Putting Baby to Sleep in Airplane

Have you asked her doctor yet. Seems to me maybe some allergy meds or a light sleeping pill might work but I would never give anything like that without checking to see if it was safe first.

Short of a tablespoon of Snapps in the bottle? Just kidding!!! Although I babysat for a nurse who used to do that with her second baby who had a little colic and it seemed to work!!!
I would just make her warm and cuddle her until she is sleepy and then sing to her softly. You can turn off the lights in your area, tuck child in with normal bedtime items, blanket, favorite toy, in a carseat the child is used to and pretend to be sleeping yourself. The droning noise of the plane will help if the child usually falls asleep in the car.
You might speak to your doctor and ask him what he would recommend, you'd be surprised at what suggestions they have.
P. R

We have flown about 5 times with our 15 month old, although never for that long. My advice is BE PREPARED! Have a ton of favorite toys, books, distractions, snacks, and even a DVD player. I am totally against my son watching videos, but we had a really bad flight once where he did not sleep, and I welcomed the 20 minutes it gave me to close my eyes. Definiely buy her a seat, you can't hold her for that long. If she drinks a bottle, bring it, and her favorite lovey.
We always do tylenol, painful ears, but if you do try Benadryl, test it out first and bewware. It may put her in a drowsy stoned state for several days. You may not want that if you are on vacation. I am assuming you have layovers. Get her out and moving, chase her around the terminal and see if they have a playarea.
Good Luck!

When my son was 11mos old we flew to Florida and he actually fell asleep during take off!!!! I didn't pay for a seat for him so he was sitting in my lap I can't remember if I had given him a bottle before take off or not, but he had his binky and before we made it to a crusing altitude he was fast asleep and slept almost the entire trip!! He also nodded off during landing, I am not sure if it had something to do with the noise or not.

You could ask your ped if they have any suggestions if they feel comfortable with you giving her something to help make her a little sleepy. You sometimes have to watch giving things like benadryl some kids have opposite results (become very active instead of sleepy!!!)

Take lots of snacks, toys, dvd player if you have one, I am sure you would be able to let her walk around a little once the plane is in flight. If you luck out maybe there will be an empty seat next to you that she can sit in, my son really like looking out the window!!!

Good luck with your trip, I hope this will help you a little!!!

A.

I flew with my oldest when he was a baby all the time. I always bought a seat for him and brought his carseat. He slept pretty easily on the plane around his normal nap/bed times. I'd bore him. :-) Seriously... I'd take away all his toys, give him his blankie, turn the lights above us off, tell him goodnight and then lean back and turn away so I wasn't facing him. The loud droning noise of the plane zonked him out within 10-20 minutes everytime. To him it was just like being in his carseat in the car on a long car drive so he wasn't phased by it. The worst trip we had was when he was NOT in his carseat (around 1 year old). We went back to having him in his carseat and he went back to being a great travelling companion!

Word of caution... some people will recommend giving benedryl or something like that to help make him sleepy. If you decide to do that, make sure you give him the medicine a few days/weeks before the trip to see how he handles it. It has the opposite effect on some children and makes them super-hyper. You do not want to make that discovery at 30,000 feet with 10 hours left in the flight! :-)

I have flown 18-24 hour flights with my kids at various times and ages: 4 months old, 9 months old, 2 and 4 years old; sometimes with 1-2 layovers.

It's actually easier when they're younger; they don't need as many activities and will usually sleep well. The drone and vibration of the plane is a great inducement to sleep. Just keep lots of fluid, pacifier, a brand new toy that she's never seen before(for when she's wide awake and is bored of you) and snacks she likes (like a container of cheerios); it's easier if you're still nursing too. Before you know it, it'll be all over.

You're more likely to have an easier time if the plane is not jam-packed full of noisy travelers.

Good luck !

does she sleep in a carseat? you can try to take her carseat on board-- if there are any empty seats they can let you use it. (if they don't let you take it on they will check it at the gate for you.)

they do dim the plane on long flights so everyone can sleep, so that will help. they also give out blankets and pillows.

you might be able to find a homeopathic remedy for calming or sleep from a health food store.

what about a sling? they don't allow them during take off/landing but for the flight they are ok.

bottle, nursing, pacifier? special blanket? etc?

good luck on the long flight!!

Hi N.,
When we flew for the first time with our son when he was 14 months old we had been given the advice to give him some Dimetapp about 30 minutes before the flight and if the flight was longer than 6 hours to give him another dose 30 minutes before landing. He had chronic ear infections and this would prevent or at least lesson the pain in his ears on take-off and landing. It also put him to sleep and he slept much of the long flight from Cle to LA. In fact, now I take sudafed myself for every flight. Talk to your pediatrician about this idea as my son is now 12 and while we still do this with all of ours, I don't know if it is still recommended.

I would not even consider giving your little one drugs to make them drowsy. I just came back from a trip to Europe with my 8 month old. I used a sling and when she started to get fussy I put her in it and paced up and down the aisles till she fell asleep. I also, heard Bach Rescue Remedy is good for calming and it is all natural. Good luck! Bring plenty of toys and snacks to pacify the time.

Giving your baby drugs of any sort is not recommended for flying given the altitude as it can cause the blood to thin so the drugs you give on the ground may be too much for your baby's system once in the air. I have 2 small kids and we often travel and find that the noise of the aircraft usually puts them straight out. They certainly don't sleep like they do at home but generally we have no problems. Maybe try and schedule the flight at night so her body is ready to sleep anyway and make sure to take her comfort item/s if she has them. Have a great trip :)

my doctor suggested giving my son benadryl. and it worked. My dumbass didnt do it for the flight there, but you better believe I did it for the flight home. my son was just shy of 1 when we flew for the first time together. it was a quiet peacefull 5 hour plane ride home

If you are buying a seat for your baby on the plane, then you can use a car seat. Just make sure that it is approved for airline travel. And double check with the airline to make sure of their rules.

I've heard some people use benadryl with great success. Test it before to make sure that your child isn't one who becomes hyper on it.

Have fun at home.

I'm not a fan of drugging kids just to make your own life easier, though I do understand the need to make the whole plane of people happier. Someone once suggested Bach's Rescue Sleep to me to get kids back to sleep in the middle of the night. You could try that, it's all natural.