How to sleep well on a plane

Sleeping on a plane was never something I could do well. I could cope with the noise from the engines and the dry air in the cabin, and I would often take a mild sleeping pill on flights longer than ten hours, but even then, I would wake up each time my head tipped forward as I fell asleep. I applauded new seat designs which featured side flaps on the head cushion. It helped a bit as I could rest my head against either flap but nothing stopped my head from falling forward and they didn’t prevent neck aches after a long flight. I tried inflatable neck pillows but that didn’t help either – they were uncomfortably hard and didn’t support my head sufficiently.

All that changed when I was approached by the lovely Gemma Jensen with her new invention: the J-Pillow. The thing that struck me right away was its ingenious design. Roughly in the form of the letter ‘J’, the pillow supports the head, neck AND chin. That means my head would never fall over and I would never have another neck ache. It sounded too good to be true! Gemma sent me the J-Pillow for a review and I’ve since used it on numerous long-haul flights. My verdict: I’ve never slept better on a plane!

I had a good laugh when I first received it. I noticed it’s ‘J’ form but it also reminded me of a body part closer to home. *wink*. The filling was sturdy for good support whilst the pillow’s velvety cover provided a soft, luxurious feel. I first tested it at home, on my couch. One thing was certain: this pillow was made to cradle a head like a baby. One flap formed a plush cushion behind my head. I leaned my head against the other flap with the tail of the ‘J’ tucked beautifully under my chin. There was no way my head would fall over as the tail gently supported my neck and kept my head upright.

I brought it onto the plane with me, squashed into my hand luggage like a ball. As soon as I took it out, it bounced back into its original shape. I found other uses for it on the plane: I used it as a cushion for my lower back and as a head cushion while I watched a movie. On my first flight with the J-Pillow, I slept for seven hours straight without waking up once! That was a whole new experience for me!

The J-Pillow truly is a brilliant invention – THANK YOU GEMMA! – and one I can recommend without any hesitation. It’s no surprise to me that it won the ‘Best British Invention 2013′ award in the consumer category. The J-Pillow is not only perfect for travel, it’s also great for home use (I’m thinking, a quiet evening on the couch with a glass of wine and a movie). However, most importantly, thanks to Gemma, I now know how to sleep well on a plane!

Note: J-Pillow provided the product for my review. As always, opinions expressed above are mine, and mine only.