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By Lynda Shrager


I remember my daughter called me excitedly from Kennedy Airport a few years ago as she prepared to board a flight to Dublin, the first stop on her "I graduated college and am now off to Europe" vacation. "I hope I fall asleep soon after boarding the plane so we can jump right in when we get there." It is a goal many aspire to but rarely achieve. As many of us pack for that long awaited holiday trip here are some tips to help you and your travel companions fall asleep on planes.


Travel experts agree that one of the most important ways to ensure spending time in dreamland while in the sky is choosing the right seat. Location, location, location. Most concur a window seat is the best option because you can press a pillow against the window or cabin wall and control the window shade. You also won't have other passengers climbing over you to get out.


But where should that seat be? Many of us gravitate to the bulkhead, the row behind the physical partition that divides a plane into different sections. The bulkhead provides extra leg room and there won't be anyone sitting in front of you reclining into your lap. Since there is no under the seat storage in front of you, carry-on luggage must be stored overhead during takeoff and landings and your tray table will probably be stored in the seat's armrest. Exit rows are also a popular selection to get that extra leg room. However some exit row seats do not recline because they may cause an obstruction in case of emergency. You also need to be seriously prepared to act in case of the unthinkable.


How about row location? The last row of the plane probably does not recline and the location next to the bathrooms is not ideal. That being said, since most tend to aim toward the front you might have a chance of finding a couple of empty seats together in the back where you could stretch out.


Go to www.seatguru.com[1] to help in choosing a seat on almost any airline. It is a fascinating and extremely comprehensive site that provides a seat map of most models of aircraft on all major airlines. It will give you specific seat pitches (the higher the better) and details about the actual seat you have been assigned to.


My daughter's plan for falling asleep on the plane was a glass of wine and a Tylenol PM. I would not have recommended that strategy but she didn't ask me. My suggestions would be to try these health and organizing tips to catch some zzz's while flying:



  • Try to schedule your flight in accordance with your natural sleep rhythms[2] , such as a "red eye" or overnight flight.

  • Dress comfortably, in layers, as cabin temperatures change often.

  • Skip coffee in the airport and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water (not right before you want to fall asleep).

  • Pack a small blanket and neck pillow (who knows where the ones they offer you have been?)

  • Bring an eye mask.

  • Put soothing music on your IPod.

  • Consider investing in noise canceling headphones -- well worth it if you get the seat behind the crying kid, or in my case recently, a barking dog!

  • Fasten your seat belt above your blanket or you will be woken by flight attendants to check if you are buckled in.

  • Speak to your doctor ahead of time to discuss sleep aides. Be sure your flight is long enough if you take something that might call for 8 hours to get through your system.

  • Take a walk up and down the aisles in between naps to prevent blood clots[3] in the legs.


More from Everyday Health:

Resetting Your Internal Clock for Better Sleep

The Chemistry of Caffeine, Nicotine, and Sleep

Got Aches and Pains? Try These Sleep Positions[4] [5] [6]




10 Tips For Sleeping On Planes[7] originally appeared on Everyday Health



Also on HuffPost:




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  • Keeping The House Too Hot


    Cranking up the heat may seem like a cozy way to spend an evening, but it can also really wreak havoc on your sleep, says Michael Decker, Ph.D., an associate professor at Georgia State University and spokesman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. "As we sleep, our body acclimates to the room temperature," he says. "If we lower our body temperature a little bit in a cooler room, we tend to sleep better."

    While the exact thermostat is a matter of personal comfort, optimal temperatures tend to range between 68 and 72 degrees says Jennifer Trachtenberg, M.D., FAAP, pediatrician at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center and a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Instead of having one big comforter, she suggests piling on light layers on your bed so that you can remove them if it becomes too warm.




  • Keeping The House Too Cold


    Not to sound like Goldilocks, but it's important to keep the temperature just right -- similar to how a too-warm bedroom can keep you up at night, being too cold isn't conducive to sleep either. While you may be saving on the heating bill, shivering and teeth chattering is uncomfortable, and can keep you awake at night, Decker says. So find a comfortable temperature and maintain it, at least while you're falling asleep.




  • Lack Of Light Throughout The Day


    We need bright sunshine to help us be alert and vigilant, Decker explains -- and a lack of light in the wintertime can become a problem. When we don't get enough brightness, we tend to feel a bit sleepy all day -- and that means there's no darkness signaling to the body at the end of the day that it's time to sleep. "The body doesn't feel like it's time to go to bed because you've been half asleep during the day," Decker explains.

    He suggests getting out into the sunlight as much as possible first thing in the morning -- if you absolutely can't, spend some time in front of a blue light machine. And at nighttime, be sure to minimize over-illumination (that means turning off the TV or shutting down that laptop at least an hour before you hit the pillow and keep artificial lights to a minimum).




  • Heavy Winter Meals


    A hardy meal may have a way of warming you from the inside out during those cold winter months, but it can also keep you up at night. When you eat a heavy meal in the evening, the body has to work harder to digest that food, Decker explains, which can actually keep you awake. He tells patients to aim to finish up mealtime four or five hours before bedtime to allow full digestion of food.




  • Lack Of Exercise


    "There's been some nice studies that demonstrate that exercise can increase deep sleep," Decker says. But, unfortunately, during the winter months we tend to feel sluggish and stop using up all our energy. For increased movement, and better rest, Decker suggests a simple brisk walk or opting for the stairs instead of the elevator to improve step count during the day.




  • Oversleeping On The Weekends


    While this is a year-round struggle, the cold dreary days of wintertime have their own special way of making us want to stay in bed all day on the weekends. Unfortunately, though, altering sleep too much on Saturday and Sunday can set you up for bad patterns during the weekdays, Decker says. While recapturing a little bit of sleep is great, try to avoid altering your bedtime and wake time by more than an hour or so.




  • Dry Air


    That dry, cold winter air in your bedroom can really zap the moisture out of the nose, Decker explains. And when our nose dries out, we tend to open our mouths and start snoring, which can be the start of bad sleeping patterns. He recommends a humidifier or even a little waterfall, which is what he uses in his own home, to keep air moist -- and the comforting white noise of both is an added bonus that can help to lull you to sleep.




  • Cold And Flu Season


    "Sleep helps us heal," Decker says. But the irony of that is that when we're suffering from a cold or flu, we're often too stuffed up to get a good night's rest. "When we sleep, nature intends for us to breathe mostly through our nose," he explains. But when our noses are stuffed up, we naturally compensate by opening our mouths, which can lead to snoring and, generally speaking, a pretty bad night's sleep.

    Decker suggests trying anything that can help to open the nasal passages before sleep, whether that's breathing in warm, moist air, trying a nose passage-opening product, or keeping the head elevated.

    Trachtenberg also suggests using a humidifier to ease sore throats (some newer models even have germ-killing technology) and taking a bit of honey before bedtime (some studies show it's just as effective as a cough or cold suppressant).