Longhaul with 2 DC's... night or day flight best?

[AuldAlliance]

I am planning a trip for the summer.
DS1 will be 5, DS2 15mths.
10-12 hour flight, no jet lag because only 3hrs time difference.
I think it'd be better to fly at night, so the kids sleep, rather than trying to keep them entertained and in check for such a long daytime flight.
Am I right?

NIGHT, definitely night. I fly annually with my dcs on my own. My dcs are 7,6,3 and 1.

Thanks posieparker.
Any handy tips, since you are so experienced in this?

night for definite!

hopefully check in time to be so you can have some dinner/run them ragged at the airport then change them into pjs/trackies for the flight. You may get a skycot for ds2.

My sister has done uk-argentina quite a few times by herself and night flights always better.

Thanks!

Last time I did this flight, when DS1 was a babe in arms, the people next to us were trying to get their 2 yr old to sleep at their feet in a little cardboard bed/box provided by the airline.
Is that a skycot?
If current form is anything to go by, DS2 will turn it into a boat and sail around the plane waking everyone up!

for the baby book a seat early....try and get the seats at the front therefore not so far to walk to get off. Keep them awake at the airport. Book a basinette even if he/she has her own seat.

No I mean the one that hangs on the wall at the front - so you get the extra leg room seats though. I think the policy is to give them to the youngest first though so you may not get lucky.

Though some friends went to NZ at xmas with their nearly 2yo and got one.

NIGHT!

Having done a flight through the day to W.Coast Canada (delayed) it was hell. Deffo Night!

Night flight definitely. Bring your own snacks and meals for the kids and watertight drinking containers (carry them through empty and fill them up after security checks). Bring childsize headphones for the kids (airplane ones fall off their mini heads). Don't sweat their correct bedtime and let them fall asleep when they fall asleep. My experience is that the novelty of everything going on will keep them up later than usual and if you add to that the stress factor of trying to force them to go to sleep, you will only keep them up longer. Bring extra nappies for hours at either end (ie don't just calculate for 12 hour plane trip). Bring basic change of clothes for kids and a basic change for yourself if your dc's are prone to vomiting (my ds vomited all over me 1/2 hour into an 11 hour flight and although I had change for him, I didn't have one for me...it was a gross flight compounded by being pregnant with dd and having constant nausea on top of it all. Pj's are good to put them into the sleeping mode.

Where are you flying to?. This will have a huge bearing on the actual departure time because of the time difference.

Will you have to travel far when you arrive?
We try to take day flights as we often have a 3-4 hour drive when we land and we need to be able to stay awake

I do an 8 hour flight a few times a year on my own with my 2 DC. We always do night on the way out (guaranteed a little sleep on the plane and a bit more in the car) and day on the way back. We usually arrive mid-afternoon on the way back, home, tea, bath and bed. Works a treat and no jeg lag on the way home. We're only 3 (or 4 depending on time of year) hours time difference and there's definitely jeg lag to be factored in!

Just seen all these posts!

We are flying to Reunion, so need to be there about 3hrs before departure. Not sure where we are staying upon arrival, but likely close to airport, so not much driving to be done. Given the size of the island, only 1hrs drive max anyway.

I've done the flight dozens of times in the past, but not with children like this.

A skycot that hangs on the wall might not contain DS2, I fear, who is already a mighty lad and an athletic climber...

Thanks for all the tips!

No to skycot, basinette....much better. Even when a seat has been booked for an infant I have been given a basinette reservation as well. I don't think the system accepts an infant not having a basinette, iyswim.

I have just booked! 2 night flights, as no daytime ones available direct and I can't face changing...
I can't afford a seat for DS2, it already costs a fair whack just for him to travel on my knees.
From my memories of these flights, there are lots of babies and infants w/o any bassinettes, they really fill the planes up to the max on this route.
Thanks for all your help.
Fingers crossed it all goes OK! 6 weeks' holiday sounds like a dream right now.

lovely- so nice to have something to look forward to