We are flying to the UK in a few weeks with a nearly 5 year old and almost 3 year old. Do they need to be restrained somehow while flying? How do they sleep on overnight flights? Any tips for airport, flying, etc.? Also, has anyone give their kids melatonin to help adjust to the time zone? TIA
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I've flown to the U.K. Several times with my LO and we are heading there again in May. Since they are over two you obviously have bought them seats. They do need to be restrained for the flight. That can be in an FAA approved car seat, in the regular seat with a cares harness, or in a seat with the seatbelt.
I prefer lugging the car seats on board so that my LO can sleep in it on an overnight flight. If it's an empty flight we take over two rows and let him lie down with his head on us.
I've never used melatonin but our kid is used to getting dragged to multiple time zones by now... -
There's no requirement for a special restraint. We just use the regular seatbelt and don't bring our car seats onboard. But you can if they are FAA approved. If you are flying on a European carrier you may want to check if there are any special rules (about type of car seat) because they may be slightly different than US carrier rules. My kids seem to sleep ok on long haul flights. Usually it's a night flight so we let them stay awake and watch videos on the inflight system until the meal is served and then try to have them sleep after. I've not been on an "empty" flight in years, at least, not for long haul flights, so I wouldn't count too much on having extra rows. We've never tried melatonin. I usually count one day per every hour of time difference for them to get over the jet lag. At the destination, we try to get into the routine as quickly as possible, get lots of outdoor time to get some sun, and limit naps to 2 hours.
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We don't bring carseats aboard once they have outgrown the bucket seats. My 3 year old just usually lays down on his seat and rests his head on our lap. He has always slept on international red eye flights. Usually we try to keep him up until dinner is served.
We have never used melantonin and usually it's one night which is hard and then both kids are fine. -
We just raise the arm rest and let our son lay across us. We sit three together and stuff pillows in the crevices.
We do a nap mid afternoon upon arrival and then try to get to bed by 8pm the first day.
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We did an overnight flight to Europe which worked out well. My lo had dinner, watched a movie and then (more or less) went to sleep.
Where are you flying from? It's a pretty short flight from the east coast. We just used the airplane seat belt for lo
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I thought of one more thing. For long haul flights, and depending on the plane seating configuration, I prefer that we sit 2 and 2 (1 parent and 1 child at the window seat) instead of the middle row of 4.
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Do your little ones sleep well in their car seats? Do they sleep on their bellies overnight? I made the mistake of bringing LO's car seat on our flights to Thailand last summer (she was almost 2) and I will never do it again. I know it's the recommended "safest" option, but she sobbed and would. not. sleep. beyond the first 30 min in her car seat since she always sleeps on her belly at home. I would just use the regular lap belts and let them sleep however they are comfortable. We surrounded DD with blankets and pillows so she wouldn't fall (or would have a soft landing) and we also prefer to have her in the window seat so she couldn't escape while we were sleeping and had an extra wall for stability.
I looked into melatonin but found that it's generally not recommended for young kids and there are potential health risks, so we just gradually adjusted her sleep schedule once we arrived. When we fly to Europe, we often keep her much closer to her US sleep schedule so that she will sleep in later and we can have later dinners as well.
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