How to get my 11m to sleep on a plane

[Lapt91]

Hey, looking for some tips! I’ve not travelled with my DS since he’s been an independent sleeper and we’re going on holiday this week.

we have to leave the house at 5am for our 8.15 flight which means he’ll need a nap when we take off.

he will not contact nap on my anymore so really don’t know the best way to get him to sleep? We have a wild ride sling or an ergo baby carrier so thinking maybe use one of those? But can’t imagine he’ll stay asleep upright for very long!! The best option would be for him to lie in my arms but just wondering if anyone else has had this predicament

ps not precious on nap time just preferably need him to get 30 mins!

thanks xx

I got mine to nap in the pram for half an hour while walking round the airport at that age. My partner had had more success than me getting our independent sleeper to nap on his shoulder (including on the bus) than I have.

The white noise on the plane will probably send him off. A “travel expert” said best advice was to keep them running around as long as possible until getting on the plane and then they will usually drift off once the rumbling starts.

My shit nappers always travel really well - the secret is to lower expectations, plenty of new toys (colouring books, snacks, DVD players etc) and then when exhausted, off they go.

Is it a long flight??

Bassinet is the best option but not all airlines offer them, on the floor I’ve managed too

They will most likely sleep in the carrier you kay need to walk up and down with them a bit to get them to nod off and then you can sit back down.

My kids have always slept really well on planes, at all ages. It’s the white noise + motion.

even if he doesn’t contact nap usually, I bet he will on the plane.

Cradle and hug and bounce him while singing after a bottle and use a dummy

My babies at that age would normally nap well independently in a cot and not contact nap. 1 did take my 11 month old on the plane and I went and found space at the back of the plane and rocked the baby and as a toddler to sleep humming or making a shushing noise. That worked for me. I found the new environment etc really stimulated the babies so the rocking and shushing noise worked.

Sorry to be negative but everyone kept telling me how well babies sleep on planes....mine was extremely overstimulated, refused to breastfeed, and just screamed. The only thing that worked was putting him in the carrier with a breastfeeding cover over my head and his to block out light/people and walk around. He weighed 10 kilos so my back was finished by the time we landed.

It’s a 5 hour flight and there were no bassinet seats left. I just tried to get him to contact nap on me using all the usual techniques and just got him very angry so wish me luck 😂 hoping a bottle on take off coupled with being overtired he’ll go off (unlikely lol)

We have done a few 4.5 hour flights. Honestly it will most likely be fine.

DS is also an independent sleeper and we recently went away when he was 18 months and he needed to nap on the plane. I just gave him his usual sleep cues (comforter and dummy) and stayed calm and powered through the getting him to sleep on my lap process. yes he fussed and kept fighting it but he went eventually. I reminded myself he didn't really have a choice so just pushed through the fussing

Don’t overthink it Op. Its a holiday - just relax.

Recent holiday the lady behind me made us all endure six hours of screaming trying to force a kid to nap who was quite happy just sitting there watching YouTube quietly. Go with your kids cues.

You get the award for the most unhelpful comment 😅😅😅

And you don't know that kid would have been happily watching YouTube for 6 hours. Most toddlers will indeed start screaming of overtiredness and overstimulation pretty quickly, mine definitely would.

@WheelsOffTheBus1989Right because you were there and watched it all unfold….ok.

I’m well aware of how kids work, I’ve had enough of them. But the more Op stresses about it, the more the child will. It’s a totally different environment - kids adapt. Go with the flow. Hardly shit advice.

My advice is just go with whatever comes, he may or may not nap but if is goes horribly then remember he might not on the way back! Make sure you have a favourite blanket, book, toy with you. Snacks at the ready. Take turns and walk around if you can. Ds really hated the seat belt and used to scream when that went on but calmed down when he was released.

We took a pillow in our carry on for our 11 month old, we obviously had to hold her but at least she could stretch out across our lap on the pillow

So it went really well despite being stuck in the tarmac for 3 hours, poor baby just fell asleep to ms Rachel

were trying to keep him on UK time whilst in Greece so we can go for dinner at 7 and put him to bed at 9 but he’s been waking at 7am which is 5am uk time. I am thinking adding in a catnap at 5ish to get him to bedtime in the hope he’ll sleep till 8/9 am but is that a bad idea at this age?

other option is sleep in the pram then transfer but he’s not generally a good transfer baby - just ultimately don’t want to impact him by denying sleep overall

On holiday we just go with the flow and don’t stick to sleep and nap times. If you want to go for dinner later, just take him with you and take a pram and he’ll either sleep or he won’t.