Beating Jetlag!

Jetlag is no traveler’s friend. Traveling long distances and crossing lots of time zones can really mess up your body’s internal clock, for adults and children alike.

Here are some tips to beat jetlag (so it doesn’t beat you)!
Get plenty of sleep the night before a flight. It’s not a good idea to stay up late in order to make yourself tired in hopes you’ll sleep on the plane. In the end you’ll just be more tired (cause we all know plane-sleep is not the same refreshing experience as at home in your own bed).

Try to not take any type of medication to sleep. In the end it will just make your body and brain more groggy and confused.

It’s also best to avoid things on the plane or the night before that will dehydrate you like alcohol and caffeine.

For breakfast and lunch try and eat foods with lots of protein, as it will that help keep you awake and alert for adjusting to your new time zone. At night eat carbs (which i can assure you will not be hard to find in Italy ). Or also foods with our favourite sleepy-time-inducing amino acid Tryptophan (chicken, turkey, lentils, chocolate, cheese, yogurt, eggs, white rice, etc.)

The ideal flight would be a red-eye, so you can sleep at a normal time and wake up when you arrive during the morning or early afternoon at your destination.

If you are going to be taking a flight that will be flying during the day light hours and are hoping to get some sleep, it can really help to get an sleeping mask.

Fight that urge to nap as soon as you arrive to your hotel/apartment! It’s better if you go to bed just a bit earlier than usual instead. You can certainly take it easy, and maybe a very short power-nap…but make sure to set an alarm so that you don’t end up sleeping all day.

When you arrive, look to immediately get your stomach on schedule with your new time zone. if you arrive at the lunch hour, eat lunch, if you arrive at dinner, have dinner (even if a light one)….This helps get your brain synchronized with what time it is too.

When planning your trip, I’ve heard it’s beneficial to break up the trip a few times. Layovers, or even switching from plane to train, gives you the ability to cross time zones more slowly and also get up and move around. This of course depends on how far you are traveling…obviously it only makes sense if you are going to be going a long distance!

For lots of super tips on jet lag with babies and children, take a look at this excellent page on the “Delicious Baby” (maybe a questionable choice of words for a website name, but a really great source of info!)