After much anxiety, I arrived in Sydney yesterday after a 16-hour flight alone with my 4-month old. In preparation for the journey, I talked to my sister and several friends, and consulted a few websites of seasoned baby/toddler travelers (www.gypsymomma.com and www.ianandwendy.com). Since many new parents have anxiety over flying with babies for the first time, I wanted to share some of the tips I got that helped me get through it!
5 tips that I'm glad I used:
1. Request the Basinette and/or Extra Seat
There are limited number of basinette seats on airplanes, and they are first-come-first-serve (you must call the airline directly and request this in advance). These are only available for babies that cannot yet sit up on their own (my baby qualified) - but be warned that they are very narrow and quite short (for my 4-month old that is in the 85th percentile in height, he practically touched end-to-end). Also, the official Ministry of Transport rule is that babies cannot be in the basinette whenever the seatbelt sign is on (ie: when there's turbulence). So if you have strict flight attendants, they may force you to take your baby out (yes - painful if the baby is sleeping!!). But all that considered, it was definitely useful in helping me and Little Dave both get some sleep.
In addition to the basinette, I also got an extra seat next to me. If you ask, the gate attendants will often help re-arrange seating so you have this. In my situation, I lucked out by having an extra seat to the other side of my seatmate and asked her to move over so I had extra room. It came in handy when I had to deal with the baby while they were serving meals, or mix up some formula while Little Dave was on my lap.
2. Babies Suck
Babies can't pop their ears on their own, so the best thing you can do is help them suck - on anything, whether breast-feeding, bottle feeding, or sucking on a soother. Little Dave did well on the take-off, but the descent was the worst part of the flight for us. He wasn't hungry, nor was he very interested in taking the soother, so I had to try to "force" him his soother, but he was still pretty cranky. Nevertheless, people tell me that ear popping can be the biggest challenge and the biggest source of a screaming/crying baby on a flight, so I did everything I could to help.
3. Extra! Extra! Formula and Diapers
I brought extra bottled water and extra formula just in case we were delayed or we needed extra feeding. He didn't need extra feeding, but the extra water came in handy as I realized I had to wash the bottles after feeding (since my flight was long and I needed to reuse the 2 bottles I brought) and the water in the washrooms on planes are not ideal for using with a baby.
At the last minute, a few people told me to bring extra diapers because babies poo on planes more than normal. Not sure why, but sure enough Little Dave did have to have more diaper changes than normal so having more diapers than you think is key. Another tip - bring diaper/nappy sacks for throwing away each dirty diaper as no one likes a smelly washroom on a flight!
4. Keeping Baby Entertained
When Little Dave was awake on the flight, I had to keep him entertained. Walking up and down the aisles may not always be an option if you're on a turbulent flight like mine and the seatbelt sign is on. I brought 2 books, a few toys, and my iPad to keep him entertained. I pre-loaded my iPad with nursery rhyme and Baby Einstein videos that I downloaded from YouTube with an iPad app called Video Downloader (Lite version is free). Even if you don't want to turn the volume on high, the visuals will keep him sitting still for awhile and you can sign along to baby softly.
5. Baby carrier or Stroller or Both?
Most people would advise you to use or at least bring a baby carrier (Bjorn or ergo). I didn't actually use the bjorn while on the flight, but used it to load and unload the plane, which is key if you are alone and also have a couple of carry-on bags. So definitely bring one of these on board.
For stroller. I had different advice from different people. Most people recommend using an umbrella stroller on travels as they are lighter and easier to carry. However, if your baby is younger than 6-months, like mine, than it's not really an option and you may want one that lays back more for naps on-the-go. So I chose to bring my full Uppababy Vista stroller with me, and opted for gettting it Gate Checked rather than Counter-Checked. Some people will advise the opposite and tell you to just use a Bjorn from check-in to the plane. But since my flight was at 11:45pm, I wanted to keep Little Dave sleeping as long as I could through the airport before we boarded since I knew he'd be cranky if I didn't (since we woke him from his usual 7pm bedtime). Air Canada allowed me to Gate Check the stroller, which meant that I could keep him in it alseep from the time we got out of the car through to the moment we stepped on the plane. The other big thing is that Gate-checking means less risk to stroller damage than Counter-checking. Going through Security this time, they actually let me keep Little Dave asleep in the stroller, which was NOT the case on our last flight (Van-Edmonton and return), so my guess is that it's hit-or-miss so you can't always count on that level of ease at Security (for many, getting through Security alone with a baby is one of the biggest headaches about airport travel).
