Travelling a long way in a short time: Dos and Don'ts

We recently went overseas for 17 days in the interest of keeping the family together as much as possible while working in different countries.  We went from Melbourne to LA for 4 days then on to London for 9 then Singapore for 2 then back home to Melbourne. Here are a few Dos and Don'ts that I leant and wish to share.

1. DON'T. No, really, don't do this.
2. Sure, DO this if you want to only get one night of actual, 6-8hr sleep in nearly 3 weeks.
3. DO this if you want to spend about 6 nights trying to entertain a 2 yr old for between 3 and 6 hours in the time of the night that, on a good night, you used to be getting last drinks before buying a dodgy kebab and dancing home on the night bus to watch video hits until dawn.
4. DO this if you want to watch High-5 and The Wiggles so much your brain starts to actually implode and you want to hit your face repeatedly with the steering wheel of the Big Red Car.
5. DON'T do this if you want a romantic getaway.
6. DON'T do this in the European winter. It gets dark very early so try telling a toddler who you have rudely awakened at 3pm, that it is in fact day time and they must stay awake in the living room being entertained by a cheap karaoke machine and Play Doh until dinner time.
7. DO get an iPad (or a tablet of some description) and fill it with tv shows that you can handle in bulk (here are some suggestions).
8. DON'T get tricked into downloading High 5, The Wiggles or Dora. NEVER DORA.
9. DON'T accidentally go out in LA until dawn one night trying to keep up with childless actors ten years younger than you. This will in no way help the situation at hand.
10. DO stop in Singapore and go to the Zoo. The water park is worth the ticket price alone (tip - take your bathers and your own food.)
11. DO buy a cheap karaoke machine and Play Doh.

So we are back and thankfully, because of the Singapore stopover, we didn't get much jetlag at all on our return. I highly recommend a stopover once your baby gets to about 2... And fly over night whenever possible as they can sleep as much as you want them to (I wake bubs up early if arriving late in the day so you can go to bed at a reasonable hour at the destination).


Oh, and we bought this recently:

The Gro Clock is a clock that you can set with a wake up time. You can set it for daytime and nighttime sleeps and when you press a button the stars come out (apparently a really fun thing to do for a 2 yr old which is a bonus).Then the stars slowly disappear during the night until the sun comes up at your set time. It is great to help a baby understand what time of the day it is when it changes due to jet lag. It makes no difference in those heavy nights of wide-awake toddler (no clock on earth can convince them that it isn't time to get up and play). But most of the time my bubba will stay in her room until the sun comes out (she looks at her books or talks to her teddies) and then she runs down the hall excitedly to tell us the SUN HAS COME OUT!! Our clock also has the added extra of running a bit slow, so after a week we start to get about 15mins extra sleep. Hooray! In fact maybe that is what they planned all along.. Genius.

ps. I realise that my life is ridiculously lucky and the fact that we are able to travel like this and all be together is a privilege and I was, and will always be happy to do it. But, I will have a bit of a bitch afterwards. That's ok isn't it?

Home...

This blog finds me still without computer (it finally went in to get fixed yesterday), so I am unable to post a real blog with bells, whistles and photos for a few more days.

In the meantime I shall tell you about Bebe and my final flight home after 6 months of dragging the poor wee thing all over the world. That child has bathed in more buckets than I care to admit (by the way, they make a great bath alternative, even if a little hillbilly).

If I am to be perfectly honest I must admit that we traveled in the utmost stye for this final trip. As we were traveling solo without dear husband, I used my points to upgrade to Qantas First Class - I know! I have never flown first class either! It was pretty special and I saw some very nervous looking wealthy people as Bebe and I took our seats. Little did they know she was as impressed with the surroundings as I was and decided to be the perfect baby! Flying First Class long haul is like being in a small, 5 star restaurant for 24 hours where they make you bed up to rest between courses. I almost wish I hadn't eaten in the week previous so I could have dined constantly. The food was superb (thanks 'Rockpool') and the service was tres attentive.

The best part of it was the individual attention, which for a mother traveling alone with their baby was amazing. When we arrived in Melbourne there was a lady whose sole job was to help any first class passengers who needed assistance. I can tell you know that as I was bringing everything I owned back from our flat in London and had made the most of the relaxed luggage restrictions in First Class (I got away with luggage based murder), I needed more assistance than anyone else so she helped me right through customs and out into the terminal where I was met by my parents! I have spent my life trying to be independent and I usually have a problem with anyone helping me with bags or doing anything much for me. I will gladly carry a 24kg suitcase through the london tube system without any help from passersby but I let all those qualms go quicker than you can say 'fast track immigration'. Heaven.

It was an extra gift as I have been suffering with sever tendonitis in my wrists due to the relaxin released in breastfeeding (that's another blog), and each time I travel it does get aggravated. So, joy!

I really cant give any advice as of course due to my luxe surroundings, help, awesome bed and cot beside me for Bebe, the flight was a breeze. Best one ever with the little lady. She slept at all the right times, fed well, played like a trouper sitting in her cot surrounded by things to put in her mouth (or as you might call them "toys"). We had a shower in Hongkers and changed into clean clothes so we didn't even smell that bad on arrival which was a first.

