Timeline for Sleep Training + Holidays
I often get requests from parents wanting to start sleep training over a holiday when they’ll have time off from work, but there are some factors to consider!
Do you have time off from work (or will you be juggling the festivities with the holiday craziness)?
Is this a holiday with traditions that you will be following (especially if they are at a set time of day)?
Is this is one day or multi-day holiday/celebration?
Will there be extended family visiting – and will you be entertaining/sightseeing each day and/or will you have a full house hosting?
Wwill you be travelling?
The ideal situation to start sleep training over a holiday would be if you’re celebrating with just your spouse and child(ren):
not traveling
no (or limited) set events that would make it harder to stick to a nap/bedtime schedule
not hosting out-of-town relatives, but if you do, they are “low maintenance” meaning you won’t be sightseeing or going out to dinners – they’re content just hanging around your house – and the guest room is far enough away from baby’s room
having a minimum 3-4 days off in a row (including the weekend)
But we all know that holidays oftentimes means travelling and/or family, so here are some recommendations. Of course there are a million combinations of these so if you *think* it might be a good time, but not entirely sure, you can always set up a call with me.
Sleep Training and Time Off
If you’re hoping to start sleep training over a holiday because you’ll have time off from work and your child is at daycare, the best situation is 4 days off (or more) including weekends, and ideally taking Monday/Tuesday off. That way you can start sleep training on Friday night and have 5 nights to focus on sleep training before returning to daycare for 3 days before the next weekend.
If you have a week or two off BUT your guest room will be filled constantly with relatives/friends wanting to explore with you, that will be difficult. Sticking to the naptime and bedtime schedule for the first 1-2 weeks is crucial to make this process as easy as possible for your child.
Sleep Training and Family Traditions
Most holidays have traditions – a big meal and football for Thanksgiving, a night out to watch Fireworks on the 4th of July, egg hunts, church and brunch for Easter, etc. – and then families have their own traditions on top (or instead) of those. If you know you’ll be attending one or more religious services which will make naptime/bedtime difficult, or will be away from home all day without a quiet place for your child to sleep, it’s probably better to start at a different time.
Big family meals are also something I get asked about a lot. If that’s the only “holiday thing” you have on the schedule, some families choose to do the big dinner a bit earlier than normal (4-5pm vs 7pm). If you’ll be eating early and able to get your child down for bedtime without feeling rushed, then that could work well!
Sleep Training and the Length of holiday
Is the holiday really a one-day-and-done holiday like the 4th of July or is it a longer celebration like Christmas? If it’s one day and you have other days off, it’s a no brainer to start. But if you just have the 4th off (and it’s mid-week), it wouldn’t make sense. Speaking of the 4th, if you live in an area where neighbors set off fireworks in their backyards until all hours of the night or live by a school offering a fireworks display, I’d either make sure you have some great white noise (a white noise machine and maybe even a box fan!) or start the following night.
In general the longer the holiday – and the time off you’ll have – the more opportunity there’ll be to start sleep training.
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Sleep Training and Family/friends visiting
There are certain relatives that when they stay with you are just go-with-the-flow and say anything is fine for dinner, etc. If I didn’t live near my parents and instead had them as houseguests, I’d put them in this category. They’re happy just being around the grandkids and enjoying your company. As long as you ask/inform this type of guest ahead of time that you’ll be doing sleep training while they’re visiting and they don’t mind, I say go for it!
And then there are relatives that, ahem, are a little more needy. Maybe expecting elaborate homemade meals or going out to dinner every night, wanting to visit a museum or do some fun activity every day, need *complete* peace and quiet to sleep otherwise their vacation will be ruined…if you’re hosting this type of person/family, my recommendation is to wait. It’s really not worth the headaches you’ll have explaining why you can’t sightsee everyday with them or can’t go out to dinner because it’s past your child’s bedtime.
Maybe you just have guests who are pretty easy, but your house is filled to the brim – the guest room is occupied, someone’s sleeping on an air mattress in the home office and there are kids sleeping on the family room sleeper sofa…this is a situation where everyone is happy just being together – and with the chaos they may not even notice you starting sleep training! – but YOU may be overwhelmed with the sheer number of people in your house to focus on sleep training. Plus with that many extra people, it may be much louder during naptime and bedtime which will make learning how to fall asleep easily a lot more challenging.
Sleep Training and Traveling
This is probably the biggest factor. If you’re driving to a relative’s home and it’s only a few hours, that could work fine – you’d just time leaving with the start of nap time. If the car ride is much longer, especially if you’ll be driving over two days, I’d say it’s not a great time to start.
If you’re flying, even if it’s a short flight, your little one is likely going to either get off schedule or you’re going to fall back on sleep props. Unless you’ll be at your destination for 7-10 days at a minimum, I’d say wait.
And with traveling comes sleeping in a new environment. If you’re staying in a hotel or at a relative’s home (that isn’t at the grandparents or a VERY close family member) I personally don’t think it’s fair to the other guests/your hosts to do sleep training. Your baby will fuss in the middle of the night and at bedtime at the beginning of sleep training and most parents don’t want to bother other people’s sleep. If you ARE staying with grandparents (or a close sibling/friend) that knows how sleep deprived you have been and is fine with you starting, AND you’ll be there for more than a week AND you won’t be sharing a sleep space with your baby (or have something like this to provide separation while you sleep), then it could absolutely work!
Bottom line…Ask yourself if doing sleep training over the holiday will be one more thing to worry about/overwhelm you OR are you excited that you finally have the time and capacity to really focus on it.
If you have a gut feeling that you won’t be able to put 100% into sleep training during this time, then I’d find a better (future) time to start. Gut feelings are typically right, so you don’t want to start feeling uneasy that you made the wrong decision!
And here’s one last piece of advice…if you decide to sleep train prior to traveling for the holiday so everyone enjoys the time away more well-rested, I would start Night 1 at least 2-3 weeks prior to leaving so the new sleep skills are solidified and you won’t need a reboot after traveling!
As I mentioned, there are so many different combinations of the above factors. If you’d like to set up an evaluation call with me to discuss your plans and get some guidance on timing for sleep training, please reach out!
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This post is for informational purposes only and may not be the best fit for you, your child and/or your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your child’s physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.