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Holidays can be a time of joy, family, and fun—but they can also throw a wrench into your child’s sleep routine. Whether it’s late-night celebrations, travel to visit relatives, or adjusting to time zone changes, holiday sleep disruptions are a challenge for many parents. But don’t worry—we’ve got you covered.
In this episode of The Sleep Edit, Arielle Greenleaf and Dr. Craig Canapari discuss practical strategies for navigating holiday sleep challenges for children of all ages. From tips for maintaining flexibility while traveling, to handling sugar-fueled energy spikes and keeping routines intact, this conversation is packed with actionable advice to help your family enjoy the season while staying (relatively) well-rested. They’ll even share some pro tips, like the ultimate New Year’s Eve bedtime trick you won’t want to miss.
Remember: holiday sleep doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to work for you and your family. So, give yourself some grace, enjoy the cookies, and focus on the quality of your time together.
Links
- Dr. Canapari’s guide to Vacation “Sleep”
- Studies on sugar consumption and sleep
- Study of 287 children ages 8-12 showing no association between sugar and sleep or behavioral change
- Study of 2600 children aged 6-12 showing that more sugar consumption was associated with decreased sleep duration
- Metanalysis of studies of young children 0-5 showing worse diet and higher sugar intake were associated with lower sleep quality
Timestamps
- 00:00 Introduction and Disclaimer
- 01:13 Navigating Holiday Sleep Challenges
- 03:18 Travel Tips for Parents
- 06:04 Managing Sleep in Different Environments
- 13:30 Handling Naps and Bedtime During Holidays
- 22:19 Dealing with Food and Sugar
- 28:50 Final Tips and Holiday Wishes
- 30:53 Conclusion and Resources
Connect with Us! Send us an email about questions, feedback, or ideas for future topics.
Episode 11 holiday sleep audio
[00:00:00]
[00:00:00] Craig Canapari MD: Welcome to the Sleep Edit, a podcast devoted to helping tired kids and parents sleep better. We focus on actionable evidence-based sleep advice, so everyone in your home can sleep through the night. Now, a quick disclaimer, this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice.
[00:00:27] No doctor patient relationship is formed. The use of this information and the materials linked to this podcast and any associated video content are at the user’s own risk. The content on the show is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay obtaining medical help for any medical condition they have.
[00:00:52] Or that their children may have, they should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions. Nothing stated here [00:01:00] reflects the views of our employers or the employees of our guests. Enjoy the show.
[00:01:09] Arielle Greenleaf: Okay.
[00:01:13] And I’m Ariel Greenleaf.
[00:01:19] Craig Canapari MD: We thought since it is closing in on the end of the year, we would talk about navigating holiday sleep challenges for parents and children, because this isn’t a time of year associated with the best sleep.
[00:01:31] Arielle Greenleaf: No.
[00:01:34] Craig Canapari MD: If there’s a through line for this, I’d say, you know, we may get in the weeds a little bit here, but the main thing is.
[00:01:40] It’s not gonna be perfect. That’s okay. Enjoy your time with your friends and family and you can sort it all out in January. It’s really gonna be okay.
[00:01:48] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I totally agree. I remember as a new parent, I had a September baby, so I had, a two and a half month old or something like that, and I got a memory from [00:02:00] 10 years ago saying what does one do to keep an infant on schedule During the holidays she goes to bed between seven and eight every night.
[00:02:10] I don’t know how that’s gonna be possible if I have a house full of people, but, it was definitely a tough year. But then a year later I thought the holidays were always gonna be sleepless and horrible. a year later everything was fine. sometimes it’s rough and then it gets better.
[00:02:24] Craig Canapari MD: I think if it’s your first child and if it’s a really young infant, it feels totally overwhelming, right?
[00:02:31] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah. I think that’s the biggest thing just try. I think you gave really good advice. we can just stop the show now. Just enjoy the holidays.
[00:02:39] Craig Canapari MD: Enjoy the holidays as best you can. you have to extend yourself a little bit of grace, You’re gonna be dealing with grandparents and aunts and uncles who are really excited to spend time with the baby. for me, as we were just talking about before the show, a little bit older than Arielle, my parents would often apply the best seventies parenting technique and knowledge to, [00:03:00] you know, and, and not understand why we are doing things in a certain way, Parenting has changed and the way we think about problems have changed. we weren’t gonna be sitting around, smoking cigarettes and drinking, vodka tonics and playing pinochle with the neighbors, during the holidays. Not that my parents do that anymore either, but that’s what it was like when I was a kid.
[00:03:18] let’s break it down by the challenges, parents can face. one is just. Travel, right? This may be the first time you are taking your child and spending the night somewhere else. if you had a baby in September or August, this might be the first time you’re leaving the cocoon of your home where, you know, you may be still struggling with your child’s sleep, but at least you have more control over what’s happening.
[00:03:44] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I, I. Actually working with someone right now whose son just doing remarkably well. I mean a toddler who had never slept through the night and she had attempted sleep training several [00:04:00] times and it just, wasn’t working. However, she needed to get out of the house and go see family and she said, okay, let’s just give it a try and do a nap at.
[00:04:08] At my sister’s house, let’s do auntie nap. And it did not go that well. I think that if your children are sleeping well at home and they go down easily and then you travel and suddenly they don’t, you go back to giving yourself grace and understanding that this is an exciting time for them too, even if they’re young and they can’t express that, and offering help.
[00:04:33] It’s not gonna like undo any sleep training you’ve done or any good habits you’ve created. It’s just helping your baby or child get the rest they need so that you can all have a good time.
[00:04:45] Craig Canapari MD: parents become very rigid about routines and, the perfect environmental settings. Those are also the kids that maybe have a little bit less flexibility. I remember I had close [00:05:00] friends,
[00:05:00] before I had kids their kid was 15 months old and we would play Mario party and their kid would sleep on a cushion on the floor that kid could sleep anywhere. They weren’t stressed about this. If you struggled with your child’s sleep, you probably have a little bit of.
[00:05:13] You’re still carrying a little bit of worry, that you’re going to derail everything that you’ve done. the fact is these holiday trips, often are pretty short trips, right? Like a couple of nights of screwy sleep at your in-laws Is not going to destroy your kid’s sleep for the next three months.
[00:05:31] You just have to go back to the routines that got you to a place of success. we were talking a little bit about, time zones and stuff. it kind of depends, right? that’s a special case.
[00:05:41] Arielle Greenleaf: Mm-Hmm.
[00:05:42] Craig Canapari MD: But some families will be flying, some families are gonna be driving, some people are gonna have people visiting. what do you think parents should do? Hopefully what this is gonna drop, before Thanksgiving, at least before the winter holidays. anything parents should be doing. [00:06:00] A week or two before they travel.
[00:06:01] Arielle Greenleaf: It’s a good question. I think going back to what you were saying about people that have, struggled with their child’s sleep and they’ve done a lot of work to get their child in a good place, you can always practice putting your child in a pack and play or seeing how they nap there. If you are, Going to a different time zone, you can start to try to shift the schedule, but ultimately, I really feel like you just have to go with the flow when you get there. I don’t feel that there’s a ton of stuff that you should be doing in preparation for it,
[00:06:35] Creates more anxiety. But some things that you can think about are when you get to your destination, what is the sleeping space going to look like? Are you going to have an, is your child gonna have their own sleeping space? Are you gonna be sharing a room together? are you in a hotel room? Are you at someone’s home?
[00:06:53] Can we control? Let’s bring the white noise machine. Let’s bring, blackout [00:07:00] shades. They have travel blackout shades, or, if you’re in a hotel room, that’s not a problem. if you have a toddler who likes to have a nightlight, bring the nightlight, bring, the lovey that your toddler likes.
