wattsbug

Hi all. very excited now. we fly out of Glasgow at 1415hrs to Dubai, with a 2hr turnaround, then on to Perth. My kiddies are 4 and 7.

Is there any special advice on these long haul flights for helping the kids adapt as quickly as possible with the time changes or is it simply go with the flow ie let them sleep when they want?

The reason i ask is that weve never done a flight like this so any hints/tips would be gratefully accepted.

cheers

moneypenny20

Yes. Try and make sure they don't eat every time the food is brought round, keep them to a normal eating pattern, try and get them to sleep when it's dark, cabin lights dimmed and awake when it's light and expect to have a grumpy family for the first few days here. You may all be fine, you may take several days to get over it, just go with the flow. Have a great trip.

Oh and lots of simple toys (none noisy ones ) drawing stuff etc. Lots of fluids, something for them to suck on take off and landings, helps the ears. They do tend to bring lollies round but I've always swallowed mine before we've even started descending And if they want to walk about, let them. Nothing worse than a grumpy kid trapped in it's seat, people (and that includes the parents) will have a far better time if the kids are allowed to have a wander. As long as they don't start trying to play Marco Polo or sprint races obviously.

Penny45

I'd definitely take pyjamas too. I found it helped when they had to change into nightware. Not sure if you can buy Phenergan OTC over there any more but try and get some - helps in case they have travel sickness - if not done a long haul before they might. Also it made my two super sleepy :-)

BTW 2 hours not long in Dubai and sometimes the gates are very far away from each other so just check where next flight is when you exit the plane.
Happy travels :-)

moneypenny20

Don't use Phenergan unless you've used it before. Sent my daughter completely up the wall and hysterical. Took a good hour to calm her down, very very scary. I dread to think what she'd have done or been like if she'd had it on an aeroplane.

StephH

Hi, we've just done 9 hour flight with five hour time difference. Not as extreme as you, but thought I'd give you my thoughts if any help. My twins are three. The flight I just let them do their thing and neither wanted to sleep despite it being very late arrival. The whole excitement of the travel kept them perky! I would recommend kid sized headphones as they are brilliant fit rather than the standard airline issue. Helps them watch movies throughout flight. I took loads of sticker books etc and didn't end up needing anything like that as the in flight entertainment was enough. Won't bother next time.

As to time change, I set my watch to destination time as soon as we left and on arrival I kept to it, so put them to bed at sensible time US time rather than UK I've and let them sleep a bit later the next morning. Didn't take more than that. I think the daylight is enough to sort of fool them into adjusting automatically where adults are aware of the time difference. One of mine actually said "I'm a sleepy head today mummy!" after being up for 20 hours! She just didn't realise it had been such a long day. Good luck.

wattsbug

thanks everyone. lots of sound advice. much appreciated. i expect, to be fair that we will need to go with the flow. Just want to make their experience, (and ours!!!), as enjoyable as poss.

see you all in aus

lindseymac

how exciting, we leave on the 14 August. We have done the flight with our children before and its not so bad. Each seat has its own console/tv which amuses in small doses.
Also we walked about the plane endlessly with other kids/parents. I wrapped up small presents for them to unwrap during the flight, books, small dolls etc.
As someone else said you will not have to much spare time in Dubia as its HUGE, well compared to Glasgow.
Our children woke up at 4am for the first 2 days, but we just put on a DVD and fed them, and they settled quickly.
Good luck and remember warm clothes for Perth!

DadAgain

Tips for kids:

- Trust them... they can pretty much look after themselves. At that age they'll more than likely be glued to the in flight entertainment for the vast majority of the time they arent sleeping. If they're awake when food comes around, let them eat what they want to. If they're asleep - let them sleep. If they want to stroll up and down the cabin then let them go for a wander - but make sure they understand that other people are sleeping and they need to do so in a calm and quiet manner.

- Headphones.. Dont trust airline headphones they are rubbish! For your own comfort its well worth getting some noise cancelling ones - but ANY off the shelf headphones and earbuds would be more comfortable and provide a more relaxing listening experience than the freebies. Spend a few $$ (and make sure you have adaptors for airline plugs) so all the family can hear whats going on.

- Bring some books to read (at least for the 7 yr old?) and if they have Nintendo DS's or similar then have them fully charged and ready to go.

- iPad .. If you have one its great for planes. Load it up with some simple puzzles and games - or even put a couple of their (and your) favourite movies on there.

Last time I flew Brisbane-London-Brisbane I was the sole adult with my daughters (4 and 7) and I managed to watch half a season of "The Wire", they watched the entire StarWars trilogy as well as some of the stuff the airline provided and we all travelled pretty well. My #1 essential technique for behaviour management was to make sure I was sat between them and not let them sit together. If they sat together I knew there'd be fighting, giggling and lots of antisocial mucking about - by sitting between them they both pretty much just sat and watched TV until they fell asleep (much like any of the other 450 passengers on board!).