Sharing is caring!

When we travel sleeping is one of the things I obsess about the most, both before we go and when we are there. Granted this obsession is relaxing a little now the kids are getting older, but I am still asking myself a variety of questions such as:

What time are the flights, will the kids get enough sleep? Will we have to get them up at the crack of dawn or will we get back too late? Will we get enough sleep, will they?

How big is the room? Where will we all sleep? Will I get enough sleep? Will they? Will we have to go to sleep when they do? Can I drink wine on the balcony? Will I have to drink wine in the bath!

So as I think about sleep a lot, I have also over the years come up with a few tips for getting better sleep when we travel.

1. My kids need sleep – fact! If they get more sleep they are happier all day and we all have a better holiday! If I remember this when I think I’ll just keep them up an extra hour so I can have another G&T, we are honestly all happier.

2. Hot weather in the summer often means lighter brighter mornings. Invest in a black out blind for the kids room – we’ve used the Gro Black Out blinds before and they work really well.  If you don’t have a black out blind though, pack tinfoil and sellotape and simply tin foil the windows. You might look a little crazy but believe me it works.

3. I don’t go so far to tinfoil my own windows but I do pack an eye mask. I’ve had some awful ones of these over the years that make your eyes puffy when you use them but this latest one from Tempur works really well: its soft, dark and comfortable to wear.

4.  If it’s too hot where you are and you are struggling to sleep, fill plastic bottles with water, freeze them and then sleep with them as you would a hot water bottle. This skill was first perfected in Namibia when it was 40 degrees: as the bottles cool off and melt the sheets get a little damp but this is also lovely to sleep on!

5. Take your own pillows. Some of the Mini Travellers team wrote about this last week around their trip to Eurocamp. They packed all their own pillows for comfort on the journey down and also for easier sleep in the caravan when they arrived. If you’re flying and haven’t got room for a full size pillow why not check out one of these Tempur pillows, they are really comfy and small enough to pack.  I’m packing mine on my next trip away.

In fact why not take the ‘Tempur® Challenge’ (between 10th July – 7th August) which offers you the opportunity to go into a store, test out the mattresses and win a Tempur® travel pillow of your own. You can find the Tempur Store Locator here.

6. If you’re flying long haul pack a Travel Snug.  I have a full review here, but we find them invaluable on long haul flights to allow the kids to get comfortable!