Sleep advice needed for airplane travel with 15 month old toddler

[Lali812]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice for airplane travel with my 15 month old son.  We will be travelling long haul to the Philippines from New York City this coming weekend.  We will be traveling for about 16-17 hours from NYC to Hong Kong where we have a lay over and then travel a few more hours from Hong Kong to the Philippines.  Our first flight leaves almost at 1AM.  

My son has a sleep routine during which he goes to sleep around 7:30-8pm each night.  My question is should I let him sleep at his normal time or should I keep him up until we board the plane (and deal with an overtired toddler)?  Any advice will be most welcome. :-)

I would also love it if you shared any advice about babies/toddlers on airplanes in general...especially sleeping tips.

Thanks!

Edited by Lali812 - 2/27/13 at 9:37am

[Ola_]

We have flown with DD quite a bit domestic with three round trips to Europe (from Canada) at 6 months, 18 months and 21 months. Of course every baby is different, but I think trying to keep your son awake till 1am will be a disaster. In our experience when DD was overtired she would scream and then fall asleep anyway, regardless of our attempts to keep her happy and/or awake. You could try a late nap and then have him sleep when you get on the plane, but even that is tricky IMO. If you are bringing a stroller, will he sleep in it while you walk around or wait for your flight? Then you could have just a short interruption when you pick him up and get on the plane. Hopefully if you snuggle him he won't wake up all the way.

Will you have anyone else with you? Do you have a seat for him and are bringing a car seat? I find DD sleeps best in my arms but then that means I get absolutely no rest and that's tough when you're going to a new place in a different time zone with a likely tired and overwhelmed toddler. If you haven't purchased a seat I would bring a car seat anyway and install it rear-facing (even if he already forward faces, it's much more reclined that way and so better for sleep). Hopefully there will be at least one empty seat available (I usually ask at the desk, not mentioning the car seat but just ask if they have any empty seats so you could have more room with the baby).

Last time I brought DD some crayons/paper, little animal-type crackers that we played with as well as she ate, some over-the-head headphones so she could play with them and listen to some music/movies (this only worked for a short time, but still). I gave her stuff from my meal and when there was something she liked I asked for another bun/entree/whatever and the flight attendants always had some extras.

Hmm, not sure what else would be helpful... We spent lots of time during daytime flights walking around with DD in arms and more recently letting her walk on her own up and down the aisle.

[sk8boarder15]

Every time we've traveled with my son (10 months, 18months, and 20 months). He sleeps in the car on the way to the airport, wakes up at the air port, we go though security and all that (I always wear him the whole time and don't let any one touch him or take him away from me), we get him a snack and then let him run and play at the air port till our flight. Usually take off is rough, but once we are in the air, we pull out the laptop and put on a movie and he PASSES out. Usually for the rest of the flight, then wakes up happy on landing. Usually our flights are about 5 hours (Chicago - Portland). I would bring him tons of snacks and some new small toys and current favorites!
 

I don't think attempting to keep him up till 1am will even work, he'll pass out long before that. I would try to keep him up till you get in the car for the airport if thats not too late. 

[cali2tx]

Hi Lali -

I've been flying with my now 18-month-old since she was itty bitty.  We've done lots of cross-country flights (Cali to Boston), Cali to Hawaii and often with short commuter flights one end or the other, layovers, etc.  I haven't flown internationally with her yet though.  A well packed diaper bag/carry-on is key, here is what works for us.

Gear

-I have a $30 umbrella stroller that we use when flying.  It helps us race through the airport & gives my daughter her own seat in the airport.  It fits easily in the handicap bathroom stall so I can us the restroom.  Its lightweight.  It folds & unfolds easily to leave & pick up at the gate, plus if it gets beaten up a bit I don't mind.  Since my daughter is on my lap for the entire flight, I think its good for both of us that she has a "seat" of her own in the airport, plus it contains her.

-I also bring along a baby carrier (like a baby bjorn).  When we line up to board the plane I put her in it, then fold up the stroller.  Now that she's older, I don't always use it but is very handy when I need both hands available for boarding passes etc.  Its also less necessary if your traveling with a partner, but if its just baby & you it may be thankful for having this.

