sue

I'm trying to decide whether to fly from Boston to London at night or in the daytime. My 7 and 10 year old kids will be nightmares if they're overtired, so a day flight that gets us in at night seems logical. But most on this site recommend Virgin over Brit Air, and Virgin only has night flights from Boston. Also, any suggestions (besides Benedryl) for helping kids cope with jet lag?

andrew

Sue<BR><BR>I can strongly recommend a day flight if you can get one. Firstly it means that you automatically have to adjust to the time difference - say if you have a 8am flight the early get up will help you with the +5 hour time difference and you will be tired enough to sleep when you arrive and also from my experience it is so difficult to get any sleep (especially with excited kids) when you have a night flight.<BR><BR>Virgin is good but if British Airways does a day flight I would go with that<BR><BR>Enjoy your stay in London<BR>Andrew<BR><BR>

Jen

I took my kids from Boston to London on a night flight. So we got into London when it was early-morning their time, but wee-hours-of-the-morning Boston time.<BR><BR>I just gave the kids some caffeine to get them through the day (they never get any, otherwise) and sent them to bed early that evening. By next day everyone was fine. <BR><BR>If you try this approach of staying awake right thru, just don't plan anything physically demanding for that first day -- riding around on a double-decker tour bus is good becuase it gets you outdoors in the sunshine, gets you oriented to the layout and history and architecture of the city, but doesn't demand a lot ofenergy or concentration (as contrasted with going to amuseum or even the zoo).<BR><BR>Be sure to avoid dehydration and excess sugar -- I suspect these are major culprits in jet lag and crankiness of child travelers.

Rex

No experience below age 10, but I think that they are not all that different from adults - - though the &quot;Forsyth&quot; method (essentially fast for 24 hours before arrival in Europe) surely would not sell well with kids.<BR><BR>I would still recommend earlier wake up times on departure day ( 2hours) and day before (1 hour) to promote sleeping on the plane. I do think that Benadryl serves a useful purpose if they are used to it, and no medical contraindications.<BR><BR>Feed them well as soon as daylight breaks or on arrival or both. The &quot;gastrointestinal brain&quot; is strongly connected to the &quot;cerebral&quot; brain.<BR><BR>And take it easy that first day. Ideally no napping - - though a mid afternoon shower can feel good.<BR><BR>Early dinner - - typically most travelers collapse aby about 8 pm that first day - - and then early morning awakening can be a problem for a day or two.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

joanneaj

We've traveled with our kids since they were babies. They're now 19, 14 and 11, and travel extremely well. If I were to give you one word of advice in general, I would say that FOOD is the singlemost important factor in making sure kids enjoy traveling. I'm not sure why. I would throw out all your traditional food rules while traveling, and make sure that you stop for food whenever someone is hungry, cranky, hyper, oppositional, confused, jet lagged, etc. &quot;Stopping for food&quot; doesn't have to mean a three course meal. It can include street food like a sausage from the vendor outside the British Museum, or a gelato in Sorrento, roasted chestnuts in Rome, a bag of olives or a pizza slice. We find that buying one thing and sharing it, and doing it several times a day is better than having three big sitdown meals. There is something about the frequency that seems to revive the kids. <BR><BR>The flip side of this is to not necessarily have a meal if no one is hungry, just because it's &quot;dinnertime&quot;.<BR>Kids seem to self-regulate probably knowing that they can eat whenever they're really hungry. <BR><BR>We're going to Italy next week, along with our son's girlfriend, first time out of the country. Can't wait to eat!<BR><BR>

Bobbi

also, studies have shown that exposing areas of skin that have blood vessels close to the top (inside of arms, back of knees) to daylight also helps reset your clock.<BR><BR>Maybe it's psychological, but I've found that it helps me.<BR><BR>Bobbi

David White

Sue,<BR><BR>I'd pick the daytime flight, given the choice. Some kids manage to get a bit of sleep on the overnight flights, but no guarantees...and no guarantees that the parents will get any sleep either!<BR><BR>If you do the overnight flight, and arrive in the early morning London time (middle of the night Eastern time), try to pick outdoor, active things to do in London. Walking in the parks is good, if the weather cooperates. Food and caffeine help, as somebody else mentioned. Try to stay awake until 8 or 9 pm London time, then collapse into bed. Hopefully, by the next day, you will achieve something close to normalacy. <BR><BR>And the number one piece of advice: be flexible with your plans. If you have decided to visit someplace the first day after you arrive in London and your kids are just too tired, relax your schedule, if possible. <BR><BR>Hope this helps. By the way, once past jetlag, your kids will undoubtedly enjoy London<BR><BR>David White<BR>http://www.KidsToLondon.com

Jill

Having taken both trips with an 11 year old, the day trip was much easier and worked out well for all concerned. We had to leave really early in the am, so he dozed on the flight, but he was awake a ready to go when we arrived in London. I also was feeling better, not having to try to sleep sitting up in a cramped airplane seat all night.<BR>We will always try to fly day flights now.

