Travelling with baby - how to get them to sleep on plane?

[Agentmummy]

Hi just looking for some advice and your tips for baby's first holiday in June.

My baby boy was 2 months prem so he'll be 8 months (6 months corrected age) when we go on holiday to Turkey.

He is currently combi fed but transitioning to FF by the time we go away so I suppose I'm looking for some tips for that too! My plan is to take ready to feed bottles for the travelling and have the powder in my suitcase.

My main worry is sleep - mainly in airport, on aeroplane and during the day at the resort! Since he was born and we eventually got him home from nicu sleep was a big struggle for us, it wasn't until he was around 4 months we felt it got better but then naps became a huge struggle. I worked really hard for a solid two weeks getting him able to nap in the moses basket during the day (brown noise, sleep bag, dimmed room) and it works great! For a while he needed intense rocking/bouncing to sleep and still does occasionally especially if overtired.

If I'm sitting and trying to get him to cuddle in to fall asleep he gets so frustrated, it's like he would rather I was standing. He never wants to just cuddle in!

He absolutely refuses a dummy I keep trying!

I suppose I'm trying to get my head around whenever he's tired and looking to sleep on the plane how will I do it? How will he also be able to have a nap while at the poolside or during the day at the resort?

When he's tired and unable to fall asleep he will cryyyyy he really struggles so I suppose I'm trying to avoid this.

Any tips advice guidance appreciated!

He could nap in the buggy during the day. You get UV buggy covers that provide shade and protect from the sun. You will be able to keep the buggy with you until you board your flight so you will have it in the airport.

He may sleep in your arms on the plane as I assume he won't have his own seat

Nap in the buggy by the pool or you’ll have to take him back to the room. In the airport it’ll also have to be the pram. Get a snoozeshade. The plane is what it is and you just have to do your best. The engines are like white noise so that should help. You could book a seat, put the car seat on it and cover with a snoozeshade but that’s an expensive option that personally I would only do for long haul. Re the formula yes to ready made for the flight but I would take the powder in hand luggage or put a box in each checked suitcase, if you’re taking more than 1. I’d always plan for the worst case scenario that a checked bag might not make it and it’s easy to buy a new bikini, not so easy to buy a British formula brand in Turkey!

Have you tried him in a sling?
I'd recommend one for the plane anyway - although they won't let you have him facing you for takeoff/landing.

Pram when away for naps.

Take sling to use also. The ergo embrace is good for small babies until 12-18 months, and fits u de t pram or in bag easily. You can walk up and down plane with baby in sling when no seatbelt sign on, then if he falls asleep can sit back down with him still in sling to carry on nap.

By 8 months they are eating solid food also. So you can take easy things like pouches of baby porridge for on plane, or baby puff type snacks are pretty clean but occupy on plane. bananas and bread you can get easy anywhere for quick food.

I third a snoozeshade, I'm sure we got one in the same circumstances and it actually became something we used a lot in the UK too. Even if he doesn't nap in the buggy, you will need some way of completely shading him as the sun can really make babies cranky if they're not used to it.

We spent a lot of time walking round the block with the pram on that holiday!

You also have to just let a few things go, which is difficult as you've obviously been working hard on getting him into a good nap routine.

Plane will probably be ok after take off - I think it's the white noise maybe but mine always conked out on planes

Try not to worry too much and just go with your instincts, that’s what I did. We drove to the south of France when our daughter was 9 months old. Then at 16 months we flew 24 hours stopping only for refuels to Australia 😋

We had all her favourite food for the flight and car journey to keep her satisfied, cheese triangles being a favourite, if not messy, and lots of entertaining toys, I’m going back 25 years so no electronic gizmos then, pure parent entertainment.

We never perceived any problems and didn’t get anxious, perhaps that made it easier for us, we just went with the flow 🤷‍♀️

Thanks everyone!

My main concern is the naps, I'm trying to relax and just go with the flow. We're not the first people to take a baby on holiday!

But I'm worried I've made things harder for myself with getting him to nap at home in moses basket, dimmed room, brown noise etc - it's always a bit of a struggle to get him to nap on the go!

I've been purposely taking him out walks in the buggy daily for at least one nap even if it's a bit shorter just so he can get used to the concept of sleeping in there, but it does require hood down, white noise and a bit of perseverance!

Is it possible he'll just tire himself out on holiday so much he'll just shut his eyes and go to sleep? A mum can only wish 🤣🤣

The plane sleep is also worrying me, he'll obviously be getting held by either myself or his dad - I'm hoping the plane noise will just soothe him enough to drift off!

Would you be willing g to carry on BF while away? It offers more comfort so more likely that he'll fall asleep. Take calpol as they can get very uncomfortable if they get over tired.

I would say, no matter how much you try, our little babes have their own agenda when it comes to sleep 🤣. My advice would be go with the flow whilst you're away, when you're back it'll be a far away memory for him and you can re introduce nap routines to suit you again. Enjoy your holiday!

