Very early flight with kids 😬

[wombpaloumpba]

Hello I am looking for some advice and tips please, I have been really daft and booked some early flights because they were about £500 cheaper. We will have to wake up at 2am to drive to the airport.
flight is at 6.

kids are 5 and 7. 7 year old gets extremely grumpy on low sleep.

it’s our first proper all inclusive hotel type holiday (in Corfu). Flight is 3 hours so I am thinking we might be at the hotel by mid afternoon

should we try and nap (but they’ll be so excited) or go to bed early or what? Really don’t want half the week dominated by overtired tantrums if possible. too late to change flights now!

We did this for years. Even when DC got too old to really need a sleep in the afternoon we all had an hour or so rest inside out of the sun reading quietly / lying down in own beds

Thank you so much! Loads of helpful tips.
we live just over an hour from the airport so it seems a bit of a waste to pay for a hotel plus and extra night of dog care… but we will try snacks, talking to them before hand about being tired, keeping going with the pool and getting to bed at a reasonable time and hope for the best!
highly unlikely mine will nap when we arrive at hotel but hope they’ll nap a bit on the journey.

Dress them in special “Holiday Travel
Clothes” before bed on the previous night. Then pour them out of bed & into the car.
Plenty of snacks for the queues. Plenty of simple quiet entertainment too, maybe things they love and / or don’t normally have - sticker books, magazines, packs of cards & other travel-size games. Could you make a list of things for them to spot at the airports?
The many & varied waiting part of holiday travel means normal rules don’t always apply!
(& don’t forget to save some bits for the journey home, too)
Have a wonderful holiday x

Well then you don’t need to leave at 2 to get there at 3! @wombpaloumpba

I always leave 2 hours and it’s absolutely fine. And this is travel during school hols.

Theyre on an age where… yes tired, but they will probably doze in transfer from airport to hotel and arrive at hotel desperate to get in to pool. Might get a bit grumpy in the evening, flake in bed, wake up absolutely fine.

You will arrive way before check in. So pack costumes near the top of the suit case!

Put the kids to bed in their clothes.
Pack the car.
When ready to leave , carry the kids asleep to car. Buckle them. Leave for airport. Don’t forget the kids shoes.

When doing early flights we do twilight check in the night before then stay at an airport hotel, so we can just get up and walk straight to security.

Ive just skimmed the thread so sorry if this has been mentioned. When we are on a very early flight, we start bringing our bedtime forward the week before and getting ourselves up early. Makes it easier to have an early night the night before you travel, I’m not someone who can force myself to sleep on demand, I need to be tired.
We always do twighlight drop off to win a bit of time back, as PPs have suggested but we live near the airport, not sure I’d do a 2 hour round trip.
Agree with putting the children to bed in their travel clothes. Personally I’d put them in the car quietly in the hope they might get another hour en route.
Once on the plane, they might be too excited to sleep but would keep toys and entertainment back a while to see if they nod off.
Agree re taking lots of snacks. Don’t take anything containing nuts, if there is anyone on the flight with a nut allergy you won’t be able to have them.

Oh and something I read in a book when mine were little (the internet wasn’t a thing back then! )… if they like colouring, no matter how many coloured pencils / colouring books they have at home, always buy new ones for the trip as somehow they are way more exciting. I saw a family on a recent flight who had wrapped books, puzzle books etc in wrapping paper as ‘travel presents’ , the kids loved unwrapping them and made some fairly mundane gifts much more interesting Wish I’d thought of that!

Just have a no plan day 1, allow for naps and an early night. I’ve found this has been the best resolver of early flights and lack of sleep for us

Bedtime usual time night before.
To sleep in, joggers or pyjama bottoms that look passable. Joggers and jumper for parents too.
Hoody next to the bed for kids.
Toothbrushes in hand luggage
Bags packed and by the door
If you need to leave at 2, get kids up at literally 1.55, hoody on over pyjamas, shoes on, straight into the car or taxi
Carry on sleeping on way to airport
Breakfast in airport
More sleep on plane if you can
Resort early afternoon. Early supper early to bed.
Next day acclimatized and ready for holiday.

I wish my kids liked coloring lol. My kids are the mad type that only like doing running around games not sitting still ones. Flights have always been... interesting.

that's going to be hell for the adults, let alone the kids. If you're getting up at 2am you're going to get little to no sleep and i'd suggest you shouldn't be driving for an hour or more when so tired. I'd book an airport hotel with some of your £500 saving.
Check if your airline offers twilight bag drop and then that's one less thing to do early morning.
Also, no one will care if your kids go through the airport in PJs and crocs!

We have had 6am flights for the last two years and have had to get the kids up and out of the house by 2.30am.
The first year my husband suggested us going to bed early ( and getting up early) in the few days before to try and shift our sleeping patterns.
So the night before we flew we went to bed at 5pm and got up at 1.30am.
Day before that we went to bed at 6pm and got the kids up at 4am.
Day before that bed at 6.30 and up at 5am.
Because they had been getting up early, it meant they were going to sleep earlier because they were tired.
Sounds like madness but it actually worked!

Tho getting up at 4&5 am the two nights before would kill my and any patience I may have had

I think as mini blondes is excited as in a car then bus then train then plane then taxi it’s all fun and she’s always been in a good mood even as a baby

Not a chance I would do this and I don’t have small kids.

You wouldn’t get up early to catch a plane and be in the sun by lunchtime ?