[00:07:11] try to make it comfortable for them and recreate a similar situation as they would have at home. my clients have always gotten very creative. if staying anywhere where they’re supposed to room share with their child, and they’re nervous because the child can see them and they’re overstimulated.
[00:07:27] They have often used bathrooms and closets as alternative sleep spaces. Just during that temporary period so that the child can have their own space and isn’t, waking up and seeing mom and dad there and wanting to get into bed with them being creative is good, but also, getting into the mindset that you need to be flexible and you’re gonna get through it.
[00:07:49] And the ultimate goal is just to try to keep your child well rested. Whether that means holding them or, passing ’em off to grandma halfway through the night. [00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Craig Canapari MD: I think where your kids sleep, creativity, extends to older kids too. what struck me was my, wife’s aunt and uncle have a beach place in Long Island. So everybody would go and we’d kind of, if we could, it’s great to match up the kids who are on similar schedules.
[00:08:18] even if you could cohort people together in a sleeping environment, like there was, a big closet. two of the younger kids who were not infants Were in a little closet together they were both early risers, so that was great because they didn’t get the non early risers up.
[00:08:32] and it is funny too, I think the flip side is parents are worried about it, but also, sometimes. Other people have to be a little bit flexible too, right? Like, if you are the first person with small children and you go to stay with your brother and his wife or something, and they’re used to sleeping on noon on the weekends, I mean, let me sell you, they’re also gonna be disappointed in your child’s sleeping habits. Christmas morning might happen a little bit earlier than they were expecting.
[00:08:55] Arielle Greenleaf: you’re not looking at brunch. You’re looking at early morning.
[00:08:59] Craig Canapari MD: [00:09:00] Brunch is not a thing that, people with small children have. I remember Christmas morning we used to, now I live fairly close to my folks, but we used to come down and my parents had a Keurig my dad would get the good coffee, but they’d make individual things with a Keurig. it would be like six in the morning, and my dad would be just Working on this machine, for what felt like 20 minutes to produce four adult size cup of coffee. And I was just dying. And I’m like, my God dad, can you move this along?
[00:09:34] I love you, God are great. But next time what I would’ve done is front my own coffee maker.
[00:09:39] Arielle Greenleaf: There you go.
[00:09:39] Craig Canapari MD: It would actually be able to produce a whole pot of coffee, which is, the start of what you need on those early mornings you know, something that I am interested in because I think it would’ve been great for my kids who are, especially one kid was a light sensitive early riser.
[00:09:55] these sort of, Sleep pods kind of things, that some parents ask [00:10:00] me about.
[00:10:00] Arielle Greenleaf: I mean, in theory, they’re great. I don’t know. If they’re necessarily safe. I think I’d have to look into that more. But, I think anything that can give a child their own space and have it dark. ’cause children are sensitive to light and the sun is coming up earlier. So any way to sort of make them feel, you know, and you have to also remember that young children in their cribs feel safe in that enclosed space.
[00:10:32] making sure they don’t feel vulnerable can be really helpful. I don’t 100% know the safety facts around them and I didn’t have one when Ashley was an infant. So in theory, they look amazing.
[00:10:45] Craig Canapari MD: Well, I think this is a good point. If you’re traveling with an infant, you need to make sure that you have a safe sleep environment. Cribs can be rented in cities and towns. If you’re staying in a hotel, you can get them. Make sure that your child is sleeping in a safe environment, especially with a young infant, [00:11:00] toddlers or preschoolers.
[00:11:01] That’s where I think some of these pod things might be really useful. It’s almost Like a popup tent or a cave where a kid can go into, if you’re sharing a room, I think that might be a fun and safe thing to do. But with infants, get the safe sleep first. don’t put your child in some antique crib that your mom got at a flea market because it’s probably not safe.
[00:11:21] Pack and plays are safe, right? Like, can you use a mac and play but don’t have soft pillows, blankets, et cetera.
[00:11:27] Arielle Greenleaf: And I think some hotels have cribs if you ask, they’ll have a rollaway crib. that’s something you can do ahead of time figure out wherever you’re going, figure out that sort of thing. several times we rented cribs, at rental homes or, got them at hotels and they were really
[00:11:44] helpful.
[00:11:45] Craig Canapari MD: You know, I think that that is, And, and again, like a lot of times you’re traveling in car, it’s easy, right? Like bring a pack and play, whatever. But if you’re flying somewhere and you can, rent something and have it available when [00:12:00] you get there, if you’re visiting family, being like, Hey, could you pick this up for me?
[00:12:04] then you go from traveling light to traveling with an infant. It’s like you’re. It’s like you’re ready for a expedition to the Himalayas. It’s insanity.
[00:12:12] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:12:14] Craig Canapari MD: one thing I’m gonna tell you guys, if your child has a transitional object, like a favorite stuffed animal, be very careful that that makes the return trip.
[00:12:22] then it makes the trip out and makes the trip back. My older boy has a stuffed bear that he got in infancy If we left this in a rest stop, I would’ve driven three hours back to get this because I, you know, honestly, I think he would’ve been fine, but I would’ve been panicked if we’d lost it.
[00:12:39] I remember at one point it was like, should we buy another one and launder it a bunch No, it was too late. Honestly, you never know what magic causes your child to pick a transitional object. I have two kids. One had one. He was very attached to one, could not have cared less about any stuffed animals, but if you get one early on, your kid seems to like it, buy another one immediately and [00:13:00] alternate them so you’ve got a backup.
[00:13:01] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I was stuck because I could not find a backup
[00:13:04] Craig Canapari MD: Well, yeah, a lot of animals, they’re like seasonal, right?
[00:13:06] Arielle Greenleaf: and it’s just like a little lovey with a head and like a little blanket on it, so very easy to get caught up in things and be left behind. So yeah, I definitely agree with that.
[00:13:19] Well, as the Marines say, two is one is one is numb. they were actually talking about stuffed animals, Stop.
[00:13:29] Craig Canapari MD: Okay. So, what do you think about the napping at weird times that can happen on
[00:13:34] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:13:34] Craig Canapari MD: the car, the plane? I’m, I’m like, my God, if you’re kidnaps in the plane, I mean, thank you lucky stars. everyone on the plane is gonna give you a standing ovation of your child deaths on the plane.
[00:13:43] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely. I think as far as car travel goes, I do think if you have a child that sleeps well in the car plan, the. Travel around nap times or even bedtime. anytime you can [00:14:00] maximize the sleep because you’re gonna be in random places. And if your child doesn’t sleep well in random places, utilize the car.
[00:14:07] Absolutely. I actually do have clients who schedule flights at certain times, like around nap times, and it’s been successful. they usually have to support the child and it’s usually like an infant or a young toddler. but like probably older toddlers would be a little difficult. I think that naps over holidays.
[00:14:27] when your child is tired, it’s pretty obvious. So if you can prioritize helping them get a little bit of rest, I would not recommend skipping naps, especially with younger infants and toddlers, because that will be a nightmare for everybody.
[00:14:43] even if your toddler is sleeping on you or, on your lap or something like that, that’s fine. But it is important to make sure that your child is getting rest throughout the day.
[00:14:52] And then being mindful of bedtime. I know that’s really tough with dinners and things like that, but [00:15:00] sometimes, it can backfire if you’re pushing too far for bedtime.
[00:15:03] Craig Canapari MD: I do love the idea of the car, especially if you have a car seat. sometimes you’re coming into somebody else’s house. as important as your child’s sleep schedule is, people may not like it. If you’re like, please be quiet ’cause my baby needs to sleep.
[00:15:17] Now, if they have a car seat and you can take them from a ride, it may not be their usual nap, but they get like 20 or 30 minutes of sleep, You can decompress from the. stress that sometimes happens in the holidays. It’s just, it’s fraught for everyone spending time with family.
