Redeye or 6am flight with kids?

pixelvixen

We're thinking of taking the kids on a trip this year. We have two options: 12:55am or 6am... for a 4-hr flight. Which do you think would be better? We haven't flown with kids (except for when Payton was 2m old) so I don't know the pros and cons... thanks!

MrsEditorJax

We are flying the redeye back from Maui in March and I chose it because I figured it would be easier to get Collin to GO to sleep on the plane as opposed to waking him up at 3 a.m. to go to the airport and having him be all stimulated by the noise, bright lights, potential TSA patdown, and not going back to sleep.

koosh ball

I recommend which flight you could sleep the most on. The kids will sleep on both flight in my experience. I personally feel better not taking a red eye. I makes childcar the next day much more doable.

tfarabians

My first choice is naptime but I think I would much rather go in the morning than a red eye that they have to stay up late only get maybe 4 hours of consecutive sleep where they have to wake up again and then are just completely rotten the next day.  I have a friend that goes to miami a lot to see family and she said she avoids red eyes at all cost because while it sounds good its really more of a nightmare.

IkesHawaiian06

Our flight home from San Diego leaves at 6:40. Nobody asked us if that worked, but it was a direct flight at 6:00 am or a 4-5 hour flight with stops and layovers. I'm okay with the early flight because we're bringing the stroller and I think she'll fall back to sleep. We're busy pretty much the entire trip, so I think she'll be exhausted.

If you don't mind waiting two weeks to book a flight, I'll tell you what that early morning flight was like with an almost three year old :-)

Seattle_JiLLn

Honestly I would pay double and take a different flight. Are there really no other options? After two years old Ben hasn't slept on a plane even at naptime so I'd be scared. I might be more inclined to do te early morning flight though. Get them up and straight into the car at four, sleep in the car, check in at tje curb and see if you can leave them in the car while you do it. Sleeping. Then park and take them in and by then it's 4:30. Sentry will have gotten seven hours of sleep then some broken sleep. So it won't be a total loss for the night if they only sleep an hour on tje plane or something. But if you do midnight you're keeping them up anf then it's only a four hour flight so you arrive at four am which is stupid for anyone and then you're all way exhausted.

keri1013

koosh ball:

I recommend which flight you could sleep the most on. The kids will sleep on both flight in my experience. I personally feel better not taking a red eye. I makes childcar the next day much more doable.

I beg to differ on that one.  The last time we flew with Max we woke him up at 3am and thought for sure he'd sleep on at least one of the planes....many hours later, we were in Florida, and he had slept for exactly 30 minutes of the trip. I would probably do the redeye...I agree with Jaxy that they are more likely to conk out then as compared to the early one when they might just be up for the day.

newmommy74

I think it depends on how your kids go with staying up late or waking them up early. We took the midnight flight from LAX - Australia which is a 14 hr flight and Coop slept 8 hrs straight from take off, We just made sure he went down for a later afternoon nap that day & kept him awake with everything going on at the airport.  

However, we also took a flight from Seattle to Miami at around 10:30pm and again kept Coop up and  this time it backfired. The flight wasn't long enough for him to settle, it was noisy,and packed and he only went to sleep for 2 out of the 5 hrs flight. Then because of the time difference we got in at something like 7:00am Miami time and felt crap after having only a couple of hours sleep.  

So definitely take time difference into account too when booking - good luck!  

KNemo

keri1013:

koosh ball:

I recommend which flight you could sleep the most on. The kids will sleep on both flight in my experience. I personally feel better not taking a red eye. I makes childcar the next day much more doable.

I beg to differ on that one.  The last time we flew with Max we woke him up at 3am and thought for sure he'd sleep on at least one of the planes....many hours later, we were in Florida, and he had slept for exactly 30 minutes of the trip. I would probably do the redeye...I agree with Jaxy that they are more likely to conk out then as compared to the early one when they might just be up for the day.

