Team-BHP - How to keep a child quiet in-flight

My sister has tried this solution and it works. Don't let the kid sleep prior to the flight, keep him engaged. Kids have a regular sleep pattern, disturb the one before the journey so the kid will be pretty tired during the flight, that takes care of atleast one sector, i.e. the india europe leg, the remaining europe to us leg, remember NOT to feed the kid chocolates throughout the journey. Kids get even more hyperactive with sugar, caffeine, Trust me, avoid fizzies (caffeine again), give only fruit juices. Carry a PSP / DVD Player, the kid wont bother you much.

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Originally Posted by kalpeshc (Post 1329942)

^^ I thought sleep deprivation was restricted to torture chambers of the evil empires !!

Please do not do that to a child.

Its not the way you're thinking, keep the kid occupied prior by getting a family member, kid's friend to play with the kid, let him play the Wii, etc. Normally kids at that age sleep in the afternoon's too, so keeping the kid awake one afternoon will not do any harm for a smoother flight. Its difficult handling a kid in a flight for a single travelling woman, kids running away, accidently touching stuff on the flight, think of all that too. There are a lot other ways too, this was just one suggestion which incidently works for us.

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Originally Posted by anilkalvani (Post 1329806)

yes, this works. at the stop-over, try to keep him active so he is tired again in the flight. some people suggest cough syrup to make them sleepy/drowsy but i am totally against it.

We took a non-stop 16 hr flight from NY to delhi when my son was ~2 yrs old and he probably troubled us for 1 hour when I had to walk with him in the plane and entertain him. He mostly slept rest of the time. the worst part is the last leg, if your friend has another flight after landing in india, it's advisable to either take a long break where they can rest, or very minimal, the kid will be cranky but it will be over soon.

I did travel with my kids. Only thing he likes is DVD, I kept portable DVD player with lots of DVD of his choice. And some coloring sheet with Cryons. But as they are travelling for the first time, I guess he will be busy with screen in front, light switch on/off and ringing bell for assistancelol:. No Don't worry they keep themself busy better then us, this is my experience. And they take good sleep too. So don't worry and enjoy the flight. Even if you dont' carry anything, no need to worry in any flight. As they are kids they can do anything on flight no one will say anything to them.:uncontrol

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Originally Posted by srishiva (Post 1329608)

Sleeping pills are not for kids.

However, I know people who have used drowsy medicines from U.S doctors to let the kids sleep.

I've heard of children being given a very very low dose (obviously the infant dosage) of Bandryl/ or any other anti-histamine based medication to calm the kid down. This usually works only for the 1st segment of an international flight. You won't be able to do the same for the second segment, and thats where toys and movies come in handy.

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Originally Posted by DriverR (Post 1329518)

Guys, I need some advice/suggestions. A colleague is flying to US in a month's time with her 2 year (hyperactive) son. She was asking me how to keep him quiet or engaged during the long 14-15 hrs flight (I think there would be a stop-over in either Frankfurt, Dubai or Heathrow, depending on which flight is finally booked). I told her to give him some sleeping pills! stupid:

But seriously, can you suggest some practical ways by which she can get her hyperactive son to settle down or during the flight?
Those with kids would probably understand this situation better! lol:

For a flight that long, I would recommend giving the child a small dose of Benadryl for Children. Should keep them sleeping/quiet for a majority of the flight.

i have travelled twice from Bangalore to US, once when my kid was 1 year and the next time when he was 2.

+1 to anilkalvani's thought of postponing the sleep schedule. We have been successful at that and as mentioned in the posts about, the idea is not to forcefully keep the kid awake but engage him enough - afterall it is very likely to be his/her first flight and he is bound to be interested in everything including airports etc. However, DONT push your luck too far. A kid may postpone sleep for may be 2 to maximum 3 hours.

Secondly engage the kid in as many activities possible.

Try to make friends with the people sitting around - most people understand how it is to be with a 3 year old - so they are likely to help and not get irritated.

Walk the kid around the aisles. Give him/her small tasks to go and talk to the waitresses (and get some water say..). This works well only in good airlines.

Shorter flights (even if the overall duration is more) works better. For instance, i preferred Singapore airlines which go over the pacific than others which are longer (with over all duration being less) over the atlantic.

Try to get front row seats as they have a lot of leg room. This is a great place for the kid to play around. Chances are high there are other babies in the front row and kids usually are curious about babies.

Lastly, but not the least, kids make some noise and it is normal. For no reason should one get frustrated - keep yourself calm and tell yourself that whatever happens in an experience which you would remember all your life... :).

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Originally Posted by esteem_lover (Post 1329565)

Engaging a kid is the best way to keep him quiet. .. I am sure a 2 year old would sleep for at least half of that flying time.

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Originally Posted by laluks (Post 1329631)

I've flown around many times with my kids and generally the observation was they sleep half of the time.

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Originally Posted by rkbharat (Post 1329696)

Also she likes to scrib alot on drawing books. So try that.

Mix activity books, in flight enternatinment, food/drinks and sleep. At 2 he/she should sleep half the flight. get an extra blanket (from the in flight crew) and carry a small dose of pediatric Tylenol as some children can develop a mild fever due to all that stale air in the flight.

Our son has travelled with us on many a flight today (at 7) is he so used to it he is virtually independant.

DriverR, I just completed a US travel with my 3.5 year-old daughter (BOM-IAD-BOM). I flew continental, and it was a 16-hour flight. Even I thought that it would be a challenge to keep he occupied, but it turned out to be easier than I thought.

She did sleep for ~8 hours at a stretch, and Continental's in-flight entertainment (IFE?) was superb! They had Dora, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Om Shanti Om, Jab We Met and what not to keep her engaged for a significantly long time. However, I did carry some books, toys, crayons, papers etc.

Some notes - carry some snacks/food items, because my daughter did not like anything that was served. Also carry some earplugs or use the earphones supplied by the airline while landing. My daughter was quite restless with her eardrums feeling the pressure during descent.

It would be advisable to carry a water bottle on board, because the kid may feel thirsty when the service is closed. Note - can't carry a filled water bottle through security. Take an empty one with you and fill it up after the security check, or buy a new one at the gate!

Finally, don't lose your cool at any point of time... :-)

I have a 2 year old and just completed a short trip to India (4hrs) but I havent done a 16 hr flight. What we did we did is exactly as said we kept him busy (let him watch his fav cartoons and other things) and not let him sleep. So by the time we were on the flight he was tired and slept 99% of the flight time.

Another thing I did try was to let him drink water or juice during ascend and descend to avoid the pressure thing affecting him and get bugged. Dont know if it was that but he was totally fine no crankiness.

Like others mentioned, I carried his toys, cartoons, Barney dvd's and be sure to keep off choclates the like as they get the hyperactive kid to be on full throttle!!