longhaul with a 10month old who doesn't sleep!

[weegem]

We travel to Florida on Friday and my dd is getting progressively worse at sleeping. I'm starting to panic about the flight, as she will not cuddle in to go to sleep, she needs to be left on her own with her white noise on. Any advice would be greatly received as although we have 3 other adults in our party I know ultimately it will come down to me as her mother to calm her down... I don't know if I can stand the looks!!

Firstly, what is the worst thing that can happen? The pilot stops the plane and makes you get off?
Your anxiety will be picked up, ignore the looks - you have paid your money too for the flight.
Carbs are a good way to make her sleepy, especially glutenous carbs like rice or pasta.
They always lower the lights on long haul night flights and she can still have her white noise through earphones.
If she is interested in watching any king of audio then portable dvd players are invaluable and very affordable now. This will also keep her occupied during long meal times on hols.
I know she won't get a seat yet, I used to sing quietly to my dd when she was sat on my lap.
Don't forget that during take off and landing she will need to be sucking on a bottle or dummy to stop her ears from hurting and then you won't have the screaming baby problem.
Have a great time and RELAX - or the holiday will be a waste of money

Forget trying to make her sleep unless you think she is really shattered would be my advice. We took DS age 9 months to Canada. Normally a reasonable sleeper he managed to stay awake for 16hrs travelling. Everythign was new & he was just too darn nosy. Just make sure favourite toy, plenty of drinks & snacks.

Try to get a basinet at a bulk head because it can act as a mini play pen at that age as well as cot for sleeping.

Everybody expects kids on flights to Florida. As Cheekey says relax & enjoy the start to your holiday.

We did this flight when DS was 10 months. Bulkhead/bassinet is very, very helpful. I can't emphasize this enough. The only difficulty we had was that every time DS settled down to nap, the "fasten seatbelts" sign came on and I had to take him out of the bassinet and buckle him onto my lap. Not a big deal but frustrating. I was traveling solo and got lots of help from others (mostly the grandparent type) which was great. The plane itself is a good source of white noise from the engines which might help. I was still bfeeding and did that during take off & landing. Landing was worse than take off (and still is!).

I second toughdecisions - bring plenty of snacks and little toys. I got DS a new squeaky book with different textures and flaps which entertained him pretty well. Be aware that if you bring any sort of jarred baby food, you will be made to open it and try some. If you don't want to do that, you can always pick some up after you pass through security.

Try not stress about it. Easier said than done, I know. But now at 3yo, DS is a seasoned air traveller and while people occasionally look glum at having to sit next to the mom and son, they're pretty surprised to find that he doesn't mind flying, is relatively quiet and is an easy row-mate. We had one trendy, hoodied, musician type on our last flight to Florida who looked horrified (at least the part of him I could see from under his hoodie) to share his row with us but when we landed, he was all, "Hey, DS, my man!" Funny thing was, he didn't say a word to us the whole flight!

Enjoy your holiday!

Thanks for your advice, I know i'm probably panicking for little reason, I think it just because my ds has always been a good flyer, but is more layed back and a great sleeper. Ds is much more demanding and wanting to walk holding fingers everywhere. Never thought about the headphones idea, will give that a go!