How to Cope With Preschooler Routines During Holidays

By Stephanie Olsen

It's holiday time, and you're likely awash in plans of upcoming day trips, large dinners, and overnight visitors (much to the delight of your preschooler). When you add shopping, decorating, and cooking to the mix, it's no surprise that regular nap times and pre-bedtime routines suffer - and when that happens,  the behavior of your over-excited, over-tired preschool child can spiral out of control.

Change is Good

Actually, temporarily losing the predictability of routine isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially when it's replaced with something as inherently healthy as family visits and get-togethers. In fact, learning that nap time is do-able in a different bed or can be had on grandpa's lap is a positive lesson for your preschool child. It introduces concepts of adaptation and embracing change (instead of being afraid of it) - all necessary life skills.

Although you may never have a toddler comfortable enough to regularly sink down in the middle of  the living room floor for a quick snooze, with the rest of the family going about their boisterous way, we have all seen our children's capacity for doing just that (ie., passed out in front of the tv, a favorite video playing).

Plan Ahead, Just a Little

If you know you've got some travelling coming up, try to block it out so your high-energy child isn't cooped up on consecutive days. For a portion of the trip, consider sending your husband ahead while you take the train with your preschooler - the novelty of train travel, and just the ability to walk around freely can certainly break the tedium. (On the way back, you drive!)

One mom had great success when she shared driving duties with her sister-in-law in a mini-van. The mix of cousins, all of different ages, blended well together. They entertained each other as only children can (sometimes just watching older children interact is contentment enough for a drowsy toddler), and the older cousins were happy to spend time with their younger relatives (reading, playing peek-a-boo and other silly games).

Expect the Best

Even though preschool children do tend to function best when in a familiar routine, parents and caregivers sometimes give the actual schedule too much importance. You'll often see this played out as families expand - with a couple's first child, nap time was written in stone (crib, pj's, lights out). The second kid napped in his stroller (at the playground, grocery store, wherever). The third? Somewhere on the floor.

Parents are often pleasantly surprised when anticipated behaviors never arise: children who never nap more than 20 minutes or never sleep late the next day (no matter what time they went to bed) may wind up doing exactly that. Try encouraging your preschooler with blanket statements like 'everyone sleeps late at grandma's house' - and see how much power your suggestions carry.

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