[00:15:33] Arielle Greenleaf: Back in the early days, I decided that I couldn’t give up control, so I decided I was just going to host as much as I could. and that allowed me less stress. This is not gonna be true for everybody. Some people find it very stressful to host, but it allowed me to have my child in her own space.
[00:15:59] And be [00:16:00] able to put her down to sleep at normal times and use extra white noise, move people into different rooms. it was much less stressful than me trying to say, oh, I gotta zip over here and then I gotta go over to this grandmother’s house and that grandfather’s house and this in-law so for me, hosting was a lifesaver, but I know that’s not true for everyone.
[00:16:23] But being able to control her schedule still, alleviated my stress.
[00:16:28] Craig Canapari MD: I’d say too, you mentioned shuttling from house to house. if you live close to your relatives, it’s okay You don’t have to do everything, You can sit something out. if you’re going someplace else for dinner and then somebody else’s house for dessert, it’s okay for one of the parents to opt outta that and say, you know what?
[00:16:43] Like, you know, if I stay with my in-laws, that would usually be me. I should be like, okay, I’m gonna go back to the house with the kids. You guys hang out longer, that’s totally cool. your 15 month old doesn’t have to participate in every single activity.
[00:16:56] it’s quality, not quantity. one thing I want to talk about is something that. [00:17:00] When my kids were little, used to get talked about a lot more, which is parents wanting to give their kids Benadryl or diphenhydramine to fall asleep with travel. it’s really something that’s not recommended, for a couple of reasons.
[00:17:10] it can be a little tricky to dose you’re basically giving. 1.5. The dose is 1.5. Their, their kilo, their kilos and wait every six hours. the math is not always easy for tired parents. diphenhydramine can also have a paradoxical response, so it can actually make your kid hyper.
[00:17:27] so you can imagine if you’re on a crowded plane and it’s time for your toddler to sleep and you give the medicine that’s, just disinhibiting them and making them crazy. That might not work well. I’d say it’s probably one of those things that I would steer clear of.
[00:17:39] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I have actually had a couple of clients over the years who not. I did not recommend this, just to make that very clear. Have given, their children Benadryl, on a transatlantic flight or something like that. And it has caused the opposite effect where the child is just bonkers and off the walls.
[00:17:59] [00:18:00] Benadryl in general isn’t a great thing, right? They’re just saying it’s not very great for anybody right now. So, but either way, it can definitely make, children bonkers.
[00:18:10] Craig Canapari MD: And I’d say like melatonin two, like. If you, yeah, again, if you’re flying overnight talk to your pediatrician. Like, you wanna make sure the dose is right. You wanna make sure it’s not gonna cause any problems. Whether there’s stuff that your, your child, your child’s health issues or something like that.
[00:18:28] And like, probably don’t try something the first time, when you’re on a plane. we, We flew to England overnight when Charlie was seven months we thought about leaving him with relatives my wife went to see a lactation consultant who told her that he would grieve the breast if he stayed behind, which I think is, a pretty messed up thing to say.
[00:18:47] So we’re ended up bringing him and, he did not, he cried the whole overnight flight and then we had to drive 300 miles on the wrong side of the road. he immediately adjusted to the schedule in England to the point where we would expect him to be [00:19:00] sleeping in and getting up late. But no, he was up with Dawn, when we got there. my advice to you is if you have the opportunity to take a nice trip to England and you have the opportunity to leave your child behind, I empower you to make that decision.
[00:19:13] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:19:14] Craig Canapari MD: Great pictures, and it was a great time, Might have been more fun without it. Love you Charlie. let’s talk a little bit about time zone stuff.
[00:19:20] to skip around the outline a little bit and then maybe come back to the food stuff. ’cause I think that, it’s worth, it’s, you know, this again, this is one of those things that people are maybe gonna stress a little bit about and,
[00:19:32] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I think,
[00:19:34] Craig Canapari MD: yeah,
[00:19:34] Arielle Greenleaf: I think there’s always, I mean, I work with parents. Of children who have sleep problems. eventually they don’t. Once they work with me, they don’t. But, the people that come to me are stressed and so even an hour time change, parents are freaking out.
[00:19:51] I think for just an hour time change. you can keep your child on their normal schedule. You don’t have [00:20:00] to make. Dramatic shifts. of course, if you’re going like six hours, the other way, that’s a different thing. But just a, an hour, you may just wanna consider keeping your child on the same, same, schedule.
[00:20:13] Craig Canapari MD: Most families are not traveling. Five or six hours, right? If you’re staying in the US the most, you’re probably traveling is two or three hours. Now if you’re flying east, it’s very easy to stay on the same schedule, imagine you’re on California time, so your kid is sleeping from seven to seven.
[00:20:31] you fly to the east coast and all of a sudden they’re in a 10:00 PM to 10:00 AM schedule. lean into that. Stay up a little bit later. Have them sleep in a little bit. If your room’s dark, maybe you’ll be successful.
[00:20:42] it’s harder if you’re going the opposite direction. Your child is on a seven to seven schedule and they fly from New York to San Francisco and all of a sudden they are on a 4:00 PM to 4:00 AM Schedule, that’s less fun for everyone. that being said, if you can make it work, you can try to stay in the same schedule.
[00:20:59] You know, [00:21:00] it’s funny, we had some friends were very fortunate they were taking it around the world trip, and they’re like, what do we do about our kids sleep? the math is too complicated. You’re just, you’re, you’re flying like all these different time zones, just like, you know, the kids were like junior high aged kids, but you’re just gonna be dealing with some jet lag.
[00:21:17] I’d say your average holiday trip, it’s a couple of nights, stay on your home schedule. don’t worry about it too much. if you’re staying longer, natural light exposure can be really helpful. physical activity, limiting screen time, though I empower you. If your kid’s on the plane and they want the iPad, just let ’em have the iPad.
[00:21:33] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely.
[00:21:35] Craig Canapari MD: I don’t like kids being on screens all the time, but in situations that are both stressful and boring. I think it’s totally okay. Like parents in the doctor’s office, there are three year olds coming to sleep clinic and they’re taking the kid’s phone away. When I’m talking to them, I’m like, let them have the phone.
[00:21:49] This is a totally appropriate time for your child to be entertained and not stressed.
[00:21:53] Arielle Greenleaf: Mm-Hmm.
[00:21:56] Craig Canapari MD: I think this is such a new first parent lesson to learn. [00:22:00] If the kids want to watch more TV than you’re used to, it’s not gonna kill them.
[00:22:06] Arielle Greenleaf: Right,
[00:22:08] Craig Canapari MD: set your limits but also recognize that they raised you, you probably turned out okay. They’re not gonna destroy your child with a little bit of extra cartoons,
[00:22:18] Arielle Greenleaf: Right, exactly. But I think that goes into the food stuff that you’re talking about as well. If you’re thinking about being spoiled in different ways, we’re thinking about sugar and candy and treats and all the things.
[00:22:31] Craig Canapari MD: I was so excited for Christmas cookies. That is my jam. this is one of those things I kind of took a little bit of a dive into Sugar chocolate stuff I say, first of all, all of the literature looking at the relationship between food and specifically sugar intake and children’s sleep was looking at kids’ habitual diets.
[00:22:52] So, looking at kids’, the evidence is all over the place. There was an Australian study, and I’ll put these on the show [00:23:00] notes, about 300 kids, age, 12. Almost all these kids, 81% of them were over the recommended sugar intake limits. The proportion of sugar in their diet was not associated with behavioral change.
[00:23:12] but there’s another much larger study at about 2,600 kids, six to 12, and found that kids who were having more sugary beverages specifically had decreased sleep duration and increased sleep debt. On school days. So I think there is something to be said, if you’re having soda or juice, that’s like sugar water that immediately hits your bloodstream.
