Advice re dcs, 3 planes, 18 hrs, transatlantic and sleep sought from the experienced!

[bramblina]

We are travelling soon with the dcs- 12, 9 and 5.
We leave the UK at 13.30 on a 1.5hr flight to Amsterdam followed by a 2 hr stopover so that's arr 16.00 and depth AMS 18.00 but that will still feel like 17.00. No probs so far.
The next leg is 8hrs to Toronto so we land at 20.00 local time but this will feel like 1am to us.
We then have a 2.5 hr stopover followed by a 4 hr flight where we land at 00.30 but that will feel like 7am or so.
So when we land it's just after midnight, the wisest thing to do is chevk in to an hotel for some sleep which we will fo, to begin the next day properly.
My concerns are pretty much regarding the extremely active 5 yr old....I'm thinking about half way in to the biggest leg, when it comes to around 9pm (our own body clock time) is it wise yo encourage him to sleep? And then again on the last leg? Or mot- so that he will then sleep when we arrive at the hotel?
How do you work it when you travel long haul with dcs? We did long haul with 1 dc aged 1 and it worked fine but the times were great- this time I'm not so sure!!!

Advice, experience please!!

Try to adjust to times a few days before, so either going to bed later or getting up later whichever it is . As soon as you get on the plane adjust your watch to Canadian time. For some reason if you tell your body that it's not the UK time it will adjust,so it's easier to sleep on the plane. At least that's how my body works, coming back from St Lucia I had an eight year old sat next to me and we went to sleep together so when we landed we'd both had a decent amount of sleep. Unlike her poor mother who looked exhausted

Yes, try to get into your destination time zone as soon as possible.

Work out when your food is likely to be served on the plane and what that means for sleep opportunities.

Bring PJs in your hand luggage for the DC so they are getting as many clues as possible that it's time to go to sleep

I have done a fair bit of long haul with the DC, and my advice is to play it by ear during the journey, really, there is not much point in encouraging (trying to control) them to sleep at certain times. I made this mistake of planning when they should nap and just ended up getting myself stressed out.

Once you are at the destination, try to get into the new rythm asap, but be realistic: it takes about a day per hour time difference, so you'll all be out of sync for a few days, but ultimately it does not matter.

During the journey: going with the flow and comfort are what counts. Let the 5 yr old bring a neck cushion and a lightweight fleece blanket, so he can snuggle into his seat whenever. My 15 yr old still does this at trips , a tiny bit of comfort goes a long way (we use Primark blankets, they weigh nothing and are soft and cheap)

It will be fine

Thank you all. We have upgraded to premium economy class so we'll get blankets on the flight! Yay! I love KLM