Early Flight

[SingleFatherofDD]

We are only 10 days away from our next cruise. DD is so excited. She can't stop telling her teacher or her friends that she will be going on a big boat for New Years. For her school ends on Friday. I still have a whole week of surgeries and seeing patients. My last day on call is Monday night. I will be free to pack and get read for the cruise starting a week from tomorrow.

 

My question for all of you has to do with getting my DD ready for her cruise. We live on Long Island and will be taking the local train system to the airport. However, that means we have to leave the house around 4:30. Our flight is 7:20 from JFK. I know from previous experience it will be hard to get DD to bed on Tuesday. When I do get her to bed what should I do in the morning to get her ready for the cruise with the least stress on her. I wouldnt mind having her sleep on the train or after we get to the airport. From being a doctor I know children need their sleep. Just looking for some little hints or tricks to make this go as smoothly as possible. Also I want her to get enough sleep were she will be able to enjoy her first day on the cruise.

 

I will give you all a nice summary of our trip when we get back.

[Mom2B&Z]

...to get excited little people to bed this time of year! With my two boys, I try and stick to our routine as closely as I can, it's even more important when there are really exciting events on the horizon. You didn't say whether you were leaving early in the morning or not (sorry, don't know NYC that well living in Canada!). I'm assuming you're leaving early in the morning...can you sneak in some extra rest time over the few days before you leave? I find I can't get the boys to catch up on sleep all at once, but I can schedule some extra "quiet time" in the days leading up to a big event, which helps them manage with less sleep. I'm big on routine and consistency with my little people, and planning for less eventful days a few days in advance always helps build their resiliency.

I hear you with working until the bitter end...I'm an OT in community geriatric mental health, I still have a few fires to put out before I leave too!

Enjoy your trip, we too board ship Jan 1 and can't wait for the warm weather.

[Mack2]

I've started to use the JetBlue terminal at JFK a little more often, even though I'm literally 30min from Newark Liberty.

 

We had one departure from JFK to Anaheim (Disneyland, Legoland, San Diego land trip) that had us leaving the house by 3:30am to get to JFK by 5:00am to catch a 6:45 plane to California.

 

You'd never seen a more miserable family shuffling through security.

Fortunately, my kids are comfortable on airplanes, and like me, we tend to fall asleep at take-off.

 

The kids are resilient. My younger son didn't listen to us, and try to go to bed early, and walking around Downtown Disney for dinner was torture for him, even with the long nap on the flight to California (and the time difference), but he rallied and was fine for the rest of the trip.

 

Myself? I was miserable. Disney is work.

There's no downtime.

[cb at sea]

You know that she'll do fine ,even if she misses a couple hours of sleep...she'll doze on the plane. If she's too over-stressed, the 1st night will be an "early to bed" for her....that's just how it is!

[topspot]

When my daughter was younger and we would have to catch an early flight, I always let her go to bed in sweat pants and sweatshirt, or some other soft clothing. This way all she needed was a potty stop (to brush teeth too:D) and off we went. Breakfast after through security or for a special treat donut holes on way to airport.

[QLUVS2CRUZ]

I know my kids have no trouble falling asleep wherever their heads land...so hopefully your DD will fall asleep on the train and/or plane...then the first night it might be an early night if she is still tired. Are you cruising same day or spending the night in a hotel?

[MamaParrotHead]

Have you considered staying at a hotel near the airport the night before? It always helps the less of a hassle and journey you can make it to get to your destination.

[GPoll189]

Have her wear her clothes to bed

[RoadTripFanatic]

You know that she'll do fine ,even if she misses a couple hours of sleep...she'll doze on the plane. If she's too over-stressed, the 1st night will be an "early to bed" for her....that's just how it is!

 

Exactly. When you wake her up be sure to tell her it's time for go on the cruise! Those words are usually enough to get my child up and going. Pack breakfast for the train ride. Something simple like dry cereal and a juice box. This will save time getting ready in the morning. By the time you get on the plane she should be ready for a nap! :) We flew out on a 7am flight to Las Vegas with DD when she was 5. I was hoping she would sleep on the 4 hr flight. She didn't sleep at all!! She was bouncing off the walls the entire flight. (Not good for a mom who wanted to get a little nap!) Thank goodness for those little Disney figurines I bought for her surprise toy. She played with them the entire flight. We made it to our hotel. We went to lunch and she was sound asleep in the booth by the time we got our food! I guess my point is she may get very tired but she will be just fine. She will fall asleep when she needs it. It's vacation. Schedules will be wrecked.

[pabrett46]

Hello,

 

I agree with everything that's been said. One lesson I learned with my kids is try to keep their eating schedule as close as possible. A few years ago we were taking an early flight, we were up at 4:30 so I thought the kids should eat right away.. big mistake.. by the time we got on the plane it was close to 7 and by the time we got to our destination a few hours later, everyone was feeling sick to their stomachs. They were hungry and tired. So when we flew to Disney a year ago, we had an early flight again. We left the house as soon as we woke up. This time I packed a couple of disposable plastic containers with cereal. I bought some milk at the airport. Everyone had breakfast after passing through security around 6:30 which was a little closer to their usual schedule. Everyone arrived feeling much better and happier.

 

D