How to get a busy toddler to sleep on an overnight flight
Trying to get an active little one to sleep on a red-eye or long-haul flight requires exhausting them before boarding and maintaining normal bedtime habits like pajamas and routines. Parents face the difficulty of keeping a busy baby calm in cramped quarters without their usual crib, which prevents the child from settling into deep sleep while held as a lap infant.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- Most of it landed at once — the busiest month was September 2026, with 8 people.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1using a baby carrierDid this help you?
- 2maintaining a bedtime routine with pajamas and storiesDid this help you?
- 3using a cloth and safety pins to make a light-blocking tentDid this help you?
- 4taking shifts with a partnerDid this help you?
- 5stretching wake windows to get the second nap on the planeDid this help you?
- 6keeping the usual schedule unchanged and relying on airport distractions and plane sleepDid this help you?
- 7offering a bottle or breastfeeding during landing to deal with ear pressureDid this help you?
- 8Rocking and holding the childDid this help you?
- 9Letting the child try to self-soothe in the cribDid this help you?
- 10Staying next to the crib during bedtimeDid this help you?
- 11Co-sleeping and sitting in the room for hours until they fall asleepDid this help you?
- 12Cold turkey sleep training with timed check-ins and returning children to their bedsDid this help you?
- 13Using a dog gate or barrier at the bedroom doorDid this help you?
- 14Leaving the house or leaving the bedtime duties to another caregiverDid this help you?
- 15Co-sleeping with parentsDid this help you?
- 16Trying different nap schedules and sleep soundsDid this help you?
- 17Letting the child cry it out (attempted)Did this help you?
- 18Giving a bottle at bedtime to help induce sleepDid this help you?
- 19keeping the night time routine as close to normal as possible with a familiar book, song, or sound machineDid this help you?
- 20Trying routine baths before bedtimeDid this help you?
- 21Turning off lights, putting him in a dark room with white noiseDid this help you?
- 22Removing all stimulation from the roomDid this help you?
- 23Rubbing his back, rocking him, cuddling him, singing, reading, and shushingDid this help you?
- 24Dropping or limiting daytime napsDid this help you?
- 25Booking a separate seat and strapping the child into their familiar car seat.Did this help you?
- 26Rigging up a makeshift dark tent over the seat using the airline blanket, masking tape, and clothes pegs.Did this help you?
- 27Using a soft structured carrier or wrap to rock the child or pace the aisles.Did this help you?
- 28Tiring the child out at the boarding gate and pushing their nap as late as possible.Did this help you?
- 29Providing noise-canceling headphones for the child once they fall asleep.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“Oldest 2 have always needed to sleep in my bed all night and have me sit there with them to fall asleep. They take HOURS! To fall asleep, no matter how exhausted they are. They wake up multiple times.”source ↗
“Will scream the house down if I try to leave the room at any point.”source ↗
“How do you have your (very busy) little ones get to sleep on a red eye?”source ↗
“Myself, my partner and toddler will all be traveling to Brazil together on an overnight flight. the flight is 9 hours. i am looking more advice on what to bring to keep him fed, entertained and as comfortable as possible.”source ↗
“My 1 year old won't go to sleep at night.”source ↗
“She co-sleeps with my husband and me. I honestly hate co-sleeping and have always felt like a bad parent for doing it, but it's the only way we've been able to get any sleep most of the time.”source ↗
“Over the past year, we've tried what feels like everything to get her to sleep at a reasonable time.”source ↗
“The hardest part is that I have to get up at 5:00 a.m. for work three days a week because I work 12-hour shifts. I'm absolutely exhausted.”source ↗
“I’m going an overnight international flight with my 9 month old in a few days. I’ll have him bathed and in his pajamas before we leave home, brush his teeth and do the normal bedtime routine. My plan is to tire him out as much as I can before the 11 hour flight and have a carrier that my baby can try to sleep in.”source ↗
“I’m wondering whether I should try to stretch her wake windows a bit that day, for example, have her first nap around 11am and then try to get her second nap on the plane shortly after takeoff.”source ↗
“But I’m not sure if that’s actually a good idea, or if I’ll just end up with an overtired, even fussier baby 😅”source ↗
“Now going down for any sleep is a war.”source ↗
“It takes roughly now 30-45 min of settling with crib attempt, rocking, or holding.”source ↗
“I tried to leave the room tonight as I was reaching breaking point and they screamed for 1.5 hours.”source ↗
“I am now realising we made a huge mistake but it's too expensive to change flights now. I'm worried she'll end up just sleeping 2-3 hours total all night and am freaking out.”source ↗
“Traveling with young kids is rough regardless”source ↗
“We did this once and somehow managed to keep them awake till the take off after which slept for 5 straight ours and woke up crying.”source ↗
“I’m a bit nervous about how sleep is going to go in a variety of new environments and no rocking chair movement.”source ↗
“Thing is he also wakes up regularly throughout the night and needs to be cuddled to sleep in his rocking chair.”source ↗
“He won’t sleep no matter what and I am at my wits end going insane - I’m a single mom with limited options”source ↗
“Whether it’s a nap, or bedtime he is fighting me to the extremes. It doesn’t matter how much or how little he slept the fight is the exact same every single time.”source ↗
“We go at this for anywhere from 1-3 hours until he finally falls asleep”source ↗
“He is driving me crazy when it’s time to sleep and I can’t handle it anymore”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to help a seven-year-old with sleep anxiety
- 16Why won't my baby sleep in the crib?
- 19Why is my toddler staying up until midnight refusing to sleep?
- 10How to get a toddler to sleep alone without hours of bedtime battles
- 5Toddler wakes every hour and only wants to sleep on me
- 6How to sleep and stay calm on long flights?