I just booked LO's first flight, eek! a little over 3 hours. She's 14 months and does not sit still a whole lot! we booked the flights for during her general naptime, but i'm wondering if that was the right move. Has anyone successfully gotten a toddler to nap on a plane? if so, i'd love to hear your success stories! Obviously, i'll be prepared with lots of snacks and toys in case the nap doesn't happen. i just think she'll be too stimulated by all the people around her to settle down. any tips?
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@Pirouette: When we flew with LO from Georgia back to NYC over Christmas, the second flight was right at her naptime. She was very cranky and hyper the first hour and 15 minutes of the flight and then finally settled down and passed out on my husband for the last 45 minutes. Then she slept through the landing, the taxiing to the gate, and most of the people getting off; then we finally had to wake her to leave.
She was 17.5 months at the time.
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We flew with DS at 22 months and just before his 2nd birthday. He didn't nap on any of the flights. But he wasn't cranky either.
The last time he napped on a flight, he was 8.5 months and still nursing.
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@Anagram: good to know it happens, even if only towards the end of the flight! did he get up and walk around with her? or just hold her and she just eventually passed out from being so exhausted?
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@mrsjyw: she is still nursing, but only morning and night. I did entertain the thought that she might comfort nurse on the plane to go down for a nap, but she might be too old for that these days! the one positive is the flights are early enough in the day that if she doesn't nap, there's plenty of time to make it up when we land.
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@Pirouette: there was a lot of turbulence, so the seat belt sign was on almost the whole flight--so we didn't get up at all. DH and I just passed her back and forth between us a lot--she was literally jumping up and down on our laps and opening and closing the window shade a million times. We brought a lot of toys and books and she would play with those, but then get restless and want to jump around.
She's at a very energetic stage right now, haha.
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I flew with LO at 17 months. I scheduled the flight there before naptime so she would nap in the car on the way home form the airport. She the entire flight. The flight home was scheduled during naptime and she took longer to crash but she did fall asleep.
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We flew with our twins at 15 months old. The first flight was right around their bedtime. They didn't sleep at all, but they also didn't cry or have tantrums. The return flight was at their naptime and they fell asleep right before we got on the plane, but woke up during takeoff and did not fall back asleep. But again, they also weren't cranky.
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I don't plan for flights around nap times, because it's been my experience that my son won't really sleep on the plane, even overnight. He might close his eyes for a few minutes, but the drink service, the pilot announcements etc always seem to wake him up one way or another.
That is why I try to time flights for awake time instead.
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@Anagram: ah ok. i know what you mean about the energetic phase!
@Corduroy: that's encouraging!
@sunshineandsushi: yea, if you managed with twins, i should just shut up about it haha
@looch: yea that's what i was thinking. I guess we'll see how it goes, but we had to either schedule for naptime or right after naptime and i figured that increased the possibility of a super cranky kid that had missed a nap because she was thrown off by the traveling
i don't have my hopes up, but it would be nice if she got SOME nap in!
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In my experience, be prepared for no nap and the human jungle gym experience. E was far too interested in the bright screens in the row across the aisle to think about napping. We brought toys and let him play on the nasty floor between our feet. Desperate times.
ETA: he wasn't super cranky. Everyone said he was such a "good" traveler. But *we* were exhausted!!
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We flew with my LO at his bedtime (first flight ever) and he slept through 10 hours of the flight at 25 months. We gave him his bedtime drink and he passed right out. He can sleep through a lot of noise and stuff though.
Recently we took a train ride during his naptime and he was super excited and tried to fight his nap. He ended up passing out during the last hour of the ride.
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We did at 15 months but it was HARD. She isn't one to sleep on/with us so it was a challenge. On the flight there (3 hours), it coincided with nap time and i ended up having an extra eat between us and i laid down next to her and she fell asleep that way. Not for long, though. On the flight home, she was cranky and wouldn't nap at ALL and finally fell asleep in the ring sling as I was debarking the aircraft.
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@Espion: my whole life is a human jungle gym these days, so i'd say i'm prepared!
but that's what i foresee too - LO is not generally a cranky baby...but she's going to wear me down for sure! sometimes i think i need her naps more than she does.@hotchildinthecity: haha i can't get LO to sleep 10 straight hours in her crib these days, that sounds pretty amazing!
@blackbird: yea i don't think my LO has ever napped on me! but she's totally obsessed with DH these days so i'm thinking there's a CHANCE she'd nap on him. like a one in a million chance, but it's a chance
i'm going into it expecting an experience like yours and maybe i'll be pleasantly surprised.
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We've flown a bunch with LO an naps are always hit or miss. She will often nap on the plane, mostly because I think she sort of gets bored and wants to sit with me and then I am cozy and warm and against her better judgment she falls asleep
I definitely wouldn't count on a nap, and would bring plenty of activities for her, although the first few times she flew just people-watching and looking out the window were pretty exciting for her!
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@Pirouette: it was extremely lucky! He did have his own seat since he was older than 2 so he definitely laid down.
