Long Haul Flight with a Baby: How to Help Them Sleep (Tested Tips)

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A friend once told me that flying long-haul with kids was asking for punishment: you still have to deal with all the day-to-day chaos of having a baby or toddler, but in the inconvenient confines of an airline seat.

Fair point. But I’ve never let a two-month-old, a two-year-old, or a twelve-year-old stop us from getting on a plane. My youngest was just two months old when she took her first flight to Australia. We’ve done the Zurich-to-Brisbane run more times than I can count — 24 hours of travel each way, three kids in tow.

Over the years, I’ve experimented with a lot of different products and strategies to help our kids sleep better when we travel. Some were brilliant. Some were a complete waste of money. Here’s what actually works.

Choose Your Flight Times Wisely

Most flying tips for young children suggest avoiding nap time and booking morning flights when your baby is well-rested. That’s sound advice for short-haul flights — a happy, rested baby on a two-hour hop to Barcelona is much easier than one who should be napping.

But for long-haul flights? It barely matters. When we fly to Australia from Zurich, our departure is 11am and we arrive into Brisbane at 7pm the next day. With 24 hours of travel time, everyone is going to be exhausted no matter when you leave. So my advice is to focus less on timing and more on being prepared.

Book a Bassinet as Early as Possible

If you’re flying with a baby, book your bassinet directly with the airline as soon as you’ve booked your flights. There are only a handful of bassinet positions on each plane, and they go fast — especially during school holidays.

Basinets are located in the bulkhead row at the front of each cabin. They attach to the wall in front of you and give your baby a little bed to sleep in during the flight. It makes an enormous difference to how much rest everyone gets.

Good to Know about Bassinets

• Your baby will need to come out of the bassinet every time the seatbelt sign comes on for turbulence. It can be frustrating (especially when they’ve just fallen asleep), but it’s a safety requirement on every airline.
• Weight and age limits vary between airlines. SWISS, our home airline, allows bassinets for babies up to 8 months old and a maximum of 11 kg. Singapore Airlines is more generous — their bassinets accommodate babies up to around 18 months, depending on the aircraft. Always check your specific airline’s policy when you book.
• Bring a large muslin wrap to line the bassinet. I have no idea how often those bassinet covers get washed between flights, and a familiar-smelling muslin from home also helps settle your baby. We’ve used aden + anais wraps for years and they’re still going strong after hundreds of washes.
• If your child has outgrown the bassinet and you’re considering bringing a car seat on board instead, read our complete guides flying with a car seat or CARES harness.

Dealing with Jet Lag (It’s Not as Bad as You Think)

This is probably what you’re dreading most. If you live in Europe like we do, there are plenty of holiday options where the time zone difference is manageable. But when you’re flying to the other side of the world, we regularly travel between Zurich and Brisbane, jet lag is something you’ll need to tackle head on.

My best piece of advice: work with the new time zone from the moment you land. Eat at local mealtimes even if nobody’s hungry. And don’t be afraid to wake the kids from a nap that’s going too long.water, fresh air, and sunshine.

Fresh air and sunshine help reset your internal clock, especially for little ones. Even if you’ve landed early in the morning and everyone is shattered, push through until after lunch before allowing any naps. We’ve been known to go on an easy hike the day we land back from Australia. A friend of mine goes shopping as soon as she touches down in Los Angeles. The key is movement and sunlight, not sitting in the hotel room where that “quick little nap” turns into four hours and ruins bedtime.

If you’re arriving in Switzerland during the warmer months, check our guide to what to wear — the weather catches a lot of visitors off guard.

Create a Dark Sleep Environment (Wherever You Are)

My kids have always been sensitive to light when sleeping, especially when they were little. We have blackout blinds in their bedrooms at home, so when we travelled without them, the early wake-ups were brutal.

The Tommy Tippee Sleeptight blind (on Amazon.de)has been with us on every trip. It attaches directly to the window glass with suction cups, blocks out almost all light, and packs down flat into a little travel bag. It weighs about 740 grams, so it barely makes a dent in your luggage allowance. If you’re going somewhere with thin curtains or early sunrises — which is most places — it’s worth its weight in gold.

