Tips for night flights

[katytrott]

Leaving tonight and am wondering if anyone has any good tips for coping with the night flight, particularly with our kids (2 and 7). I guess any tips for the next day would be appreciated as well!

 

[dixonsontour]

Well we came back last week and ours is a not what to do but worked out fine.

DD aged 5 didn't sleep at all on the flight back. She slept in the car all the way home and then in bed until 6.30pm.

She was zonked out no waking her.

I thought we would be up all night with her but she went to bed when we did, slept all night and got up with us at normal time on the sunday.

Has been ok since - back in her normal routine.

I think she was so exhausted from the trip that she was able to sleep so much whereas usual best advice is to sleep on plane and have a small nap or no nap on landing day and hold out for uk bedtime.

 

[2Tiggies]

I have found the same to be true. My DD does not sleep on the plane, but somehow kids seems to just settle back into routine with very little problem while we struggle along feeling awful for a week

I don't think there is anything you can do to make kids sleep if they aren't going to so you just roll with it. They will be more fine than you will

 

[queendisney]

when we have been with kids (not ours, the nieces and nephews) they have always just fallen asleep not long after take off..it seems its the adults that have the problems with the red eye flights back to the UK.. The cabin crew normally dim the lights after they have served the meal and you don't normally hear a thing from all the little ones. We, DH and I, never ever sleep, he just watches some movies and I stick they eye pad thing on and listen to soothing music on the IPod!
The kids the next day are virtually back into the swing of UK time having slept most of the way, while the adults are thinking 'I want my bed NOW' Have fun!!!

 

[higgy66]

We returned just over a week ago and to be honest the flight back was really noisey. Loads of people seemed to be coughing or throwing up! My daughter even started being sick just as we started the decent so not sure if there was something in the air as we didn't have a bumpy flight??

We all went to sleep when we got home from 12 until about 5.30. Got up had some tea and watched the camcorder. We then went to bed about 9.30ish and set alarms for 7.30 next morning and got up as normal.

To be honest myself and hubby had taken an extra day off work to get over the jet lag as we usually land back Saturday's to give us Sunday at home but both of us said that we could have gone to work.

The girls were fine and although were on a school holiday I think they would have been happy to go to school.

 

[joanne74]

Don't worry, in my experience they just sleep and we adults just doze but not very well.

Our flight back left at 8pm - DD5 went to sleep fairly quickly. DS8 watched a film first then went to sleep. They both stayed up the next day and just went to bed really early. It's taken them about a week of early nights to fully recover from the hectic holiday and jet-lag!

We went on a 9 hour flight to Kenya last year and they slept really well then too. Me and DH didn't and were exhausted the next day. It was us that had the afternoon nap not the kids!

 

[Kath2003]

No kids but in my experience, you'll arrive at your destination tired, hungry, cranky and in need of a shower no matter what time your flight, which airline you use, where you fly from, day of the week, etc.

Some of the kids we've seen cope better than the adults

They reckon the best way to overcome jet lag is to eat at the local time in your destination. I don't know if it's true or not, we just get on with it and accept being tired for a few days.

 

[2Tiggies]

They reckon the best way to overcome jet lag is to eat at the local time in your destination. I don't know if it's true or not, we just get on with it and accept being tired for a few days.

I believe "they" are right Last year we messed up big time. I was so miserable about coming home that I didn't care and we suffered unbelievably - both DD and I - for over a week.

This year I was adamant that we would not make the same mistake. When we landed in the morning here we were exhausted and I forced us to stay awake. We showered, left the cases as they were and went to bed at 7 pm and slept almost 12 hours. I honestly felt great (aside from leaving Disney lol). It is definitely the way to go.