Truth is, you just won’t know until you are there, he could completely surprise you and sleep very well. If he has refused a dummy up until now I wouldn’t keep trying, my DS refused and I was so grateful a few years later when other children his age were having trouble giving them up. I never even tried one with DD few years later! I would give him a bottle when you take off (the sucking will help his ears and it’s likely he will fall asleep after it). At the resort, daily walks in the pushchair were our routine for naps…to be honest I miss those days! 🤣

Pushing him back and forth in the pram is probably your best bet for poolside etc or someone takes him back to the room. Plane might be trickier if he isn’t a baby who contact naps. I think I wouldn’t stress too much about it. If he sleeps he sleeps. If not just take some quiet baby toys, preferably a couple he hasn’t seen before. Maybe walk up and down the aisle a bit if you can? Tire him out in the airport and departure gate so he’s good and tired when you get on the plane?

There are some very good Instagram accounts about travelling with babies, for instance:
Where is Briggs
Travelling With Babies
Indeed there are tons of such accounts, but these ones have covered a lot of ground in terms of topics so are a good starting point. Good luck!

We do pram naps during the day on holiday, put the snoozeshade on the pram, go for a walk and that usually does the job. We’ve always struggled with plane/airport naps but I just don’t stress about it, if they miss a nap they miss it, they might be a bit more grumpy but it’s not the end of the world. I will say I’m very relaxed about naps in general, we don’t have a set time and they just nap wherever we are so i realise some people might not be able/want to let them just skip a nap if needed.

Calpol and breastfeeding usually worked for our babies.

Although too often they'd only fall asleep as the plane started its descent.

Good luck!

One of mine would flake out fast asleep on take off and landing someone told me it was the pressure, the others were so busy looking around they didn't seem to get cranky Only one ever took a dummy. I had no expectation of them sleeping and expected to play and entertain them on out long haul flights.
Relax your standards and expectations or you will stress yourself out no end.

Bless you I can sense how nervous you are. Please don’t worry. That’s easier said than done but honestly what will be will be. I used to get our kids to sleep in pram by walking to them round by pool or around resort. take bottles of milk for plane. I also used ear defenders. You’ll be fine, have an amazing time x

Thanks everyone for your advice and encouragement!

Trying to have a what will be will be attitude like my husband, but I'm a crazy over thinker!

The wee one just fights me whenever I try to hold him to sleep, he used to be a contact napper but now goes from one extreme to the other - sometimes needs held and bounced to sleep, or put down and left to settle himself!

Today my mum visited and she held him and he drifted off to sleep on her shoulder with her patting his back and I was amazed! He literally would push and squirm to get away from me if I did that! Then I realised he'd been awake for almost 3 hours (usually only lasts 2ish hours) so must have been knackered! Maybe that's the trick for when we go away 😂😂

Ah I think it’s always hard to imagine these things beforehand .. in my experience holidays bring challenges as well as ‘opportunities for development’ (we call them!) in terms of sleep / food / routine.
My go to on flights has always been breastfeeding as nearly always does the trick for keeping things settled (found this for babies and young toddlers).. but I guess it depends whether that has generally got your baby off to sleep? Like others have said I would also just load up on some snacks and anything he finds comforting. You can normally do a bit of bouncing at the back of the plane too! On holiday I have generally found laying baby down on the bed and having a doze with them works well or naps in the buggy. There will probably be highs and lows like any holiday 😂 and baby may learn a few new napping skills :). Good luck and have a great time x

My twins weren’t contact nappers. With twins it just wasn’t an option. But they always slept on planes if it was their nap time. A couple of times we had a bit of crying before they fell asleep on either Dad or me. We travelled a lot and it wasn’t a problem. I think the vibration of the plane soothed them. The worst thing was if we landed mid nap and they were woken up early. They weren’t happy but I learnt to just go with it. They’re babies and babies cry. That’s what they do to communicate. Good luck and don’t stress out but also don’t expect the holiday to be anything like pre baby holidays. Babies are hard work and that continues on holiday unfortunately.

Sling

Piriton.

For the plane! Not the whole holiday of course.

Piriton is not suitable for an 8 month old baby so this is a terrible suggestion

OMG not for an 8MO!! Maybe for a toddler on a night flight but only if you’ve used it before on the ground and know they’re ok with it and it has the desired effect because some kids go hyper on it!

We travelled quite a lot with my daughter between 6 and 8 months. We wook 6 "shorter" flights to Europe and two 11-hour flights to the US.
Surprisingly, I never had a problem - I think it's the best age to travel with them!

You have to make sure he will suck on something during take-off and landing (otherwise, his ears will hurt). I always tried to aim for a feeding during these times (of course, it's not always possible)- and try to use dummy if he takes it.

We tried to keep her up during the check-in, security, shopping, etc. so my daughter usually slept through the flights. Hoewer, make sure you have a baby carrier so you can walk up and down the aisles and smooth him. Also, take some calpol with you in case they have an ear-headache during the flight.

What I learned from travelling with a baby/toddler is that rutine will go out of the window. Don't stress if they won't eat or sleep when or how much they usually do.

We flew when my daughter was 4 months. Had the pram until we boarded the plane. Used a sling on the plane when she got tired but before that she was happy enough watching all the other people. We even had other travellers mention how well she had done on both flights.

We had a snoozeshade and a rechargeable fan on the pram which together kept it quite cool in there for her. She would sleep in there as we walked around but I would take her up to the room to nap at the hottest part of the day if we were at the hotel.