Do you keep your kids on a routine while you are away on vacation or do you just go with the flow?

My daughter is a routine loving of kid.  She thrives and is at her best when she eats at her normal times, gets a good nap at her regular time and goes to bed around her regular time.  This goes for when we are home or when we are away.  As a result I do my best to keep her on some sort of familiar routine when we are on vacation.  I can’t keep things exactly the same as at home but I can certainly do my best to establish a routine that works for her.

With Maya it becomes very obvious, very fast when she hasn’t gotten enough sleep, has had enough fun and just needs to chill out.  When I see the melt downs starting, when I see her emotional side start to make an appearance I know she needs some rest.  Being on vacation can sometimes mean a lot of go, go, go and forgetting to eat and sleep at regular times.  Even I get crabby when I’m hungry or haven’t had enough sleep so it isn’t any surprise that my kiddo does too.

To help keep things in some sort of balance when we are away from home I try to:

• Stick with a decent bedtime for Maya. The thing that throw her off the most is not getting enough sleep so enough though it may mean we have to miss out on a few things I try to stay firm on a bedtime that is reasonable for a 2 year old.
• Make sure she gets a nap every day, or at least most days.  2 year olds need their sleep and Maya just gets really crabby, irrational and over tired if she doesn’t get a nap most days.  Again, it may mean missing out on a fun activity, but what fun would it really be if it only resulted in mega tantrums.  Naps are important and I try my best to keep them in the schedule.
• Eat our meals are pretty regular times.  Maya, like me, gets crabby if she doesn’t eat so I make sure that while we are on vacation breakfast, lunch and dinner all happen are pretty regular times.
• Listen to the cues from Maya.  If she is getting extra crabby, extra emotional, or just plain out of air I make sure that she gets down for a nap or for bed early that day to help her regroup, or I make sure our schedule for that day is a quiet one.

It isn’t always easy to keep some sort of routine going but I try my best because I know that is what is going to make our vacation for the most fun for Maya, and as a result us.  No one wants to be super crabby and tired while on vacation, that’s not fun.

So, what about you?  Do you have go with the flow kids or routine lovers?  How do you handle them when your on a family vacation?