[00:23:35] if you’re having a cookie, something with fat in it, your glucose peak is probably gonna be a little bit less. But at the end of the day, if your kid wants to have a cookie, let them have a cookie, it’s Christmas or it’s Hanukkah or whatever, like the message shouldn’t be. Let’s all, let’s all restrict our diets because I think that can also be unhealthy.
[00:23:53] that being said, it’s quality, not quantity. Have you letting your kid enjoy some Christmas cookies? That’s great. Letting your kid eat all [00:24:00] the Christmas cookies. Probably not necessary.
[00:24:03] Arielle Greenleaf: mean also just know your kid because I feel like some children are very sensitive to different things and others, you know, they can watch their iPad and all day long until bad time and eat a whole jar of sugar and they’ll go to bed and sleep 12 hours. So it really depends on your child too.
[00:24:23] Craig Canapari MD: You know, this is the hard thing about being a parent, right? Christmas is stress. Maybe you’re a little stressed ’cause you’re dealing with your family. there’s a lot of chaotic energy going on. Your kid is probably more likely to have a tantrum than they would otherwise, right?
[00:24:36] being tired, being revved up. you know what gets kids more nuts than getting a bunch of presents, it’s got so much stress, like good stress, but it really gets them up. you relax a little bit about the iPad, you take it away, you kid has a tantrum.
[00:24:51] My son was reminiscing about his visiting friends and it wasn’t a holiday, I’m like, you’re done with your screen time. he took his iPad, he’s probably six and he [00:25:00] smashed it on the ground something in a memory came up with this trip and the thing was broken. I’m like, well, okay, I guess you don’t have that anymore.
[00:25:07] Arielle Greenleaf: Right.
[00:25:08] Craig Canapari MD: But you
[00:25:09] Arielle Greenleaf: Well.
[00:25:10] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah. if it makes your kids totally agro, maybe be a little bit careful. but you know, I, I was, you had go back in the literature where they’re actually doing glucose challenges on kids to see if it affects their behavior.
[00:25:20] there was no change in aggressive behavior. Compared to placebo. if you know your kid can’t tolerate this, that’s fine, but make sure they have something else they can enjoy.
[00:25:30] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:25:31] Craig Canapari MD: I think in general I see a lot of parents who are very restrictive about their kids’ foods, for behavioral reasons, which usually there’s not a lot of evidence for you can parent your child any way you want, but sometimes. It’s one thing if they have a peanut allergy, don’t give them peanut butter, but if like, you’re like, oh, they get a little hyperactive with sugar, you know, don’t be like, well, you can’t have dessert, and everybody else is.
[00:25:53] That’s kind of how I feel about that.
[00:25:56] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah. I think it is interesting that you bring up tantrums too [00:26:00] because that ties back to what we’ve been saying Even if sleep is wonky try to keep your child well rested. Usually children are tantruming when they’re tired or hungry, so keep them well rested and fed.
[00:26:14] don’t just feed them sugar, make sure they’re having sugar, but also a piece of broccoli. Or some protein, those are the two things that really lead to, in my opinion, tantrums.
[00:26:24] Craig Canapari MD: For me, the main thing with having too much sugar, unless your child has diabetes or something, is that sugar crash you get, afterwards. if they’ve had nothing but a cup of ginger ale and a bunch of candy, they’re probably gonna be freaking out it really can be a challenge. I remember when my kids were little and everybody’s running around? Are they really gonna sit at the table and eat a pork chop or something? It’s not happening.
[00:26:46] Arielle Greenleaf: your Turkey.
[00:26:48] Craig Canapari MD: Oh man. Can I just say I’m not a big Turkey guy.
[00:26:51] We’re hosting a big Thanksgiving, and I’m like, trytophan. We love that in sleep world, right? It’s great. But, I just feel like It’s hard to cook it. Right. I’d rather [00:27:00] everybody had a, if I had a miniature cape on myself, I’d be happier.
[00:27:03] Arielle Greenleaf: I think you’re not alone. I just went to a Friendsgiving yesterday and there was no Turkey. I am hosting two Thanksgivings, so I have 2 28 pound turkeys to pick up this weekend. I don’t mind Turkey ’cause I like the sides. gimme the gravy and I’ll just. put the sides around it and then the turkey’s kind of hidden by everything else.
[00:27:22] Craig Canapari MD: has to be there, I guess like, so I, I think we’ve kind of covered like yeah, keep your, keep, keep your kids’ schedule as routine as possible, but recognize it’s not gonna be perfect. what do you do if it’s your kid’s bedtime and they’re totally jazzed up, how can you kind of
[00:27:39] Arielle Greenleaf: sure. Just taking them out, changing their environment. even if it’s like a walk outside, a bath or, just going into a different room that’s darker and quieter it might take a little bit of time before they actually settle because. when they’re all jazzed up, it can, take some time but I think [00:28:00] removing yourself and your child from that situation, even a car ride, like you were saying, just some sort of change of scenery to calm them down and, get them to a place of, calmer can be helpful.
[00:28:12] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah, get them outside. Change a scene. I mean, it’s 60 degrees today. where I am, which is not typical fall weather, but if it’s, it’s cold, like yeah, your kids can play outside the cold. That’s okay.
[00:28:24] Arielle Greenleaf: Definitely get them some physical activity. even if they’re babies, go outside with them. get outside, get the fresh air.
[00:28:31] Craig Canapari MD: The cool dad or mom, take them outside and play a game with them, kick a ball around, do something like that. the natural light exposure can be really helpful as well. try to channel some of that crazy energy so they’re not just slapping their siblings or something like that.
[00:28:44] Arielle Greenleaf: And I think, it’s so easy to say this now, 10 years into parenting but. try not to stress, try to let go a little bit. I know it’s hard to let go, especially for those who have worked so hard [00:29:00] on your child’s sleep.
[00:29:01] but I promise you, you’ll get back on track. If you have a regular, beautiful schedule and routine, you’ll get back there. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanza. Happy New Year. Happy Thanksgiving.
[00:29:17] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah, I would agree. The what got you here will, will your routines just when you get home, just go back to them. it’ll be okay. Hey, I have one pro tip I wanna share. We can probably open
[00:29:27] Arielle Greenleaf: hear it.
[00:29:28] Craig Canapari MD: So, new Year’s, right? What do we know about New Year’s? You stay up till midnight. Well, I remember one year we were staying with some friends.
[00:29:35] The kids were probably. I think my oldest son was maybe 10 or 11 and they wanted to stay up to midnight. And the last thing I wanted was to be hanging out with my kids at midnight. so we set all the clocks in the house significantly later, and parents, Netflix actually has a ball drop thing you [00:30:00] can play.
[00:30:01] at an earlier time to simulate a new year’s. so our kids went to bed at nine o’clock and then they couldn’t sleep for a while ’cause they were so excited. the next day my oldest son was probably up to 11. He’s like, I was up till like four or five in the morning. It was crazy. here’s my pro tip. just lie to your kids.
[00:30:20] Arielle Greenleaf: you’re simulating things to promote their health and allow them to have fun while you’re keeping them on track.
[00:30:26] Craig Canapari MD: And I think my kids do know that we did this. we didn’t routinely lie to them, but honestly, I thought it was kind of funny too, and I was super surprised that it actually worked. so yeah, that’s all I’ve got. as Arielle said, give yourself a break.
[00:30:38] Give your kids a break. Be flexible. You’re gonna be fine.
[00:30:41] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely.
[00:30:43] Craig Canapari MD: A peaceful, calm holiday season to everyone. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy some sweets. Try not to be too stressed.
[00:30:51] Arielle Greenleaf: Amen.
[00:30:52] Craig Canapari MD: Okay.