Entertainment

-small board books, crayons & coloring book, small rattles, stuffed animals or other toys, plus a few new small toys to surprise him every few hours if he seems bored.

-if you have an iPad/laptop/smartphone, bring along DVDs or download some cartoons to have on hand.  Dinosaur Train and Mickey Mouse Club work great with my little one.

Tire him out

-I try to keep my daughter up before boarding the plane.  I try to let her walk/run a bit around a quiet part of the terminal for a bit to give her a chance to stretch her legs, get out some energy & tire her out a bit.

Milk & Water

-Have a few empty baby bottles or sippy cups on hand to fill with milk or water, even if you've already trained him to use a real cup.

-Buy a big bottle of water before you board the flight.  Flying can be really dehydrating plus lots of people experience constipation as a result.  Offer water whenever possible.

-If your strict about giving him whole milk only, you can often get a cup at Starbucks or whatever coffee shop is in the terminal, sometimes they charge you for the milk & other times they'll just give it to you for free.  If the coffee shops are closed at that hour, you can usually get a bottle of low-fat milk from the magazine/snack shops.  When you board the plane, as the flight attendant to refridgerate it for you.  An international flight should be able to do this easily.  Sometimes domestic flights don't have a fridge, when thats the case, I ask for a cup of ice, pour the ice into the barf bag, put the bottle/cup of milk in & close it up as tight as I can.  Those barf bags do not leak ;-)

Snacks

-I usually fill a few sandwich bags with Cheerios at home.  From the airport snack shops we usually like Chex Mix & peanutbutter crackers and sometimes animal crackers.

-Starbucks & Au Bon Pain often sell bananas or fruit cups with a combo of grapes, melon and berries.  These let us offer our little one some fresh & familiar foods. 

Extra diapers & extra back-up clothes (for you & him)

-When she was younger, it was very common for my daughter to have a huge diaper blow-out during landing.  I think it has something to do with the change in air pressure.  I've thrown many onesies away in airport bathrooms. 

-More recently we've had diaper leak when she sleeps on our laps, the squirming & unusual positions shift her diaper and suddenly I have a wet lap...

-Don't forget to change those diapers!  Airplane bathrooms are rarely pleasant, but make sure to change him when you can to help avoid those leaks, especially if he's drinking all that water.

-Plane delays happen all the time have extras on hand in case your lay-over stretches from 2 hours to 6 hours.

Friendly neighbors

-Hopefully you'll be sitting beside & in front of friendly folks who find your son adorable.  My daughter loves peeking over the seat & interacting with the people behind us.  If your son is extra fussy, cries for a long period of time & you've got a toddler melting down in close quarters, consider offering to buy a drink for the person sitting next to you (and maybe one for yourself).

Good luck & enjoy your trip.

[Lali812]

Thank you so much everyone for all of your wonderful advice.  We just returned from our trip and it went really well.  We're now getting over jet lag.  We did end up bringing a car seat for the plane and it helped a lot (he slept 6-8 hours in it plus a few more for nap. He didn't cry at all in the plane; I think the sounds was like a white noise for him so it helped him sleep better.  The snack idea really helped as well.  I did try putting him to sleep before the flight (he had a late nap) but he was so amazed at the airport that he just wouldn't.  This was the only time he became really cranky but at least he was able to expend some energy before boarding.  ;-)

We're currently struggling with jet lag.  He got over it quickly when we we in the Philippines.  Now it seems more challenging for some reason.  If anyone has any toddler and jet lag advice, I would love it if you shared. ;-)

Thanks so much once again. 
 

[Ola_]

We found the adjustment coming home more rough also. On the way to Europe DD would sleep longer in the morning which was fine with me but after coming home she ends up waking up crazy early which I don't enjoy. It's probably my least favourite part of the whole trip honestly, but we just try and stick to the regular schedule (as opposed to transitioning slowly or anything). It takes us about 5 days or so to get (sort of) back to normal. Good luck!