Scheduling sleep on a long haul (14 hours) flight

[waffler]

In September we'll be flying Singapore - London. The flight leaves at midnight. We live 30 mins away from the airport, so with checking in etc we don't have to leave home until around 9.30. Mira is now 15 months, so she's got another 2 months to go before we leave, but want to start preparing now!

My question is this :
Her current routine (this may change a bit closer to September but not expecting to change much) is
7.00 wake
9.20 - 10 nap
1.30-3 nap
7.30 lights out. Falls asleep within 30 mins.

So assuming she falls asleep at 8pm, then is it just a bad idea to wake her up at 9.30 to go to the airport?? I'm not sure if she'll fall asleep in the car ride, there is the complication of going by taxi so not sure what car seat we're using etc.

I'm not sure whether to just keep her up and go to the airport a bit earlier, say 9pm and hopefully she will fall asleep when we get there in her stroller. So, that means, letting her have a longer nap in the pm (maybe putting her down a bit later) if she doesn't wake up sooner. I'm sure by September her morning nap will be ultra short anyway, as she'll be 18 months then, may not even have a morning nap!

I just think the whole thing of giving her bath, then PJs, then bed routine then tuck her in bed only to be rudely woken up in 1.5 hours is too much! Of course...... it's likely she'll be so wired that she will just stay up the whol 14 hours.. (oh no please dont let this happen!!)

Any ideas? Thanks.

[mari]

Presumably the time zones will be different too so you should think about what will happen when you get there.  TBH I would try not to worry too much about her routine ebing messed before you go but try to incoroprate the flight and time zone change into your routine if you can so that you can get her into it as soon as possible when you arrive there and the same goes for when you return.

There is no doubt that the travelling is going to have some affect on her routine, so you have to try to make the best of it.  When I travelled with Nathan 13 hour flight to San Diego I found it easier for him to sleep during the flight, but when we arrived we were all to pot anyway as the time difference was so vast, so try to work out what's best for you with regards to that, but also with the flight being so long she will need to sleep during that or it will become too tedious for you all with a grouchy baby.

I would also advise to take plenty to do for the flight, jigsaws, drawing, books etc, and take her for a walk during the flight as much as possible and try to get a seat near the toilets as it helps if you can make a quick dash there and back if need be.

[ava'smom]

hi Ali--

Your trip sounds fun! The most important thing to keep in mind is that whatever happens on the plane, you will eventually be able to get off!   The trip will end at some point and then you will have a chance to get back on track. We have made a few trips of this length with our two kids, and this is the mantra that I sometimes repeat to myself.

As for how to navigate the whole leaving and airport thing, I think some of it depends on the temperament of your baby. If you put her to bed and woke her an hour and a half later, would she be fussy and irritable at being woken up, or would it serve as a way to recharge her to get through all the airport stuff? My first thought was to go on and put her down at the normal time, maybe with a shortened routine, partly to get her a little catnap and to give yourself the time you may need to do last minute packing and preparations. If you think however that it would make things worse to wake her, then keep her up and hope she falls asleep at the airport.

I have to say in our experience though, that activity at the airport has usually been too exciting for the kids to sleep through. Plus you will have to take her out of the stroller to go through security which may wake her. We've found that the kids usually don't drop off till we are on the plane and basically settled--too much noise and activity before then. But then, they are more sensitive sleepers. That's why I'm wondering if a little snooze at bedtime will help her get through all the airport stuff and then she'll sleep on the plane.

The last time we did this, our little boy (14 mths at the time) fell asleep in the car on the way (we left around his bedtime), woke when we got to the airport (about 45 min to an hour later) and was awake till we'd been in the air for a bit. It was by no means ideal, but I'm not sure there is an ideal solution!   Let this comfort you though, you already have her on a really good routine, so she will bounce back really well when you get to London.

Also, I'm sure you've thought of this, but be sure to take a few familiar sleep-time things with you on the plane--blanket/lovey. That helps alot. And I know for me, I've had to redefine my expectations from what I expect on a "normal" night. In that, I consider the trip a success if the baby isn't crying or fussing alot and gets "some" sleep. If she ends up awake more than you'd like, but relatively content, that's actually pretty good! On our last trip, i spent a lot of time holding our ds and swaying in the aisle more that I would've liked, BUT he slept in my arms and didn't scream and wake everyone. So, I kept telling myself that it was working out okay.  

Best of luck to you!! Let me know if you have any more questions...I am by no means an expert, but have definitely been in your shoes!

[Fiona (Leah & Kians Mom)]

Not really sure what you should do re putting her down for the night, as pp says it depends a lot on her temperment and how she would react to being woken after an hour or hour and half. I would if possible not have her sleep in the airport though she might not due to noise and all thats going on, purely because she will have maybe a better sleep then on the plane. We let dd do it, she was really young though and then it took her ages to sleep on the plane.