[00:30:53] Thanks so much for listening to the Sleep edit. [00:31:00] You can find transcripts at the web address Sleeped show. You can also find video of the episodes at that address as well as in my YouTube channel. You can find me at Dr. Craig canna perry.com and on all social media at D-R-C-A-N-A-P-A-R-I. You can find Ariel at Instagram at Ariel Greenleaf.
[00:31:23] That’s A-R-I-E-L-L-E-G-R-E-E-N-L-E-A. If you like the flavor of the advice here. Please check out my book. It’s Never Too Late to Sleep. Train the Low Stress Way to high Quality Sleep for babies, kids, and parents. It’s available wherever fine books are sold. If you found this useful, please subscribe at Spotify or Apple Podcast and share it with your friends.
[00:31:49] It really helps as we’re trying to get the show off the ground. Thanks.
[00:00:00]
[00:00:00] Craig Canapari MD: Welcome to the Sleep Edit, a podcast devoted to helping tired kids and parents sleep better. We focus on actionable evidence-based sleep advice, so everyone in your home can sleep through the night. Now, a quick disclaimer, this podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services, including the giving of medical advice.
[00:00:27] No doctor patient relationship is formed. The use of this information and the materials linked to this podcast and any associated video content are at the user’s own risk. The content on the show is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay obtaining medical help for any medical condition they have.
[00:00:52] Or that their children may have, they should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions. Nothing stated here [00:01:00] reflects the views of our employers or the employees of our guests. Enjoy the show.
[00:01:09] Arielle Greenleaf: Okay.
[00:01:13] And I’m Ariel Greenleaf.
[00:01:19] Craig Canapari MD: We thought since it is closing in on the end of the year, we would talk about navigating holiday sleep challenges for parents and children, because this isn’t a time of year associated with the best sleep.
[00:01:31] Arielle Greenleaf: No.
[00:01:34] Craig Canapari MD: If there’s a through line for this, I’d say, you know, we may get in the weeds a little bit here, but the main thing is.
[00:01:40] It’s not gonna be perfect. That’s okay. Enjoy your time with your friends and family and you can sort it all out in January. It’s really gonna be okay.
[00:01:48] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I totally agree. I remember as a new parent, I had a September baby, so I had, a two and a half month old or something like that, and I got a memory from [00:02:00] 10 years ago saying what does one do to keep an infant on schedule During the holidays she goes to bed between seven and eight every night.
[00:02:10] I don’t know how that’s gonna be possible if I have a house full of people, but, it was definitely a tough year. But then a year later I thought the holidays were always gonna be sleepless and horrible. a year later everything was fine. sometimes it’s rough and then it gets better.
[00:02:24] Craig Canapari MD: I think if it’s your first child and if it’s a really young infant, it feels totally overwhelming, right?
[00:02:31] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah. I think that’s the biggest thing just try. I think you gave really good advice. we can just stop the show now. Just enjoy the holidays.
[00:02:39] Craig Canapari MD: Enjoy the holidays as best you can. you have to extend yourself a little bit of grace, You’re gonna be dealing with grandparents and aunts and uncles who are really excited to spend time with the baby. for me, as we were just talking about before the show, a little bit older than Arielle, my parents would often apply the best seventies parenting technique and knowledge to, [00:03:00] you know, and, and not understand why we are doing things in a certain way, Parenting has changed and the way we think about problems have changed. we weren’t gonna be sitting around, smoking cigarettes and drinking, vodka tonics and playing pinochle with the neighbors, during the holidays. Not that my parents do that anymore either, but that’s what it was like when I was a kid.
[00:03:18] let’s break it down by the challenges, parents can face. one is just. Travel, right? This may be the first time you are taking your child and spending the night somewhere else. if you had a baby in September or August, this might be the first time you’re leaving the cocoon of your home where, you know, you may be still struggling with your child’s sleep, but at least you have more control over what’s happening.
[00:03:44] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I, I. Actually working with someone right now whose son just doing remarkably well. I mean a toddler who had never slept through the night and she had attempted sleep training several [00:04:00] times and it just, wasn’t working. However, she needed to get out of the house and go see family and she said, okay, let’s just give it a try and do a nap at.
[00:04:08] At my sister’s house, let’s do auntie nap. And it did not go that well. I think that if your children are sleeping well at home and they go down easily and then you travel and suddenly they don’t, you go back to giving yourself grace and understanding that this is an exciting time for them too, even if they’re young and they can’t express that, and offering help.
[00:04:33] It’s not gonna like undo any sleep training you’ve done or any good habits you’ve created. It’s just helping your baby or child get the rest they need so that you can all have a good time.
[00:04:45] Craig Canapari MD: parents become very rigid about routines and, the perfect environmental settings. Those are also the kids that maybe have a little bit less flexibility. I remember I had close [00:05:00] friends,
[00:05:00] before I had kids their kid was 15 months old and we would play Mario party and their kid would sleep on a cushion on the floor that kid could sleep anywhere. They weren’t stressed about this. If you struggled with your child’s sleep, you probably have a little bit of.
[00:05:13] You’re still carrying a little bit of worry, that you’re going to derail everything that you’ve done. the fact is these holiday trips, often are pretty short trips, right? Like a couple of nights of screwy sleep at your in-laws Is not going to destroy your kid’s sleep for the next three months.
[00:05:31] You just have to go back to the routines that got you to a place of success. we were talking a little bit about, time zones and stuff. it kind of depends, right? that’s a special case.
[00:05:41] Arielle Greenleaf: Mm-Hmm.
[00:05:42] Craig Canapari MD: But some families will be flying, some families are gonna be driving, some people are gonna have people visiting. what do you think parents should do? Hopefully what this is gonna drop, before Thanksgiving, at least before the winter holidays. anything parents should be doing. [00:06:00] A week or two before they travel.
[00:06:01] Arielle Greenleaf: It’s a good question. I think going back to what you were saying about people that have, struggled with their child’s sleep and they’ve done a lot of work to get their child in a good place, you can always practice putting your child in a pack and play or seeing how they nap there. If you are, Going to a different time zone, you can start to try to shift the schedule, but ultimately, I really feel like you just have to go with the flow when you get there. I don’t feel that there’s a ton of stuff that you should be doing in preparation for it,
[00:06:35] Creates more anxiety. But some things that you can think about are when you get to your destination, what is the sleeping space going to look like? Are you going to have an, is your child gonna have their own sleeping space? Are you gonna be sharing a room together? are you in a hotel room? Are you at someone’s home?
[00:06:53] Can we control? Let’s bring the white noise machine. Let’s bring, blackout [00:07:00] shades. They have travel blackout shades, or, if you’re in a hotel room, that’s not a problem. if you have a toddler who likes to have a nightlight, bring the nightlight, bring, the lovey that your toddler likes.
[00:07:11] try to make it comfortable for them and recreate a similar situation as they would have at home. my clients have always gotten very creative. if staying anywhere where they’re supposed to room share with their child, and they’re nervous because the child can see them and they’re overstimulated.
[00:07:27] They have often used bathrooms and closets as alternative sleep spaces. Just during that temporary period so that the child can have their own space and isn’t, waking up and seeing mom and dad there and wanting to get into bed with them being creative is good, but also, getting into the mindset that you need to be flexible and you’re gonna get through it.
[00:07:49] And the ultimate goal is just to try to keep your child well rested. Whether that means holding them or, passing ’em off to grandma halfway through the night. [00:08:00]
[00:08:00] Craig Canapari MD: I think where your kids sleep, creativity, extends to older kids too. what struck me was my, wife’s aunt and uncle have a beach place in Long Island. So everybody would go and we’d kind of, if we could, it’s great to match up the kids who are on similar schedules.
