DXB - NZ with 16 week old | ExpatWoman.com
 

DXB - NZ with 16 week old

157
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 March 2011 - 21:00

Hi Ladies,
My DH and I will be going home at the end of next month with our DS. This will be our first flight with him and it's going to be a biggie!

What I'm worried about is his sleep. How do I manage it being such a long flight (14 odd hours to Melbourne, 3 hour transit then 4ish hours to NZ) ?? We depart Dubai at 10am and will arrive in NZ at 1:30pm, then have a 3 hour drive to our home town. Do I just let him sleep when he wants to or continue with our sleep routine that we have now?

157
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 11:29
Thanks ladies, We've requested bassinet seats on all legs of the flights and I'm just hoping he won't scream the plane down! I guess that's my biggest worry, if he gets unsettled for any reason and not being able to console him. He's been such a happy little boy up until last week and seems a little grizzly at the moment. Hoping it's just a growth spurt.
184
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 09:52
I travelled with my both DDs to Sydney and back when thery were 5 weeks. They had no problems with their sleep routine. At that age, both of them slept through the entire flight, only waking up to feed. I did a 14 hours straight flight with DD1 in one of our journeys, I let her nap/sleep whenever she wanted. She slept 3-4 hours later her normal sleeping time (as she was super excited in the airport), but she slept for 10 hours straight in the flight. This was a blessing. I normally go with the child's flow when I am travelling rather than stressing out. It usually works well. When you are there, try to expose her to sunlight if it's day time to adjust to the time difference.
914
Posts
EW GURU
Latest post on 27 March 2011 - 09:39
Travelled with DD at 10weeks and found it pretty easy to keep her in her sleep routine throughout the flight. Wouldn't do it without a bassinet seat under any circumstance though. When we arrived there was a 4hour time difference so we gave her an exta feed,activity and sleep cycle before putting her down for the night anf then dreamfeed her and she woke up at the adjusted time.
1403
Posts
EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 26 March 2011 - 22:13
Surprisingly, yes she adjusted straight away to the time change. I wonder though if the 12hrs (in hotel) we had in Hong Kong on the way may have helped. Plus, when we arrived in Oz in the morning, I took her into the morning sunlight for a little while as I read this is a good thing to do. When we arrived back to Dubai though, it took her 6 days to get back into her usual sleeping through the night pattern.
157
Posts
EW NEWBIE
Latest post on 26 March 2011 - 21:52
What did you do with DD's sleep once you arrived in Oz Shellly? Did she shift over to the time zone change ok?
1403
Posts
EW OLDHAND
Latest post on 26 March 2011 - 21:16
I was just about to post a similar thread in the coming weeks for our next trip. With DD we flew to Oz when she was 8 weeks and flew back to Dubai when she was 12 weeks. We were fortunate that all our flights were night flights as we didn't fly direct to Oz, instead we stopped over in Hong Kong both times which was brilliant at the time. DD slept pretty much most of those flights. But our next trip is much like you, direct to Oz (14hrs) leaving around 10am, then a 3hr transit followed by a 2hr connecting interstate flight. I have no idea how or what to do with DD's routine/sleep pattern, added to that she is becoming more active so when she'll be awake on the flight she won't be happy to just stay sitting on my lap, she is at the stage of wanting (her obsession atm) to try and crawl. Really unsure about this 14hr flight. In my mind I am thinking of trying to keep her in her usual sleep pattern, so having her awake when she would normally be awake (with naps) then towards the 2nd half of the flight hoping she'll sleep solidly as that'll be night time in Oz and have her wake up near to landing which is early morning Oz time, but I am really not sure. Part of me thinks to just let her do her own thing and sleep when she wants. Really not sure.
 
 

ON EXPATWOMAN TODAY