How to help your kids conquer jet lag FAST!!

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Over the last several years, we’ve become pros at taking long flights and jet lag.  Not only would we travel at least yearly from our home in the Middle East, back to the US (22 hours of flying +10 hour time change), but even a shorter trip for us was usually a 4 hour flight and a 3 hour time change.

2017-08-23 04.28.51 So, with 5 kids in tow, we figured out pretty quickly that if we didn’t want all of our travel to revolve around dealing with jet lag, we had to come up with a system FAST!

Now, before I sill the beans and tell you all our secrets, I want to let you know that our kids can usually get over jet lag in ONE DAY.

2017-08-23 04.29.13

All of our tips are shared in the video below, but here is the simple formula:

1.  NO NAPS!!  I know this seems counterintuitive, but just push through it and stay up until bed time (or as close as you can).

2.  As soon as you get on the plane, change your watch to the time of your destination.  Start on the plane having your kids nap at regular times and sleep when it would be night at your destination.

3.  Melatonin is your best friend.  We start giving it to our kids around age 2 to start resetting their internal clocks.  It’s priceless for those plane rides when it’s daytime at home, but night at your destination – Melatonin to the rescue for sleepy kids!

About Jessica Averett

Hi, I’m Jessica, a mom of 5 kids and married to my favorite adventure partner. I love to bike, ski, camp and hike. We've visited over 40 countries with our kids, but are equally happy on the road as we are exploring our home state of Utah.

2 thoughts on “How to help your kids conquer jet lag FAST!!”

  1. Water is your best friend. It will flood your system, flush out those toxins that built up on the plane and get your body ready to face the next adventure. Stay hydrated throughout your trip.

    Reply

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