In fact at the end of the flight in Melbourne the hostess was holding Bebe as she said farewell to the passengers and my little smiling machine grinned gormlessly at every passenger as they left the aircraft.

Honestly. I don't think I ever want to fly again as I am sure we will never have it so good.

So, you probably hate me now. I'd hate me too.

If it helps, I am still about 2 sizes and 6 months of rabbit food away from fitting into my old jeans, so feel free to gloat about that if you wish.

Traveling is great and I feel so lucky to be able to continue our gypsy-like existence in such a lush way, but it is really nice just to be in one place for the time being. The time being about 7 months, but still...

My call out to you all now is - who can tell me how to get a solely breast fed 6 month old to take a bottle of formula? It is like I am trying to get her to drink acid for all the faces she pulls and spitting out she does. Any advice would be more than welcome!

x Ali

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Jetlag theories 101

I wrote a blog early on about jetlag and how I go about dealing with it with my little bubs. Mostly I went on about how I don't actually believe in jetlag. What may have become clear from reading it was that I simply choose to ignore it and hope it goes away. What I need to make clear is that in said blog I was really only talking about long haul flights (ie London to Melbourne).

But recently we went from LA to New York (3 hours ahead) and then 4 days later we went from NY to London (5 hours ahead). Neither of these flights should be that bad.


Should be...

In NY we simply all went to bed later. Easy. On the flight to London bubs slept the entire way (we left at 9pm and it was a 6 hour flight). But as we landed in London at 9am Bebe didn't get to sleep her normal 12 hours straight so I let her sleep lots during the day. But we had to go to a wedding the next day so I then made some decisions purely to personally get through the day when I should have stuck to my rules. So although she was great during the day we had two pretty full on nights (see my 3am blog). But on the third night I broke it by sitting with Bebe on and off for two hours between 10pm and midnight as she fussed and whinged and generally tried to not go to sleep. I shushed and patted (see The Baby Whisperer), I rocked and I sang but I never left the bedroom and I didn't relent and go and sit with her on the couch and watch The Daily Show on catch up tv for an hour until she fell asleep through metaphor overload (we did that the first night I must admit).

Now we are on a 4 hour eating day starting at 9am which is actually awesome - why can't we always be on that! I get to sleep in and we can take her out to dinner with us. I love it! Bebe and I are flying back to Australia in a week so I am not going to fuss too much at all with the extra feed in the night and I am certainly not going to get her to wake any earlier anytime soon!

So here are my new theories:

Length of flight versus time difference.


When the flight is only 6 hours and the time difference is 5 there are going to be problems getting our brains around it all. A 24 hour flight with a 10 hour difference is much better in a way because you can make up sleep and just get to your destination a bit tired or wired instead of wrecked.

and 

Why sometimes the easiest flight = the hardest recovery.

Bebe slept for 5 1/2 hours of the 6 on the last flight. Easiest. Flight. Ever. 

Horrid for two nights afterwards....

I have no real theory about this. Just an observation.

So next week is the last big flight for Bebe & I for 6 MONTHS!! (Well, there is a bit of around Australia action but the worst that will be is one to Perth and that is months away - yay!)

I will let you know how much more difficult flying long haul with a 5 1/12 month old is in comparison to a 3 month old. I am told it just keeps getting more difficult - joy!


Keep the feedback coming - I would love another guest blogger so if you or someone you know is a traveller with babies then please send them my way.


x Ali
ps I tried the ear pressure thing again and it worked again - all you need is a boob or bottle, olbas oil on a tissue and a distracting lullaby - easy!

Hello

Hello, and welcome to my very first entry to my very first blog.

I like blogs. Two of my favourite blogs (The Design Files & Meet me at Mike's) keep me sane when I am traveling and when I need something with which to divert myself.

In May of this year I had my first baby. A little girl names Beatrice Pearl. When she was three and a half weeks old she did her first long haul flight to London and by the time she is 6 months old she will have changed time zones 7 times, taken 4 x 24 hour flights, 2 x transatlantic flights, a couple of all day train trips and various taxis, cars, and buses.

I must preface all my advice and shared experiences with the disclaimer that 1) we are very lucky to have a baby who sleeps and eats easily and is very chilled and happy. We may have had something to do with this but I suspect it is mostly luck. 2) I have a very supportive husband, parents and parents in law, not to mention fantastic, experienced friends all over the place. 3) I am making most of this up as I go along.

The first time I traveled with Bebe I tried to look up every website I could for advice on how to deal with jetlag and flying generally. I found quite a lot of advice for traveling with toddlers but not much for infants. I also didn't find much in the way of advice of equipment etc that was good for carting around the place. So, here goes. I'd love to hear your feedback and suggestions and make this blog a little collection of advice and stories for others (and myself) to draw upon.

Have a look at the pages (links on the right) for info on equipment, hire and other things that will continue to get updated.

Happy travels!

xx Ali