RE: Jet lag with a toddler?
Hi, we have made two trips to Europe with my toddler, one when she was 16 months and another when she was 18 months. On all occasions, particular the first trip, she had little problem sleeping and eating regularly during the day, but a lot of trouble sleeping at night. Just screamed instead of sleeping. It got better after about 3 days. We couldn't think of anything to do to make it better, so everyone just suffered on those initial long nights.
Two hints I can offer you are 1) consider where you will be staying your first two nights or so. You might prefer a bigger, more expensive hotel where you feel there is better sound-proofing or better anonymity than a small, family-run hotel, where you may fear disturbing everyone with your child's crying.
Second, don't feel guilty if you resort to cough syrup on the plane to make your child drowsy. After suffering through a noisy child and a planeload of irritated passengers, I gave her children's allergy and cold formula and it knocked her out. They turn the lights off on overseas flights and people are trying to sleep, so passengers were not as accomodating of a noisy child as on domestic flights. Check with your doctor, of course, but know that many parents resort to this option.
Oh, and here's a third tip that may get you more seating room on the plane. Call your airline and ask what the seating configuration is for your airplane, then request seats that leave one empty seat in the middle of your party. For example, if the middle row is three seats, and you didn't buy a seat for your child, reserve the two aisle seats of the middle row. There's a good chance that single seat in the middle will remain empty, and you may end up with lots of extra room for your toddler. If it ends up reserved, any sane person will switch seats with you rather than be in the middle of a family traveling with young kids.
Good luck.
Advice and commentary on living overseas
DD1 15, DD2 12, and DS 9