[00:08:18] even if you could cohort people together in a sleeping environment, like there was, a big closet. two of the younger kids who were not infants Were in a little closet together they were both early risers, so that was great because they didn’t get the non early risers up.
[00:08:32] and it is funny too, I think the flip side is parents are worried about it, but also, sometimes. Other people have to be a little bit flexible too, right? Like, if you are the first person with small children and you go to stay with your brother and his wife or something, and they’re used to sleeping on noon on the weekends, I mean, let me sell you, they’re also gonna be disappointed in your child’s sleeping habits. Christmas morning might happen a little bit earlier than they were expecting.
[00:08:55] Arielle Greenleaf: you’re not looking at brunch. You’re looking at early morning.
[00:08:59] Craig Canapari MD: [00:09:00] Brunch is not a thing that, people with small children have. I remember Christmas morning we used to, now I live fairly close to my folks, but we used to come down and my parents had a Keurig my dad would get the good coffee, but they’d make individual things with a Keurig. it would be like six in the morning, and my dad would be just Working on this machine, for what felt like 20 minutes to produce four adult size cup of coffee. And I was just dying. And I’m like, my God dad, can you move this along?
[00:09:34] I love you, God are great. But next time what I would’ve done is front my own coffee maker.
[00:09:39] Arielle Greenleaf: There you go.
[00:09:39] Craig Canapari MD: It would actually be able to produce a whole pot of coffee, which is, the start of what you need on those early mornings you know, something that I am interested in because I think it would’ve been great for my kids who are, especially one kid was a light sensitive early riser.
[00:09:55] these sort of, Sleep pods kind of things, that some parents ask [00:10:00] me about.
[00:10:00] Arielle Greenleaf: I mean, in theory, they’re great. I don’t know. If they’re necessarily safe. I think I’d have to look into that more. But, I think anything that can give a child their own space and have it dark. ’cause children are sensitive to light and the sun is coming up earlier. So any way to sort of make them feel, you know, and you have to also remember that young children in their cribs feel safe in that enclosed space.
[00:10:32] making sure they don’t feel vulnerable can be really helpful. I don’t 100% know the safety facts around them and I didn’t have one when Ashley was an infant. So in theory, they look amazing.
[00:10:45] Craig Canapari MD: Well, I think this is a good point. If you’re traveling with an infant, you need to make sure that you have a safe sleep environment. Cribs can be rented in cities and towns. If you’re staying in a hotel, you can get them. Make sure that your child is sleeping in a safe environment, especially with a young infant, [00:11:00] toddlers or preschoolers.
[00:11:01] That’s where I think some of these pod things might be really useful. It’s almost Like a popup tent or a cave where a kid can go into, if you’re sharing a room, I think that might be a fun and safe thing to do. But with infants, get the safe sleep first. don’t put your child in some antique crib that your mom got at a flea market because it’s probably not safe.
[00:11:21] Pack and plays are safe, right? Like, can you use a mac and play but don’t have soft pillows, blankets, et cetera.
[00:11:27] Arielle Greenleaf: And I think some hotels have cribs if you ask, they’ll have a rollaway crib. that’s something you can do ahead of time figure out wherever you’re going, figure out that sort of thing. several times we rented cribs, at rental homes or, got them at hotels and they were really
[00:11:44] helpful.
[00:11:45] Craig Canapari MD: You know, I think that that is, And, and again, like a lot of times you’re traveling in car, it’s easy, right? Like bring a pack and play, whatever. But if you’re flying somewhere and you can, rent something and have it available when [00:12:00] you get there, if you’re visiting family, being like, Hey, could you pick this up for me?
[00:12:04] then you go from traveling light to traveling with an infant. It’s like you’re. It’s like you’re ready for a expedition to the Himalayas. It’s insanity.
[00:12:12] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:12:14] Craig Canapari MD: one thing I’m gonna tell you guys, if your child has a transitional object, like a favorite stuffed animal, be very careful that that makes the return trip.
[00:12:22] then it makes the trip out and makes the trip back. My older boy has a stuffed bear that he got in infancy If we left this in a rest stop, I would’ve driven three hours back to get this because I, you know, honestly, I think he would’ve been fine, but I would’ve been panicked if we’d lost it.
[00:12:39] I remember at one point it was like, should we buy another one and launder it a bunch No, it was too late. Honestly, you never know what magic causes your child to pick a transitional object. I have two kids. One had one. He was very attached to one, could not have cared less about any stuffed animals, but if you get one early on, your kid seems to like it, buy another one immediately and [00:13:00] alternate them so you’ve got a backup.
[00:13:01] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I was stuck because I could not find a backup
[00:13:04] Craig Canapari MD: Well, yeah, a lot of animals, they’re like seasonal, right?
[00:13:06] Arielle Greenleaf: and it’s just like a little lovey with a head and like a little blanket on it, so very easy to get caught up in things and be left behind. So yeah, I definitely agree with that.
[00:13:19] Well, as the Marines say, two is one is one is numb. they were actually talking about stuffed animals, Stop.
[00:13:29] Craig Canapari MD: Okay. So, what do you think about the napping at weird times that can happen on
[00:13:34] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:13:34] Craig Canapari MD: the car, the plane? I’m, I’m like, my God, if you’re kidnaps in the plane, I mean, thank you lucky stars. everyone on the plane is gonna give you a standing ovation of your child deaths on the plane.
[00:13:43] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely. I think as far as car travel goes, I do think if you have a child that sleeps well in the car plan, the. Travel around nap times or even bedtime. anytime you can [00:14:00] maximize the sleep because you’re gonna be in random places. And if your child doesn’t sleep well in random places, utilize the car.
[00:14:07] Absolutely. I actually do have clients who schedule flights at certain times, like around nap times, and it’s been successful. they usually have to support the child and it’s usually like an infant or a young toddler. but like probably older toddlers would be a little difficult. I think that naps over holidays.
[00:14:27] when your child is tired, it’s pretty obvious. So if you can prioritize helping them get a little bit of rest, I would not recommend skipping naps, especially with younger infants and toddlers, because that will be a nightmare for everybody.
[00:14:43] even if your toddler is sleeping on you or, on your lap or something like that, that’s fine. But it is important to make sure that your child is getting rest throughout the day.
[00:14:52] And then being mindful of bedtime. I know that’s really tough with dinners and things like that, but [00:15:00] sometimes, it can backfire if you’re pushing too far for bedtime.
[00:15:03] Craig Canapari MD: I do love the idea of the car, especially if you have a car seat. sometimes you’re coming into somebody else’s house. as important as your child’s sleep schedule is, people may not like it. If you’re like, please be quiet ’cause my baby needs to sleep.
[00:15:17] Now, if they have a car seat and you can take them from a ride, it may not be their usual nap, but they get like 20 or 30 minutes of sleep, You can decompress from the. stress that sometimes happens in the holidays. It’s just, it’s fraught for everyone spending time with family.
[00:15:33] Arielle Greenleaf: Back in the early days, I decided that I couldn’t give up control, so I decided I was just going to host as much as I could. and that allowed me less stress. This is not gonna be true for everybody. Some people find it very stressful to host, but it allowed me to have my child in her own space.
[00:15:59] And be [00:16:00] able to put her down to sleep at normal times and use extra white noise, move people into different rooms. it was much less stressful than me trying to say, oh, I gotta zip over here and then I gotta go over to this grandmother’s house and that grandfather’s house and this in-law so for me, hosting was a lifesaver, but I know that’s not true for everyone.
[00:16:23] But being able to control her schedule still, alleviated my stress.
[00:16:28] Craig Canapari MD: I’d say too, you mentioned shuttling from house to house. if you live close to your relatives, it’s okay You don’t have to do everything, You can sit something out. if you’re going someplace else for dinner and then somebody else’s house for dessert, it’s okay for one of the parents to opt outta that and say, you know what?
