How do I get my baby to sleep in a portacot?

Ask Sally · the column

As many of you know, travel is a huge passion of mine and, as a family, we place a lot of value on it.

We’ve been fortunate enough to travel both domestically and internationally with our children since our first was six months old. We flew from Melbourne to New York and she was my baby bridesmaid as we eloped under the Brooklyn Bridge on a warm Tuesday afternoon. That’s a whole other newsletter!

Understandably, a lot of anxiety can come with travelling with a baby. Routines out the window, delayed flights, short car naps, new sleep environments, and the big one, jet lag and significant time zone changes.

I’m here to bellow at you that the trip is worth it.

And an otherwise great little sleeper usually makes for a great little traveller.

We’ve had so many of our Camp Snooze graduates and Snooze members head off on overseas trips, only to report back about how well their babies slept and how glad they were that they’d done the sleep work before they left.

So this week I’m answering one of the most common travel questions I get.

(Or perhaps you call it a pack ’n play!)

For me, the portacot is just another bed, and the key is not to treat it as anything different.

It’s totally reasonable for your baby to notice the change in their sleep environment. But that doesn’t mean you need to change how you respond.

In fact, if you suddenly start doing things very differently, it can reinforce the idea that something is significantly different and that your baby needs extra help to sleep, when they can otherwise sleep really well.

This is where your bedtime routine is going to come in clutch.

That predictable series of steps has already shown your baby that it’s bedtime and everything is okay. Same sleeping bag, same white noise, same little routine, same parent saying goodnight.

Then, into the portacot they go.

From there, treat any wakings in the portacot as you would if they were sleeping in their regular cot. Resettle using your usual sleep training technique with confidence.

That clarity and consistency helps show your little one that although the sleep environment has changed, there’s no need to worry. They’re safe, and they know how to sleep here too.

If things do go a little awry, I’d also check that your daytime timings and feeds are age appropriate. An overtired, undertired or hungry baby is going to have a harder time adjusting to a new sleep space than one whose sleep pressure and feeding are working in your favour.

One other little trick I love is washing the portacot sheets at home in your usual laundry detergent before you travel. You could even sleep with them in your bed for a night before you leave so they smell reassuringly familiar.

After that, there’s nothing to see here, folks.

A cot is a cot is a cot is a cot.

And speaking of cots, my favourite travel cot has always been the BabyBjörn Travel Cot. Ours came with us to New York back in 2019 and earned every dollar.

Sally x

Ask Sally is my weekly column, where I answer the questions that land in my inbox and DMs. If there is something you are navigating with your baby’s sleep, send me your question. Yours might be the next one I answer.

Written by Sally Woods, internationally certified sleep consultant and former paediatric nurse.