The CoziGo Bassinet Cover (I Wish This Existed When My Kids Were Babies)

Here’s the thing about airline bassinets: they’re positioned in the worst possible spot for a sleeping baby. Right next to the toilets, under the overhead bins, below the cabin lights, and in the highest-traffic area of the plane where crew are constantly walking past.

The CoziGo is a product I wish had been around for those early flights. It’s a lightweight pop-up cover that fits over the airline bassinet (and doubles as a stroller cover on the ground). It blocks out about 97% of light while remaining fully breathable, which means your baby can sleep without being disturbed by cabin lights, movement, or the crew bustling around.

The Plane Pal (For Toddlers Who’ve Outgrown the Bassinet)

Once your child is too big for the bassinet, getting them to sleep in an economy seat becomes the next challenge. That’s where the Plane Pal comes in.

The Plane Pal is an inflatable cushion that fills the space between your child’s seat and the seat in front, creating a flat surface they can stretch their legs onto and essentially lie down.

Plane Pal has been approved for use on over 60 airlines, including SWISS, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American Airlines, KLM, and Malaysia Airlines. Always double-check with your specific airline before flying, as policies can change.

If you’d prefer a more affordable option, there are now several inflatable footrest pillows on Amazon (or Amazon.de) that work on the same principle.

Limit Screens Before Sleep

It’s a huge blessing having great entertainment systems built into most long-haul seats now, and iPads are a lifesaver for keeping kids happy during the awake hours. But those bright screens interfere with everyone’s sleep.

What works for us: turn off the screen at least 30 minutes before you want your child to sleep. Switch to a book (audio books are great), a quiet game, or just dim everything down. For older kids, get agreements in place before you fly about when screens go off. If they’re too little for negotiations, just gently switch to something else — a book, a hand puppet, or some stickers.

This also applies once you arrive at your destination. If you’re trying to get everyone onto the new time zone, turning off screens well before bedtime makes a real difference.

The Muslin Wrap: Your Most Versatile Travel Tool

I mentioned the muslin wrap earlier for lining the bassinet, but it deserves its own section because it’s honestly the most useful single item we travel with.

On a plane, we tuck a large muslin between our child’s seat and the one in front to create a little light-blocking tent. If we haven’t used it for that, we wrap them in it so they can smell home while they sleep — then drape the airline blanket over the top for warmth. On the ground, it works as a stroller cover to block sun or wind, a picnic blanket, a nursing cover, a changing mat, or even a makeshift bib at a restaurant.

We’ve always used the aden + anais wraps. They’re big (47 x 47 inches), lightweight, breathable, and get softer with every wash. After three kids and years of travel, I’ve replaced ours exactly once. They come in a 4-pack, so you can keep a couple in different bags and never be caught without one.

What to Pack for Sleep on the Go

Here’s a quick checklist of everything mentioned in this post, plus a few extras that have earned their place in our carry-on over the years:

For babies (under ~8 months, in a bassinet):

• CoziGo bassinet and stroller cover
• Large muslin wrap for lining the bassinet and blocking light [AFFILIATE LINK]
• Familiar-smelling sleep sack or blanket from home

For toddlers and young kids (with their own seat):

• Plane Pal inflatable cushion or similar
• Kid-sized headphones (airline headsets are usually too big for little heads)
• A favourite small toy or comforter for settling

At your destination:

• Tommee Tippee Blackout Blind [AFFILIATE LINK]
• White noise app on your phone (recreates the home sleep environment)
• Familiar bedtime book

Don’t overpack. I’ve learned this the hard way — you’ll regret lugging around a heavy carry-on far more than you’ll miss whatever you left behind.

For more on what to pack to keep kids entertained on long flights, see our guide to surviving long-haul travel with babies and toddlers.

Your Sleep Routine Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect

I know what it’s like to spend months building a beautiful sleep routine at home and then panic about destroying it on a trip. But here’s what I’ve learned after over 20 years of travelling with kids: the routine bends, it doesn’t break.

Yes, there will be disrupted naps and odd bedtimes. Yes, the first couple of nights might be rough. But kids are more adaptable than we give them credit.

Focus on what you can control: dark room, familiar comforts, consistent bedtime signals. Let go of the rest. You’ll all find your rhythm again within a few days.

And keep in mind — it’s only one day of travel. My husband says this every time someone asks if we’re dreading the 24-hour journey to Australia. It IS only one day. And there’s an amazing reward waiting at the other end.

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