[00:16:43] Like, you know, if I stay with my in-laws, that would usually be me. I should be like, okay, I’m gonna go back to the house with the kids. You guys hang out longer, that’s totally cool. your 15 month old doesn’t have to participate in every single activity.
[00:16:56] it’s quality, not quantity. one thing I want to talk about is something that. [00:17:00] When my kids were little, used to get talked about a lot more, which is parents wanting to give their kids Benadryl or diphenhydramine to fall asleep with travel. it’s really something that’s not recommended, for a couple of reasons.
[00:17:10] it can be a little tricky to dose you’re basically giving. 1.5. The dose is 1.5. Their, their kilo, their kilos and wait every six hours. the math is not always easy for tired parents. diphenhydramine can also have a paradoxical response, so it can actually make your kid hyper.
[00:17:27] so you can imagine if you’re on a crowded plane and it’s time for your toddler to sleep and you give the medicine that’s, just disinhibiting them and making them crazy. That might not work well. I’d say it’s probably one of those things that I would steer clear of.
[00:17:39] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I have actually had a couple of clients over the years who not. I did not recommend this, just to make that very clear. Have given, their children Benadryl, on a transatlantic flight or something like that. And it has caused the opposite effect where the child is just bonkers and off the walls.
[00:17:59] [00:18:00] Benadryl in general isn’t a great thing, right? They’re just saying it’s not very great for anybody right now. So, but either way, it can definitely make, children bonkers.
[00:18:10] Craig Canapari MD: And I’d say like melatonin two, like. If you, yeah, again, if you’re flying overnight talk to your pediatrician. Like, you wanna make sure the dose is right. You wanna make sure it’s not gonna cause any problems. Whether there’s stuff that your, your child, your child’s health issues or something like that.
[00:18:28] And like, probably don’t try something the first time, when you’re on a plane. we, We flew to England overnight when Charlie was seven months we thought about leaving him with relatives my wife went to see a lactation consultant who told her that he would grieve the breast if he stayed behind, which I think is, a pretty messed up thing to say.
[00:18:47] So we’re ended up bringing him and, he did not, he cried the whole overnight flight and then we had to drive 300 miles on the wrong side of the road. he immediately adjusted to the schedule in England to the point where we would expect him to be [00:19:00] sleeping in and getting up late. But no, he was up with Dawn, when we got there. my advice to you is if you have the opportunity to take a nice trip to England and you have the opportunity to leave your child behind, I empower you to make that decision.
[00:19:13] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:19:14] Craig Canapari MD: Great pictures, and it was a great time, Might have been more fun without it. Love you Charlie. let’s talk a little bit about time zone stuff.
[00:19:20] to skip around the outline a little bit and then maybe come back to the food stuff. ’cause I think that, it’s worth, it’s, you know, this again, this is one of those things that people are maybe gonna stress a little bit about and,
[00:19:32] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah, I think,
[00:19:34] Craig Canapari MD: yeah,
[00:19:34] Arielle Greenleaf: I think there’s always, I mean, I work with parents. Of children who have sleep problems. eventually they don’t. Once they work with me, they don’t. But, the people that come to me are stressed and so even an hour time change, parents are freaking out.
[00:19:51] I think for just an hour time change. you can keep your child on their normal schedule. You don’t have [00:20:00] to make. Dramatic shifts. of course, if you’re going like six hours, the other way, that’s a different thing. But just a, an hour, you may just wanna consider keeping your child on the same, same, schedule.
[00:20:13] Craig Canapari MD: Most families are not traveling. Five or six hours, right? If you’re staying in the US the most, you’re probably traveling is two or three hours. Now if you’re flying east, it’s very easy to stay on the same schedule, imagine you’re on California time, so your kid is sleeping from seven to seven.
[00:20:31] you fly to the east coast and all of a sudden they’re in a 10:00 PM to 10:00 AM schedule. lean into that. Stay up a little bit later. Have them sleep in a little bit. If your room’s dark, maybe you’ll be successful.
[00:20:42] it’s harder if you’re going the opposite direction. Your child is on a seven to seven schedule and they fly from New York to San Francisco and all of a sudden they are on a 4:00 PM to 4:00 AM Schedule, that’s less fun for everyone. that being said, if you can make it work, you can try to stay in the same schedule.
[00:20:59] You know, [00:21:00] it’s funny, we had some friends were very fortunate they were taking it around the world trip, and they’re like, what do we do about our kids sleep? the math is too complicated. You’re just, you’re, you’re flying like all these different time zones, just like, you know, the kids were like junior high aged kids, but you’re just gonna be dealing with some jet lag.
[00:21:17] I’d say your average holiday trip, it’s a couple of nights, stay on your home schedule. don’t worry about it too much. if you’re staying longer, natural light exposure can be really helpful. physical activity, limiting screen time, though I empower you. If your kid’s on the plane and they want the iPad, just let ’em have the iPad.
[00:21:33] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely.
[00:21:35] Craig Canapari MD: I don’t like kids being on screens all the time, but in situations that are both stressful and boring. I think it’s totally okay. Like parents in the doctor’s office, there are three year olds coming to sleep clinic and they’re taking the kid’s phone away. When I’m talking to them, I’m like, let them have the phone.
[00:21:49] This is a totally appropriate time for your child to be entertained and not stressed.
[00:21:53] Arielle Greenleaf: Mm-Hmm.
[00:21:56] Craig Canapari MD: I think this is such a new first parent lesson to learn. [00:22:00] If the kids want to watch more TV than you’re used to, it’s not gonna kill them.
[00:22:06] Arielle Greenleaf: Right,
[00:22:08] Craig Canapari MD: set your limits but also recognize that they raised you, you probably turned out okay. They’re not gonna destroy your child with a little bit of extra cartoons,
[00:22:18] Arielle Greenleaf: Right, exactly. But I think that goes into the food stuff that you’re talking about as well. If you’re thinking about being spoiled in different ways, we’re thinking about sugar and candy and treats and all the things.
[00:22:31] Craig Canapari MD: I was so excited for Christmas cookies. That is my jam. this is one of those things I kind of took a little bit of a dive into Sugar chocolate stuff I say, first of all, all of the literature looking at the relationship between food and specifically sugar intake and children’s sleep was looking at kids’ habitual diets.
[00:22:52] So, looking at kids’, the evidence is all over the place. There was an Australian study, and I’ll put these on the show [00:23:00] notes, about 300 kids, age, 12. Almost all these kids, 81% of them were over the recommended sugar intake limits. The proportion of sugar in their diet was not associated with behavioral change.
[00:23:12] but there’s another much larger study at about 2,600 kids, six to 12, and found that kids who were having more sugary beverages specifically had decreased sleep duration and increased sleep debt. On school days. So I think there is something to be said, if you’re having soda or juice, that’s like sugar water that immediately hits your bloodstream.
[00:23:35] if you’re having a cookie, something with fat in it, your glucose peak is probably gonna be a little bit less. But at the end of the day, if your kid wants to have a cookie, let them have a cookie, it’s Christmas or it’s Hanukkah or whatever, like the message shouldn’t be. Let’s all, let’s all restrict our diets because I think that can also be unhealthy.
[00:23:53] that being said, it’s quality, not quantity. Have you letting your kid enjoy some Christmas cookies? That’s great. Letting your kid eat all [00:24:00] the Christmas cookies. Probably not necessary.
[00:24:03] Arielle Greenleaf: mean also just know your kid because I feel like some children are very sensitive to different things and others, you know, they can watch their iPad and all day long until bad time and eat a whole jar of sugar and they’ll go to bed and sleep 12 hours. So it really depends on your child too.
