Red eye Tips- Traveling with Children

[Anonymous]

Hi! Any tips for a red eye to London with a child. What to do when we get there? Easy enough to pull through as an adult, but unsure how an 8 year old is going handle a full day after getting half as much sleep. I welcome any tips from experienced travelers.

[Anonymous]

Get an early check-in and plan on doing nothing the day you land in London, because your kid will sleep that whole day. Nothing will change that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get an early check-in and plan on doing nothing the day you land in London, because your kid will sleep that whole day. Nothing will change that.

I have done this trip 5-6 times with my kids between the ages of 3-8 years old. I agree with early check in, you may have to book a day early just to ensure you have the whole day. But do not sleep the whole day!

Try to get your child to sleep as soon as possible on the flight out. When you arrive, get breakfast at the airport, check into the hotel and take a nap for 2 h max. Don’t close the blinds or even turn off the lights for the nap. Rally as hard as you can and go out for lunch and plan one activity for the afternoon. Get an early dinner and then early bedtime around 7-8 pm.

If you are flying into terminal 5 LHR, Gordon Ramsay’s plane food is a nice calm place to get breakfast. If it’s terminal 2, there is the queen’s arms or caffe Nero.

For the flight back, if you are on the afternoon flight, have your child wake up early that morning and then get your child to nap for the first 2-3 hours of the flight. Then wake them up for the remainder. By the time you get home, they should be ready for bed at 7/8 pm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get an early check-in and plan on doing nothing the day you land in London, because your kid will sleep that whole day. Nothing will change that.

I have done this trip 5-6 times with my kids between the ages of 3-8 years old. I agree with early check in, you may have to book a day early just to ensure you have the whole day. But do not sleep the whole day!

Try to get your child to sleep as soon as possible on the flight out. When you arrive, get breakfast at the airport, check into the hotel and take a nap for 2 h max. Don’t close the blinds or even turn off the lights for the nap. Rally as hard as you can and go out for lunch and plan one activity for the afternoon. Get an early dinner and then early bedtime around 7-8 pm.

If you are flying into terminal 5 LHR, Gordon Ramsay’s plane food is a nice calm place to get breakfast. If it’s terminal 2, there is the queen’s arms or caffe Nero.

For the flight back, if you are on the afternoon flight, have your child wake up early that morning and then get your child to nap for the first 2-3 hours of the flight. Then wake them up for the remainder. By the time you get home, they should be ready for bed at 7/8 pm.

PP. Re what to do when you get there, where are you staying? If the weather is nice, going to a park is a nice way to get some fresh air and stay awake the first day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get an early check-in and plan on doing nothing the day you land in London, because your kid will sleep that whole day. Nothing will change that.

That’s silly. Starting at age six we have always done red eyes with our kids and planned full days out. We don’t go to sleep until 7pm at the earliest on arrival day to ensure a smooth transition to the new time zone. This has worked all across Europe and in Australia and Africa as well.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done that flight every year since DD was 2 and she’s now 12.
Do the later flight, the one that leaves around 10pm. Give melatonin on the plane, take blanket, on plane or snuggle stuff, eye mask if kid will wear one ( mine doesn’t)
My kid will get 5-6 hours of sleep which is enough to rally through the next day.
Because of the time difference, they’re 5 hours ahead. You can go to bed early that next night and it doesn’t feel early.
If you stay awake til 10pm English time that’s 5pm here.
Works for us.

[Anonymous]

They'll probably do better than you. The plane seats aren't as uncomfortable for them and they'll probably sleep more than their parents.

[Anonymous]

Don't sleep the whole day when you arrive. Give melatonin on the flight over and hope for sleep, but also give it up - can't control the kid (just try to make the best environment for sleep) - all will survive.

[Anonymous]

I book the hotel for the prior night and allow two hours for napping in the late AM on arrival. People are still tired when they wake up but don’t feel like total crap anymore and can make it to nighttime.

[Anonymous]

^
We do the earlier flight normally though and my kids don’t tend to sleep much on the flight.

[Anonymous]

We also check in immediately and nap when arriving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We also check in immediately and nap when arriving.

We do this too. Can make it to 3 or 4 pm with meals and walking outside, but need a nap at that point. Even traveling by myself I’ll sleep for two hours after checkin. None of us can sleep on planes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We also check in immediately and nap when arriving.

We do this too. Can make it to 3 or 4 pm with meals and walking outside, but need a nap at that point. Even traveling by myself I’ll sleep for two hours after checkin. None of us can sleep on planes.

Sorry, misread. We don’t reserve the day before—I can’t justify that. But we nap after regular check in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Get an early check-in and plan on doing nothing the day you land in London, because your kid will sleep that whole day. Nothing will change that.

That’s silly. Starting at age six we have always done red eyes with our kids and planned full days out. We don’t go to sleep until 7pm at the earliest on arrival day to ensure a smooth transition to the new time zone. This has worked all across Europe and in Australia and Africa as well.

Same for us.

[Anonymous]

If you take the late flight, by the time you get into London and to your hotel, it’s early afternoon.

We don’t nap. We hit the ground running, and aim for an early dinner/bedtime.