I beg to differ on this ! And that is why it is totally individual. We have done both the super early flight and the redeye. The redeye was TORTURE. Max couldn't get comfortable enough to sleep for the entire flight. He fussed, whined, and cried while all the other passengers were trying to sleep. It was the most awful 5 hour flight I have ever taken. On the early morning flight, he was up and ran around the airport for two hours. Not even 10 minutes into the flight, he was out like a light. I would totally choose the early flight over a redeye from now on.

pinktulips

I am on the morning camp vs the red eye. No one feels rested after a red eye. And if your kids are going to be tired and out of sorts either way, then I would at least want to be able to cope.

iHeartHimMore

keri1013:

koosh ball:

I recommend which flight you could sleep the most on. The kids will sleep on both flight in my experience. I personally feel better not taking a red eye. I makes childcar the next day much more doable.

I beg to differ on that one.  The last time we flew with Max we woke him up at 3am and thought for sure he'd sleep on at least one of the planes....many hours later, we were in Florida, and he had slept for exactly 30 minutes of the trip.

This sounds familiar.  When we flew to San Diego for T-day we had to wake Lila up at 3:45 for our 6:00am flight.  I figured she'd go back to sleep in the car, in the stroller, on the plane, etc.  Not so much.  And, since we missed our first flight and were bumped to a flight through Denver, the whole trip to 3 hours more than anticipated.  She didn't sleep until we got to my parents place at 2:15ish, and she only slept until 3:00.  At least she did get a bit of a nap, I guess, but it was a loooong day.

That said, I'm honestly not sure she'd sleep at all on a red eye either.  So personally I'd be inclined to go for the 6:00am again if those were my only two options. 

keri1013

iHeartHimMore:

keri1013:

koosh ball:

I recommend which flight you could sleep the most on. The kids will sleep on both flight in my experience. I personally feel better not taking a red eye. I makes childcar the next day much more doable.

I beg to differ on that one.  The last time we flew with Max we woke him up at 3am and thought for sure he'd sleep on at least one of the planes....many hours later, we were in Florida, and he had slept for exactly 30 minutes of the trip.

This sounds familiar.  When we flew to San Diego for T-day we had to wake Lila up at 3:45 for our 6:00am flight.  I figured she'd go back to sleep in the car, in the stroller, on the plane, etc.  Not so much.  And, since we missed our first flight and were bumped to a flight through Denver, the whole trip to 3 hours more than anticipated.  She didn't sleep until we got to my parents place at 2:15ish, and she only slept until 3:00.  At least she did get a bit of a nap, I guess, but it was a loooong day.

That said, I'm honestly not sure she'd sleep at all on a red eye either.  So personally I'd be inclined to go for the 6:00am again if those were my only two options. 

Yeah, that is a good point. Some sleep is better than no sleep! I guess it all depends on how likely you think they kids are to sleep on the plane.

pixelvixen

Ugh.  If we want one-day travel (we will have connecting flights after the 4-hr flight, but they are short(er)) and those are our only two options.  Maybe if we take that first flight the day before and at a more reasonable time...  ugh.

I think we'd be better with the 6am flight than the red-eye after reading all of your thoughts.  Thanks ladies!

WatchPot

Seattle_JiLLn:

Honestly I would pay double and take a different flight. Are there really no other options?

I actually prefer to fly first thing in the am.  By the time we are through security and on the plane he's ready for a nap (and so am I) and I find we all do better that way. 

Seattle_JiLLn

WatchPot:

Seattle_JiLLn:

Honestly I would pay double and take a different flight. Are there really no other options?

I actually prefer to fly first thing in the am.  By the time we are through security and on the plane he's ready for a nap (and so am I) and I find we all do better that way. 

See I really would die if I had to get everyone out of the house at four am. I like to fly at 10am. Which is first thing in the morning in my world Get up at 7 and hve everyone in a good mood. Like I said above, Ben stopped sleeping on flights around 2 years old.

nykola

Oh definitely the 6am flight.  The red eye can totally backfire on you though. What sucks is that you will have to leave for the airport/get ready right around bedtime or DURING their bedtime which basically means that by the time you get to/through TSA, there's a high likelihood one of your kids could be in full on meltdown.