Flight attendant reveals handy tricks for sleeping on planes

Sleep-inducing gummies for fractious children? We’re listening

TikTok travel star Kat Kamalani (TikTok/KatKamalani)

Getting a decent few hours’ sleep on a long flight can be the difference between starting your holiday tense and bleary-eyed, or relaxed and refreshed.

So the internet sat up and listened when ex-cabin crew Tiktok user Kat Kamalani posted her top travel hacks for grabbing forty winks on a flight.

In a video titled “Flying a Red-Eye”, Kamalani gave her insider wisdom for feeling as rested as possible on a night flight.

Kamalani was a flight attendant for six years, she says, adding, “These are things I wish I knew before flying in the middle of the night that would make my travel so much easier.”

First, she says, the trick is to get comfortable, bringing a little pack of supplies to help you do so.

“What I would suggest is, bring an eye mask, noise-cancelling headphones, bring some ear plugs, and also some lavender essential oil - this is going to tell your body that it’s time to go to sleep and start unwinding.”

She adds that wearing comfy clothes is key, saying “no one is looking at you, and they don’t care”.

Tip two is to adjust your temperature early on in the flight, by asking for a blanket or requesting that the air conditioning be turned up or down in the cabin.

“The pilot has control of the air, so just kindly ask a flight attendant for a blanket, to turn up the heat or turn it down,” advises Kamalani.

Her last tip - on how to cope with restless children on a night flight - is rather less conventional.

“If you have kids and they’re old enough, give them just a sliver of those organic melatonin gummy bears,” she says.

Melatonin is a hormone that the body produces naturally; in recent years there has been a trend for supplements featuring the ingredient, which are thought to help lull you to sleep.

“Most people’s bodies produce enough melatonin for sleep on their own,” says Luis F. Buenaver, a sleep expert from Johns Hopkins university.

“However, there are steps you can take to make the most of your natural melatonin production, or you can try a supplement on a short-term basis if you’re experiencing insomnia, want to overcome jet lag, or are a night owl who needs to get to bed earlier and wake up earlier.”

Gummy supplements and tablets are widely available online.

Kamalani also recommends not packing tablets and electronic devices for kids and not letting them use inflight screens, as this may keep them awake longer, and putting them into pyjamas once onboard.

TikTok is fertile ground for quirky travel tips and tricks, from squeezing in more clothes when travelling hand-luggage only to couples getting a whole row to themselves on the plane.