My children have passed the age of napping, a ritual that I will miss even more than singing lullabies at bedtime, or my youngest daughter’s habit of climbing into my lap after every dinner.

It’s not the way their sweet little faces looked—slightly sweaty and softly lit from the midday sun through the curtains—that I will miss.

It isn’t even the soothing sounds they used to make while lulling themselves into a slumber each afternoon.

It is that this wonderful ritual, of which I hung on to like a three-year-old hangs on to a pack of gum at a check-out counter, was MY time to get some serious rest; my time to catch up on my ZZZs, especially while travelling.

How much fun for you

What the heck is a holiday without some time for a serious siesta?

Trying to take your family around to enjoy the sights and sounds of your favourite vacay destination is not much fun when you’ve got to deal with a nap-deprived child.

Ensuring that your child has had his or her regular nap, at least on most days of your holidays, will guarantee a fun vacation for everyone.

It begins with the room

If your kids are beyond the stage of just realizing that there exists an exciting world outside of their own, book a hotel room with a separate suite (if you can swing the extra cost).

Many family-friendly hotels have this option, and they are worth every penny.

If unavailable, stock up on pillows, blankets and books, and do what I’ve resorted to on a number of occasions: set up your own private suite in the bathroom. A bathtub, well lined with pillows, actually makes for a fairly comfy chaise.

And if you’re questioning how fun it is to spend two hours of your holiday each day staring at a toilet, you might want to try to catch some shut-eye yourself.
Just don’t accidentally turn on the hot water tap in your sleep.

Schedule, schedule, schedule

Even free tickets to the Louvre aren’t worth it if the only time you have free is during your babies’ regular naptime.

But go ahead, try it if you like. You’ll soon be bribing your kids with every fruit bar in your diaper bag just to keep them from ruining everyone else’s long-awaited visit to the Louvre.

It won’t matter that the Mona Lisa’s eyes appear to be following you, because the stares coming from everyone else will be boring into your sweaty, frustrated red face.

Try to schedule your days around naptime, even if it means missing a few sights.

Remember that you can always return when your wee one is old enough to actually remember. When you go back, you can regale them with stories of the day they spat-up on a statue when they were just three months old!

Sure it can be frustrating at first, but remember that kids thrive on routine, and maintaining this downtime each day is something grown-ups can also use when far from home.

Don’t sweat it if they aren’t co-operating

We once put our youngest down for her afternoon nap in a tent on a sweltering hot summer day.

Enjoying the relative cool of the tent with her eyes wide open the entire time, we waited patiently and very uncomfortably outside.

Kids won’t always sleep in unfamiliar places, but rituals of the same bedtime story they get at home, or the same snack, will give them some level of comfort, even if they don’t drift to sleep every day.

Providing them with enough time to disconnect from the world, especially one filled with new and interesting things, will give them a much deserved rest so that they may recharge their batteries.

And besides, waiting for you back in the hotel room is that fabulous bathtub chaise to sink into.

Main photo: Abigail Batchelder
Photo#2: Quinn-Dombrowski
Photo#3: Tomoyuki-Kawashima