it's a solid week till he achieves his 8 p.m. bed time and sleeps through the night. Good luck!

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S.B.

answers from San Diego on

As Josephine said, it takes about a day to adjust to each hour of time change. I'm from California, but live in Germany (9 hours ahead of CA). I have travelled back-and-forth between Germany and CA since my 9-year-old son was 8 months old. The thing that helps our family adjust to the time change is getting our stomachs onto the local time. For the first few days, we eat according to the clock rather than following our hunger cues. We found that we woke up at night because our stomachs were still on the time zone of the place we came from. Once our stomachs got onto the right time zone, our sleep patterns quickly followed suit.

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P.M.

answers from Honolulu on

We live in Hawaii and every time we go to visit our home town, Indiana, we get this huge jet lag. I watched a special on the Discovery Channel and they suggested to expose yourself to sunlight to help reset your clocks. After a 15 hours filgt and a 6 hour time difference, we headed to the beach for 4 hours and our jet lag was over in about 2 days. Go to the beach or park to keep your body thinking it is still day, and you will be fine!

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L.A.

answers from San Diego on

It will run it's course.

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