Until—drum roll please—in a stroke of genius/fit of desperation, I discovered this brilliant, cheap family travel hack to make my kids sleep on vacation—for real!

Make your kids sleep on vacation for mere pennies

Now, dear friends, I’m passing along the wisdom. For just $2 you, too, can buy the supplies for a magic sleep-making invention.

So instead of praying or hoping or resigning yourself to the nightmare of being up all night with your kids, behold: my tin foil trick to make your kids sleep on vacation.

How to make your kids sleep on vacation

This parenting hack isn’t complicated. Here’s how I discovered it:

One day on vacation, after Kiwi got up well before dawn, I stopped by the Dollar Store after grabbing Starbucks. (OMG THANK YOU CAFFEINE!!!!!!!) And while wandering the aisles looking for sand toys, I had a creative epiphany. I dropped a few dollars at the counter and rushed home to try out my idea.

Here’s what I did to make my kids sleep on vacation:

I covered each bedroom window with tin foil.

Simple as that.

Yes, I know there is a little light peeking through the gaps of the tin foil. (Cut me some slack, I was functioning on like 4 hours of sleep.) Perfect is never the goal round my house—good enough is good enough—so I let it stand.

And my tin foil travel hack was good enough got both kids to sleep longer the next night—by about 2 hours.

The family travel hack that will save your vacation

One particular family vacation, in which I met my husband at the coast and where he competed in a weekend-long disc golf tournament (love ya, Hubs!), was the worst for my kids’ sleep. I nearly lost it, and I nearly swore off family vacations altogether.

That’s when I discovered my parenting hack to make my kids sleep on vacation.

This little trick basically made me willing to take my family out of our comfort zone and continue to see the world. Yep, that’s right, this $2 hack saved family vacations for us.

You see, moms, I get that family vacations aren’t easy. You have to plan. You have to research kid-friendly activities and AirBnBs. You have to weigh the pros and cons of missing your kid’s nap time and letting them see one more exhibit at the aquarium. And you do all this on way less sleep because your kids wake up when the sun peeks through the definitely-not-blackout curtains.

Being a mom isn’t always easy, and it definitely doesn’t get easier when you plan a family vacation. That’s why anything to make your job easier—including a parenting hack to make your kids sleep in—is gold in my books.

After all, when mama’s happy, everyone’s happy.

So the next time you take a family vacation, don’t resign yourself to early wake-ups and bedtime protests. Just buy a few rolls of tin foil, thank your lucky stars for this family travel hack—and revel in the fact your kids may just sleep in.

Do you have any tricks to make your kids sleep on vacation—or any other time? What’s your favorite family travel hack?

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