red eye with DD - yay or nay?

elizabethwig

i've been telling my parents i'd bring DD with me when i go to a conference near my hometown in november. i just found out that i can't get out of a work commitment on the first day of the conference, so i'll need to fly out on a red-eye that night (leave 10:30 or 11:30pm, arrive 6-7 am local) to make it for the next day. 

is it crazy to think a 14 month old might sleep the whole time (from ~8:30 when i start walking around the airport, to landing+)? this whole trip is a head ache, but i was willing to push for it since 1) my parents rarely see her and they were excited, and 2) it might be a challenge to get extra days of daycare for when i'm gone. but i was already nervous to fly solo with her for the first time, and now that it has to be on a red-eye, i'm even less enthusiastic.

elizabethwig

thechimichanga said:

what time is the conference the next day? Can you take an early morning flight instead? Can you miss day 1 of the conference?

Some people swear by red-eyes with their littles.

i'm already going to miss the first day (i'd get in on the morning of the second day). i *theory* i can miss everything except when i present on the 3rd day, but the more i go to, the better.

if i left the morning of the second day, the earliest i could get in is 2:30pm with the time change. i'd miss most of the day by the time i got to the conference.

miss50

Seems like the best time to fly. Could you wear her most of the time?

Holly_1007

Depends on your LO. Colby sucks at sleeping anywhere besides his crib.  Does she do well sleeping in her carseat? If that was the case I would be tempted to buy her a seat and buckle her into the car seat.  Download a white noise app on your phone or ipod to play to drown out the background noise.  Put her in a hoodie to cover her head/ eyes from any bright lights?

elizabethwig

@Holly_1007 I wouldn't pay for her own seat - it's just not worth $700+ to bring her for a couple days.

She's pretty alert on planes, so I'm hoping that she'd fall asleep before I sat on the plane. She usually can fall asleep in the ergo as long as I'm moving. So in theory, it'd be ok. I'm just dreading all the what- ifs.

Even without the kid, taking this red-eye sucks timing-wise w/ the conference, so I'm not sure why I'm even entertaining the idea of bringing her. Stupid me living so far away from family

Thanks for everyone's input though. Appreciate it.