Stu Ward

Flying out at the end of the month.
Stopping in bangkok for a 2 hour transfer.

Having never flew anything like this distance, i'm not sure what the best strategy is to reduce jet lag on arrival.

Flight Sets off from Heathrow at 21:50 arriving in Sydney 06:25

Therefore what advice could you give to me in terms of when to sleep and when to try and stay awake as long as you can ?

We also have a 4 year old with us

Thanks for the help

Stu

RedT

Hi there,

We found sleeping through the first flight and staying awake during the second helped a lot. Also staying up for as long as you can the day you arrive really helps as you're going to bed at a near normal time that evening so you don't muck up your body clock.

Before I read the bit about the 4 year old i was going to suggest valium!! We both took some last time as neither of us can sleep well on a plane and end up getting stressed just from tiredness. With the valium, even when we were awake we were so blissed out we didn't care!! and out of all the family that went over we had the least jetlag.

good luck!

Therese

quoll

Wear yourselves out during the day that you fly so that you zzz off as soon as you have had the first meal (or as soon as wheels are up in my case, usually) and try and sleep until you get to the meal before Bangkok. Should be easy because they dim the lights and close the curtains. Walk around a lot and stretch in Bangkok then try and sleep after the meal out of Bangkok until you wake up. You arrive early and then just keep on going until you can go no longer - I usually make it to about 7pm then I conk out, go to sleep and wake up in time with normal Aussie time. Personally I choose not to believe in jet lag! Sheer and unadulterated exhaustion yes but jet lag, no. Flew with both my kids when they were about 4 and they found it easier than I did, slept well every trip and took it all in their strides.

LoobyLoo!

We've just been over with our 3 year old and 1 year old and it is very tiring. We slept when we could on the plane (when the kids slept) and when we arrived there and back here we just let them sleep when they wanted to (which in both cases meant all afternoon, most of the evining, waking in the middle of the night for food, fed them, then back off till morning) Felt great the next day in Oz but took 4 or 5days back in the UK to adjust.
When we flew to Bangkok we tried to get up in there morning and fit in with the time difference...just didnt work, the kids were terribly crabby and took days to adjust so i would recommend just sleep when you need it.

Hope all goes well for you.

Cheetah7

I found that after about three hours of arriving in Oz, I get dreadful shivers and feel really cold.

Then I sleep because if I dont I actually feel dizzy and then I wake up at stupid oclock wanting my breakfast at dinner time and vice versa.

It lasts about a week as a rule.

Scuba Steve

I get too excited to sleep on flights, I want to look out of the window all the time. Especially after the sunrise I saw off the east coast, spectaular.

julesmc

I agree with some of the earlier posts. I try and sleep as much as possible on the first leg then have a quick shower before boarding for the second leg which tends to refresh me. I try to get as much sleep as possible on the second leg and then stay awake as long as possible when I arrive (I make sure that I can have access to my hotel room and a shower as soon as I get there - I'd hate to have to wait until 2pm to check in when my flight lands at 6.30am).

Last time I was in Sydney I spent part of the day at the beach (wave jumping - which seems to be a national obsession in Manly!) and this activity kept me awake. I never normally manage to get beyond 7pmish but find that the next day is near normal.

The key with jet lag is to try and adjust to the new time as soon as possible so, no matter how hard you find it, try and stay awake throughout day 1 (you will probably lose the ability to string a sentence together by late afternoon though!).

Kooky.

I get it pretty bad when I fly east - sounds similar to PP's actually as I can go dizzy with it. Some good advice above, particularly about changing your watch as soon as you board the plane, and try to sleep as close to destination night time as possible.

In my circle of friends, a lot travel for business and swear by Melatonin, but it's not recommended for people with autoimmune disorders so I haven't tried it.

I know you can't get Melatonin in Oz (as I recently took some for a friend) so get it before you travel.

Ozzidoc

It's prescription-only in the UK. Can get it over the counter in the USA.

I've not heard of the autoimmune contraindication - could you pls provide any scientific links? Cheers

Cheetah7

The slurred speech is hilarious and I remember getting the hysterical laughter in a shop in Landsborough. I knew what I wanted but I just coulnd't say it

For me when I need to sleep it is impossible for me to stay awake, I have even nearly fallen over on the train as I thought standing up would keep me awake - wrong!

I get so cold, dizzy and the last time I went to Oz I felt sick. Even a power nap is something but its quite scary how you can fall straight into a deep sleep and wake up so suddenly you dont know where you are.

The worst jetlag was going to Brisbane and also flying back from Canada.

Kooky.

Hmm, now where did I read it? I have so many medical books....I'll try to find it and get back to you.

(Can buy Melatonin OTC here, but until a couple of years ago you couldn't buy nurofen!)

PaulandNic

No good to you now as flight is booked, but we've done the trip a few times and 1st we arrived at 11am. By the afternoon we was all falling asleep and it was a mess adjusting.

The 2nd we arrived in the evening and after a chatter with friends who picked us up, we all hit the sack and tomorrow was another day!

I had to go back to the UK recently and wasn't gonna go any other way but arrive in the eve for these reasons.

End of the day you just have to hold out and STICK to sleep patterns where you are! Your body will be wondering what is goin on, but falling asleep in the arvo will NOT help!

Alan Collett

Don't expect to overcome the jetlag on the first day or two ... says he sitting at his PC at 4 in the morning after getting back into Melbourne yesterday ...

Best regards.

markandgill

Hi Stu,

When we flew in may for our reccie we flew with virgin and all flights were night flights - so are yours from the looks of it

We watched a few films then had a sleep on both flights - we stopped off for 1hr in hong kong - We both never suffered from jet lag at all..........We got straight off the plane in sydney into our rental campervan and drove for 6 hours before finally resting up!!

The only time we got jeg lag was the return flight from oz to uk.........that seriously messed us up because we essentially seen the same time of day twice due to time differences............Does'nt happen going to oz........or at least not for us.

Hope you have a good flight.

P.S. we had a 2 year old and he slept most of the time so he was also fully refreshed on arrival to oz!

CazBeckham

Hi Alan

Glad you made it to Melbourne safely, but remember if you did struggle with your cases I did offer to carry them for you.

Don't forget to chase up my meds clearance please, I am itching to get my house on the market but need confirmation of my visa first - just in case :-)



Caz Beckham