Rex

From my viewpoint, the daytime flying is most attractive to people with money to burn, or perhaps no longer employed where time equals money.<BR><BR>Family A leaves Monday morning, arrives Monday evening and pays for a hotel room Monday night. It's hard to get to sleep until about 1 or 2 am in London - - even then it is still only about 6 or 7 pm &quot;body time&quot;. No one wants to get up and &quot;get at it&quot; Tuesday morning.<BR><BR>Family B leaves Monday night, and the breadwinner(s) of the family used up one fewer days vacation time off the job (or got paid for some part of spending the day at work). They arrived Tuesday morning, and they had NO hotel expense Monday night. Yes they were tired much of the day Tuesday, but everyone soundly hit the hay about 8 pm, London time.<BR><BR>Family B started off Wednesday many hundreds of dollars ahead of family A.<BR>

StCirq

Take the night flight. The kids will sleep through the night and be fresher than you will be in the morning. In my 15-year experience flying with kids to Europe what I've learned is that kids basically don't suffer from jet lag - parents do. My kids always slept through the night on the flight, then caught up with the extra sleep needed either in a stroller or on a train or in a car during the first day in Europe and were absolutely fine by day two, unlike their parents, who were dragging for a day or two. Worry about yourself - not the kids.

Sstone

Rex,<BR>If you fly during the day and arrive in London in the afternoon, you are fresh and able to be out and about right away, even stay up late.<BR>If you fly during the night, you arrive exhausted, need a nap during the day,therefore losing hours during the day anyway. <BR> If you are concerned about money, I believe the flights cost the same. You shouldn't worry about how much money other people are spending. I believe sue is concerned about the children, not her pocketbook.

Rex

To sstone:<BR><BR>I am trying to dispel misconceptions about a daytime transatlantic flight from North America to Europe. You seem to trying to perpetuate them.<BR><BR>You don't arrive in the &quot;afternoon&quot;. It already IS afternoon in europe before your plane leaves Boston. Here's a typical REAL itinerary Boston to London: depart 9:00 am, arrive 8:25 pm. Make it to your hotel by when - - 10 pm? What are you gonna do at that hour with a 7 and 10 year old? Remember it is 5 pm, per their body time. there's nothing they CAN really do, but it will be very difficult to get them to go to bed to sleep.<BR><BR>A daytime flight is a bad choice for a family, and darn near everybody.<BR>

Monica

Is this a moot point when traveling from the West Coast? Every flight I've ever taken out of SFO to Heathrow left at 4:00 pm. Get to Heathrow in the morning, get your connecting flight, and you are in the destination country by the evening.

sstone

I guess that my 11 yr old son and I do not consist of a &quot;family&quot; in your learned eyes, but we did it in October from Atlanta. We enjoyed the flight, there was no suffering through a sleepless night in an uncomfortable position in a seat. We had a light dinner near the hotel, walked and stayed up late. The next morning we were up early, refreshed and ready to go. So maybe the fact that I do not agree with you causes you to say that I &quot;perpetuate&quot; a misconception. Actually it is fact. When did you say you took this flight with a child?

ddd

Sorry, Rex, I think you're way wrong on this one. We (mom, dad and 11 year old) did the Dulles to Heathrow daytime flight in June. Yes we arrived at 9 in the evening and yes we got to our hotel after 10 in the evening. There was plenty of just the right kind of low key stuff to do....check out hotel, find a corner store for bottled water, a snack at the noodle bar across the street, and a walk along the South Bank. We got to bed around 1 am London time and we were exhausted. Reduced jet lag by a huge amount the next day.<BR><BR>The tickets we got were the cheapest offered when I went shopping for them in March. The major drawback is that you spend a full day flying but I would trade that in a heart beat to avoid being a zombie for 24-36 hours.

sue

Thanks to everyone. Rex, the flights cost the same, but you're correct about losing a day of vacation while in the air. But since we're pretty sensitive to sleep deprivation, I think a day of misery (after a night flight) would be just as wasteful.<BR><BR>I think we'll go in the daytime, and as someone said, use the night to check things out, eat, etc.

sam

Take the day flight if you can. Say your flight leaves at 9am. You have to be at the airport by 7 - you'll all be up by 5 probably to leave (depending on where you live, possibly earlier) You'll all be exhausted by the time you get there, even though you're just sitting all day. Try to keep them awake on the plane.<BR><BR>I am 99% sure American still offers a day flight to Heathrow, I know I've taken it in the past.

VickiV

Kids are small and can sleep in airplane seats. Take the night flight, and be sure they are physically tired when they get on the flight, keep them up late the night before or lots of physical activity that day. They'll probably sleep right through and be much fresher in the morning than you are. A brand new book or handheld game will keep them busy. Our rule is that gameboys are only for traveling, unless we are going at least an hour away from home, they can't use them. NO DRUGS - lots of water and juice.<BR><BR>

Marj

We've taken our kids twice to Europe, red-eyes, both times. They were in your kids' age range. They managed fine. I also tried to have them start out tired so as soon as the plane took off, they were ready to sleep. They did sleep on the plane. When we arrived, early mornings in both cases, they perked up just from the change of scenery. We stayed awake for a few hours after arriving, grabbed a bite and walked around, no major site-seeing. Then took an afternoon nap. Woke up and had dinner. By nighttime we were all exhausted and more or less on schedule. We didn't use benadryl or any other sleep aids. Sometimes Benadryl can have the reverse effect.

Rachel

Having travelled with my kids a lot since they were infants (now 11 and 16 year olds) and having taken only the night flights to Europe as that is all that is available from where I live, the best avoidance of jet lag is to keep moving once you get there and eat anytime anyone says they are hungry. No napping-it just makes everyone grouchy. If the kids sleep on the plane,great. But don't stress out if they stay awake playing Gameboy or watching the movie (which mine have done). Don't give Benadryl-I did that only once when my oldest was about a year old-it had the reverse effect and he stayed awake 21 hours.