Flying to Europe with children: preparing for time change
I'm flying to Europe with my family this spring, which is my wife and I and two children (will be 2 and almost 4). We're flying Lufthansa, with flights like so:
To Europe: 9:30pm (UTC-6) -> 2:30pm (UTC+1) transatlantic, stopover, hop 5:00pm->5:30pm to final destination
(stay 1 week)
From Europe: 8:00am -> 8:30am (UTC+1) hop, then 10:00am (UTC+1) -> 12:00pm (UTC-6) transatlantic.
Our children are moderate to poor sleepers, but on domestic flights have done okay with sleeping during 'night' times. Should we attempt to alter their sleep schedule so that they sleep in a different time than normal (such as a bit later or earlier), or allow them to sleep the first part of the (to Europe) transatlantic flight as they normally would? And for the return flight, which is on a saturday (so we have a day of rest before going back to preschool/etc.), same - should they sleep as normal the night before, or should we try to get them to bed 'late' (which is very easy for us) so to be closer to a US sleep schedule (and sleep part of the flight?)
We're partially concerned not only about sleep schedule and timezone adjustment, but sleeping on the plane itself - they're at a difficult age for long flights, and 10 hours on the plane seems difficult. They're both boys, and both very very active, so they'll want to move around a lot. Is that a problem (this is on an A-340, and probably a middle row given there are 4 of us)? On domestic flights moving around isn't usually encouraged (even long-ish 3-4 hour ones) from our past experience.
For ourselves we'll probably try to skimp on sleep on the flight there, so to be in a closer to European pattern when we arrive.
Best Answer
A late-ish answer with some random thoughts after a 30+ hr transit with 2 3 year-old boys (LAX - Dubai - Johannesburg).
Use potty breaks to take a walk around, although my boys didn't want to run around as much as I had feared.
If the kids are asleep, try to sleep yourself and not "catch up" on movies/tv/books/etc.
Quickly learn how to access the kids movies/tv/games on the inflight entertainment system. My kids hadn't had much access to computer games prior to the trip and they really liked some of the simple games available.
We gave up on trying to get them to nap once we arrived in J'burg, to try to encourage better sleeping habits at night.
You will probably have more success getting them to sleep on the night-based flights than the day-based ones. Everyone slept better on the former than the latter. On the day flights (JNB-Dubai-LAX), the kids slept about 5 hrs total on the 16 hr flight, maybe a few hrs more on the 8 hr one. They were miserable by the time we started home from LAX.
The kids seemed to adjust relatively well, but we took it pretty easy. Go out somewhere one day, stay home the next. The jet lag hit me on days 3 and 4 when the sleep deprivation finally caught up to me.
Be ready to handle the kids separately while the other parent crashes for an hour or two.
Updated Edit: You might also think about bringing children's Tylenol or the equivalent. Lack of sleep certainly makes me headachy. I don't know where he found it, but my partner found individual liquid doses that were weight-based. The individual packs are from Pediacare. Technically for 4-5 year olds, the listed weight range are approximately 36-47 pounds. It also helped when both kids got earaches until we could get antibiotics started.
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How to adjust toddler to new time zone?
A few days before you hit the road, begin adjusting to the new time zone by shifting your schedule an hour back or ahead each day. If you're headed west, this means your toddler should go to bed later each night and get up later in the morning.How do I prepare my child for a long flight?
Read children's books about flying and travel. Emphasize that there'll be a time at the beginning and the end of the flight where they'll have to stay in their seats with their seat belt on. Talk to them about what they can do during this time.How does Europe prepare for time change?
Prepare the BodyTake the two weeks before scheduled to leave and gradually set the bedtime and wake-up time back 10 or 15 minutes each day. Adjusting the body's clock gradually will help make the transition to a new time zone much easier. Rest before leaving. Take the two days before the flight leaves and rest.Do you lose or gain time flying to Europe?
Going to Europe you don't lose a day, you simply fly overnight and arrive in the morning. Flying from Asia to the US you gain a day on the calendar, but will loose it on your way back to China.10 TIPS FOR FLYING INTERNATIONALLY WITH A TODDLER | WHAT TO EXPECT TRAVELING ALONE WITH A TODDLER
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Answer 2
As @andra mentions, it is commonly accepted that flying East is more complicated.
I am the exact opposite. When I was flying routinely from Europe to the US (for about 10 years) I usually landed about 15:00 or 16:00 local time (which was about 22:00 at home / body time) and tried many times to follow the advice "stay up until the night". This ended up me waking up at 4, completely exhausted.
I then decided to go to bed at 18:00 local (US) time and sleep until my body was telling me to wake up - at 4. That gave me 8+ hours of sleep and I could function normally.
The return was always easy: I landed at 6 or 7 in the morning in Europe and I was good to go.
I followed the same schedule for flights to/from Asia.
This is to say that you could consider rather having the right amount of sleep hours than to have them at the "right" moment.
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