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6 hour flight w/ 4yo - WWYD?
We are heading out to CA this summer. If All goes according to plan and I have summer hours again (Friday's in the summer) we'll most likely go August 22-September 2. That way it's a full 10 days vacation & I'm only taking 5 or 6 days off. We have to go that week as W's school is closed.
So....W doesn't nap anymore. Taking a morning or afternoon flight with him will just means he will be up and ACTIVE the entire 6 hours on the plane. I'm thinking of taking an early evening flight on Wednesday 8/22. He'll have the entire day to burn off energy and then we can watch movies on the flight. If we leave Newark @ 6pm, we'd land at midnight our time - 9pm CA time.
When we flew last time it was an early morning flight and he was wired for sound the entire day. He finally crashed at 9pm CA time but was up at 5am the next day and was a mess all day. I'm hoping getting in so late will aid in him sleeping better that first night.
What would you do?? What's your experience been with long flights and time changes??
Thanks!
Re: 6 hour flight w/ 4yo - WWYD?
i have yet to do a time change or a long flight.
but for the time change. do what i did when i went to england/germany. i stayed up as LATE as i could (we arrived at 8 am but to me it was 4 pm) i stayed up as late as i could to adjust to the time change there and so i wouldn't wake up at the crack. get him as close to ca time.
as for the fight. he might pass out on the plane. belle will sleep in the car and i'd think she'd pass out on a plane too. if you do an early evening flight. and he does fall asleep will that screw you?
when we went on the cruise with belle which equaled a flight to fl. i got her a new dvd for the flight out and back. and also got her a back pack with all new crayons/markers/coloring books/stickers ALL brand new so she was excited about it. and she had to wait till we got to the plane to play with them. also snacks lots of snacks
We just went to CA at the beginning of the month, but my 3yo still naps. Our flight there was at 11am or so and he slept part of it. He was pretty wired the rest of the day/night though and stayed up way later than he should have. He was restless by about 4am and completely up by 7am. At home he usually sleeps until 8 or 9am. He was like that for about 3-4 days.
Coming home we took the red-eye, he slept part of the car ride to the airport, was awake for about an hour on the flight then slept the rest. If we kept him up from the time we got home, he probably would have adjusted well, but we let him nap and he was asleep until noon, so it threw him off for the next 2-3 days.
If you took an early morning flight, would he nap some of the flight since you woke him up earlier than normal?
Became a Mrs. on 4/29/06 and a Mommy on 12/5/08
my advice is expect the unexpected!
We flew to Sicily last year. Our flight was around 7:30 pm. We fully anticipated a somewhat smooth ride considering we were leaving at night...it was awful. They both fussed, cried, etc and it took FOREVER for them to go to sleep. They were tired but couldn't fall asleep. Sabrina finally fell asleep 3 hours in and Nicholas pretty much cried and screamed the entire flight..I can safely say he was awake for 7 of the 9 hours it took to get there..it was TORTURE.
When we got there he was still bright eyed and bushy tailed. By the time we got to my grandmothers he was ready to crash..but again was so overtired he couldn't go to bed. It took me about an hour or so to get him down. I crashed right with him.
Coming home we fully anticipated a disaster. We flew out in the morning and had to entertain them for almost 10 hours. Wouldn't you know they sat and played for a few hours then NAPPED for 5 hours..they got up and were fairly pleasant the rest of the flight. We totally didn't expect it.
Mangia! My Family Table
No, he's not gonna nap if we take a day flight. Hell, I don't think he'll nap on the later flight either. He'll be too excited to be on the plane and heading out to see Poppy. As for the red-eye...NEVER AGAIN. I, me, an adult can't deal with the red eye I would NEVER subject him to it.
Ugh, why can't my dad live some where just as cool to visit but not so far away, lol.
Toby and I went to California last year when he was 4, and he was fine on the plane. We had a day flight and he was good watching movies, coloring, playing card games with me, and playing with other 'stuff' I had put in his backpack.
You can't EVER bank on the kids sleeping, seriously. He was up the entire flight out there, but as soon as we got on our flight heading home.. he crashed. For almost then entire thing. Like Patrizia said, be prepared for anything and expect the unexpected.
Are you flying non-stop? Frankly, on flights that are over 3 hours, I would RATHER take a connecting flight than a non-stop, for the purpose of breaking up the day/flight.. it gives them a little bit of time to run amok in the airport in between flights, too.
It sounds like the evening flight is a good plan for heading out. I would be prepared with snacks, change of clothes, and a mix of things to occupy him since you never know what will happen - flight delays, potty accidents, lost luggage, etc. I'd spring for a slightly bigger seat if you can or at least request bulkhead so you have a little more space. If he's potty trained see if he can use the potty right before getting on, or as soon as you get on before take off and just before the descent. A was younger when we did the Taiwan flight (~20 hrs), and DH and I took turns walking with him in the aisles when he got restless. We set the rules that he was allowed to walk and could say hi to people, but no running, no yelling, and stay w/ mom/dad/grandma. We let him watch tv, read to him, and got him a new toy for the flight so we knew that it would hold his interest a bit longer than one of his existing toys.
For dealing with jetlag, unfortunately, you may need to just let it take its course. Keep him up as late as you reasonably can while in CA so that his pacific time bedtime is close to his eastern time bedtime though he'll probably be ready to conk out much earlier.
we took G to london last year- that is 6 hours. We did the overnight flights. He was fine for the first 2 hours, then slept for 4 hours. we landed at 8am and he was so excited to see my niece he stayed awake the entire day. on 4 hours of sleep!!!!!!!
On the way home, it was 8 hours, and after 2 he started melting down. He was tired, antsy, wanted to move around. It sucked.
Like patrizia said, expect the unexpected. I'd anticipate the worst, but hope for the best