He was awake for the other 4 hours of the flight and even that went by faster than I thought it would!
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@Pirouette: my toddler has often napped on the plane. I usually let him sit facing me with legs wrapped around me (kind of like in a front carrying position) and he'd nap on me then.
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Ugh, we're flying in a couple weeks when DD is almost 15 months and I'm getting nervous. It isn't her first flight, but she was 5 months and 8 months for the others, so not really mobile. Now, I'm pretty worried about being able to keep her contained... We have two 3-ish hour flights with a 50-minute layover and I'm just crossing my fingers all goes well.
Hope this isn't too much of a threadjack, but does anyone have ideas for good plane activities at that age? Also, ideas for free/inexpensive downloads for kids shows so I can try to distract her with those on my phone?
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@PurplePeony: You can download all kinda of shows on itunes, usually 1.99/episode (worth it to me!).
I also bought this: http://www.amazon.com/Buckle-Toys-Toy-Bizzy/dp/B00GCH6D2E/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423851089&sr=8-2&keywords=buckle+toy
and this brand new, so they would be new to LO: http://www.amazon.com/Fisher-Price-Travel-Doodler-Pro-Green/dp/B0060JVU72/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423851114&sr=8-1&keywords=doodle+board
And we brought some of LOs favorite existing books and small toys.
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We just flew from Ontario to Mexico and back with our 17 month old. She napped on both the flight there and the way back, both times on my husband. One thing we noticed was that she settled better on the first flight because it left about 2 hours before her nap time (4 hr flight)... The novelty of the plane had worn off by the time nap came around and just snuggled into her dad and went to sleep. On the way home our flight left right at nap time and we missed our window of opportunity to get her down without a fight... DH had to rock her in the aisle for about 10 min to get her to settle.
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LO was almost 12 months the first time we flew. The flight back, which was around 2hrs took off around nap time....she stayed awake right up to half an hour before landing and then slept through the whole landing. She was too stimulated to drop off before that and the one thing I eventually tried, which worked, was standing up with her over my shoulder (like holding a newborn!) and pacing the aisle. It was as if she couldn't get comfortable when I was sat down with her also.
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@purplepeony: a great plane activity is to fill an empty (clean) Peanut butter jar with a bunch of disposable toys - pompom puffs, bits of ribbon, plastic ballon weights shaped like animals, finger puppets, matchbox cars, used gift cards, a tiny slinky/othe party bag trinkets...any junk you've got laying around the house. Really stuff it full to make it tricky to get in and out. My daughter would spend a good 30-49 minutes or more on this at tgat age, and is still somewhat interested at 2.5. The key is that you don't care (much) about the toys, so there's no stress if things get dropped and left behind, or stuck inside a business class seat (yup that's hapoened to me multiple times).
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@PurplePeony: my LO is going to be 19 months when we next fly and it will be the first time since she's been walking that we're flying and I'm scared too! My ideas at the moment are stickers and letting her swipe through all of the photos on my iphone...that usually takes a long time. Also I plan to take cheerios, raisins, puffs and other snacks that will take her ages to eat!
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We've taken several 6 hours flights with my LO who is now 20 mo. The only way we could get him to nap was to give him benadryl. You have to test it at home first though, as it can make some kids hyper, not sleepy.
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Yeah, I hate to say, but naps have never happened for us on the plane. Even on a cross country trek leaving around 6pm, my daughter did not sleep until the last 20 minutes of the second leg (close to 3am our time!). However, on every flight I have ever taken with her, I've seen other kids her age totally passed out. Apparently it is possible for some kids, just not mine!
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I flew with LO when she was 15 months. The flight left 2 hours after her nap time (which she missed). She never sleeps on me, but I nursed her and she passed out and slept the whole flight.
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@yoursilverlining: that's what I figure - we'll prepare ourselves for no nap but hope for the best!
@Pumuckl: interesting - I will try that!
@Ocean girl: we're leaving at around 10 and she usually naps anywhere from 10:30-11:30, so maybe that will work in our favor! I hope to let her run around the airport and exhaust herself as well.
@illumina: that's kinda what I was expecting - that she wouldn't settle with us sitting down. At least something worked!
@lady grey: that's what dh suggested! But I was concerned it might have the opposite effect. Good idea to try it at home first!
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@78h2o: haha that's fully what I'm expecting! I've seen other kids sit still too, but that's not my kid!
@Grace: good to know the nursing did actually work at that age! It's my secret weapon I'm terrified to part with
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We flew with dd at 12 months. The only way I could get her to nap was to out her in the carrier, put the hood up, and stand at the back of the plane bouncing her. she's a must-be-in-a-pitch-black-room-to-nap girl. She was generally really good though. On the one flight we hit extreme turbulence for the last half hour or so and she zonked right out!
but that's what i foresee too - LO is not generally a cranky baby...but she's going to wear me down for sure! sometimes i think i need her naps more than she does.
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