[00:24:23] Craig Canapari MD: You know, this is the hard thing about being a parent, right? Christmas is stress. Maybe you’re a little stressed ’cause you’re dealing with your family. there’s a lot of chaotic energy going on. Your kid is probably more likely to have a tantrum than they would otherwise, right?
[00:24:36] being tired, being revved up. you know what gets kids more nuts than getting a bunch of presents, it’s got so much stress, like good stress, but it really gets them up. you relax a little bit about the iPad, you take it away, you kid has a tantrum.
[00:24:51] My son was reminiscing about his visiting friends and it wasn’t a holiday, I’m like, you’re done with your screen time. he took his iPad, he’s probably six and he [00:25:00] smashed it on the ground something in a memory came up with this trip and the thing was broken. I’m like, well, okay, I guess you don’t have that anymore.
[00:25:07] Arielle Greenleaf: Right.
[00:25:08] Craig Canapari MD: But you
[00:25:09] Arielle Greenleaf: Well.
[00:25:10] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah. if it makes your kids totally agro, maybe be a little bit careful. but you know, I, I was, you had go back in the literature where they’re actually doing glucose challenges on kids to see if it affects their behavior.
[00:25:20] there was no change in aggressive behavior. Compared to placebo. if you know your kid can’t tolerate this, that’s fine, but make sure they have something else they can enjoy.
[00:25:30] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah.
[00:25:31] Craig Canapari MD: I think in general I see a lot of parents who are very restrictive about their kids’ foods, for behavioral reasons, which usually there’s not a lot of evidence for you can parent your child any way you want, but sometimes. It’s one thing if they have a peanut allergy, don’t give them peanut butter, but if like, you’re like, oh, they get a little hyperactive with sugar, you know, don’t be like, well, you can’t have dessert, and everybody else is.
[00:25:53] That’s kind of how I feel about that.
[00:25:56] Arielle Greenleaf: Yeah. I think it is interesting that you bring up tantrums too [00:26:00] because that ties back to what we’ve been saying Even if sleep is wonky try to keep your child well rested. Usually children are tantruming when they’re tired or hungry, so keep them well rested and fed.
[00:26:14] don’t just feed them sugar, make sure they’re having sugar, but also a piece of broccoli. Or some protein, those are the two things that really lead to, in my opinion, tantrums.
[00:26:24] Craig Canapari MD: For me, the main thing with having too much sugar, unless your child has diabetes or something, is that sugar crash you get, afterwards. if they’ve had nothing but a cup of ginger ale and a bunch of candy, they’re probably gonna be freaking out it really can be a challenge. I remember when my kids were little and everybody’s running around? Are they really gonna sit at the table and eat a pork chop or something? It’s not happening.
[00:26:46] Arielle Greenleaf: your Turkey.
[00:26:48] Craig Canapari MD: Oh man. Can I just say I’m not a big Turkey guy.
[00:26:51] We’re hosting a big Thanksgiving, and I’m like, trytophan. We love that in sleep world, right? It’s great. But, I just feel like It’s hard to cook it. Right. I’d rather [00:27:00] everybody had a, if I had a miniature cape on myself, I’d be happier.
[00:27:03] Arielle Greenleaf: I think you’re not alone. I just went to a Friendsgiving yesterday and there was no Turkey. I am hosting two Thanksgivings, so I have 2 28 pound turkeys to pick up this weekend. I don’t mind Turkey ’cause I like the sides. gimme the gravy and I’ll just. put the sides around it and then the turkey’s kind of hidden by everything else.
[00:27:22] Craig Canapari MD: has to be there, I guess like, so I, I think we’ve kind of covered like yeah, keep your, keep, keep your kids’ schedule as routine as possible, but recognize it’s not gonna be perfect. what do you do if it’s your kid’s bedtime and they’re totally jazzed up, how can you kind of
[00:27:39] Arielle Greenleaf: sure. Just taking them out, changing their environment. even if it’s like a walk outside, a bath or, just going into a different room that’s darker and quieter it might take a little bit of time before they actually settle because. when they’re all jazzed up, it can, take some time but I think [00:28:00] removing yourself and your child from that situation, even a car ride, like you were saying, just some sort of change of scenery to calm them down and, get them to a place of, calmer can be helpful.
[00:28:12] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah, get them outside. Change a scene. I mean, it’s 60 degrees today. where I am, which is not typical fall weather, but if it’s, it’s cold, like yeah, your kids can play outside the cold. That’s okay.
[00:28:24] Arielle Greenleaf: Definitely get them some physical activity. even if they’re babies, go outside with them. get outside, get the fresh air.
[00:28:31] Craig Canapari MD: The cool dad or mom, take them outside and play a game with them, kick a ball around, do something like that. the natural light exposure can be really helpful as well. try to channel some of that crazy energy so they’re not just slapping their siblings or something like that.
[00:28:44] Arielle Greenleaf: And I think, it’s so easy to say this now, 10 years into parenting but. try not to stress, try to let go a little bit. I know it’s hard to let go, especially for those who have worked so hard [00:29:00] on your child’s sleep.
[00:29:01] but I promise you, you’ll get back on track. If you have a regular, beautiful schedule and routine, you’ll get back there. Merry Christmas. Happy Hanukkah. Happy Kwanza. Happy New Year. Happy Thanksgiving.
[00:29:17] Craig Canapari MD: Yeah, I would agree. The what got you here will, will your routines just when you get home, just go back to them. it’ll be okay. Hey, I have one pro tip I wanna share. We can probably open
[00:29:27] Arielle Greenleaf: hear it.
[00:29:28] Craig Canapari MD: So, new Year’s, right? What do we know about New Year’s? You stay up till midnight. Well, I remember one year we were staying with some friends.
[00:29:35] The kids were probably. I think my oldest son was maybe 10 or 11 and they wanted to stay up to midnight. And the last thing I wanted was to be hanging out with my kids at midnight. so we set all the clocks in the house significantly later, and parents, Netflix actually has a ball drop thing you [00:30:00] can play.
[00:30:01] at an earlier time to simulate a new year’s. so our kids went to bed at nine o’clock and then they couldn’t sleep for a while ’cause they were so excited. the next day my oldest son was probably up to 11. He’s like, I was up till like four or five in the morning. It was crazy. here’s my pro tip. just lie to your kids.
[00:30:20] Arielle Greenleaf: you’re simulating things to promote their health and allow them to have fun while you’re keeping them on track.
[00:30:26] Craig Canapari MD: And I think my kids do know that we did this. we didn’t routinely lie to them, but honestly, I thought it was kind of funny too, and I was super surprised that it actually worked. so yeah, that’s all I’ve got. as Arielle said, give yourself a break.
[00:30:38] Give your kids a break. Be flexible. You’re gonna be fine.
[00:30:41] Arielle Greenleaf: Absolutely.
[00:30:43] Craig Canapari MD: A peaceful, calm holiday season to everyone. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy some sweets. Try not to be too stressed.
[00:30:51] Arielle Greenleaf: Amen.
[00:30:52] Craig Canapari MD: Okay.
[00:30:53] Thanks so much for listening to the Sleep edit. [00:31:00] You can find transcripts at the web address Sleeped show. You can also find video of the episodes at that address as well as in my YouTube channel. You can find me at Dr. Craig canna perry.com and on all social media at D-R-C-A-N-A-P-A-R-I. You can find Ariel at Instagram at Ariel Greenleaf.
[00:31:23] That’s A-R-I-E-L-L-E-G-R-E-E-N-L-E-A. If you like the flavor of the advice here. Please check out my book. It’s Never Too Late to Sleep. Train the Low Stress Way to high Quality Sleep for babies, kids, and parents. It’s available wherever fine books are sold. If you found this useful, please subscribe at Spotify or Apple Podcast and share it with your friends.
[00:31:49] It really helps as we’re trying to get the show off the ground. Thanks.
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