5 other tips I received, but glad I didn't have to put them to use for this flight... But will keep them in mind for my next flight (returning home)!
1. Ear plugs for travelmates
In case of baby that screams/cries the entire flight (which I have heard of, usually if they can't pop their own ears at take-off), my friend Sarah suggested that I bring two dozen pairs of earplugs. I had them handy in my purse in case I needed to hand them out (especially during the portion of the flight when most passengers are sleeping), but thank goodness I didn't have to!
2. Extra clothes for Baby and Mom
In case of extra spit-up, leaky diapers, etc... I had on hand 2 extra sleepers for Little Dave and extra shirts for myself. Again, thank goodness I didn't have to use these for this flight.
3. Baby Tylenol for Baby's Ears
If you can't pop baby's ears, my friend who is a pediatrician, suggested having Baby Tylenol on hand to help ease the pain. I had it with me, but didn't end up using it.
4. Baby B'Air Flight Vest
Ianandwendy.com suggested this item on their "Top 10 Items to Make Travel with Baby Easy and Fun" list. After alot of research, I had some doubts about it, but since it's only $23, I decided to go for it and have it on hand just in case I needed it. I didn't have to use it at all, but I think this is mainly because I had the basinette AND the extra seat beside me. If I had neither, I can see this coming in handy.
5. Making Baby Sleep
For this one, it's not so much that I'm glad I didn't have to use it, but unfortunately one thing that didn't happen for me. Some people told me that their babies sleep alot on flights. Little Dave slept about 8.5 hours out of our 16 hour journey. That's not as much as I hoped he would, but not as bad as it could've been I guess. The hum of the plane didn't help him sleep as I thought it would.... after the first 7 hour sleep (from about midnight to 7am local time), he only took 30-minute catnaps after that, which is shorter than he would normally nap at home. It may have been that the basinette is so narrow that he hit the sides with his hands/arms? Not sure exactly, but don't necessarily count on your child sleeping throughout a flight, or sleeping more than he/she normally would during that 16-hour period if you were at home.
So after all this, was it worth it? Absolutely. I want to continue to travel and have Little Dave fit into our travel plans, so will continue to fly with him as much as I can!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Friday, November 9, 2012
5 Keys to Getting a 12-Week Old to Sleep 12 Hours Through the Night
My baby (Little Dave) is now just over 3 months old, and when I tell other parents of small children that he sleeps 12 hours through the night, many are surprised. Some of it may be luck, but I like to think that some of it is also because of the schedule and sleep program we followed. Here are 5 things we did that I believe were key:
1. Start early.
We start sleep scheduling at 3 weeks old. We scheduled for day and night, but focused first on the night time sleep. Some will argue that you can't start that early. We did and Little Dave took to the schedule and is now used to it (especially his night schedule), but most importantly he started sleeping 7pm-7am at 12 weeks, so I would argue that you CAN start early. And in fact, why not start early instead of suffering through sleep deprivation for longer, if you can get it more manageable early on?
2. My husband calls it being dead-beat parents. I call it Cry it Out.
Joking aside, this can be tough. But we committed to it and started at about 5-6 weeks old, maybe earlier. It's a little hazy. We started with letting him cry for 5-6 minutes at his 7pm bedtime and see if he would stop and fall asleep. A couple of weeks later, we had to let him cry a little more some nights... sometimes up to 20 minutes (not straight, but on and off). If he was ever wailing hard (at any time), we would go to him, settle him, and help him go to sleep. But often times, it was 20 minutes of whimpering, fussing, or on-and-off crying.
He is now able to soothe himself, and go to sleep on his own (most of the times*). And if he does wake in the middle of the night, can put himself back to sleep without parental help.
* When I say "most of the time": he goes to sleep on his own without crying for his 7pm bedtime. For naps, last week he started unassisted sleeping and was successful for several days. Then we traveled and we are out of his comfort zone (home) so he went back to struggling/crying for his naps the first few days of our trip. We have been in our hotel for a week, and has fallen asleep on his own for naps for 2 days now. Hopefully it will go back to the unassisted sleeping regularly when we get back home!
3. Same shit every night: Establish consistent night bed time and routine.
7pm became our standard baby bed time by around 3 weeks old. Our routine starts at 6pm: nudie time (to dry out bum!) for about 15 minutes, bath time (every other day with soap), moisturize and massage (some nights more time spent on this than others), feed, lullaby, then in bed around 7pm. Some nights may be a few minutes off, and we are OK with that.
Even if we were at someone else's house for dinner (family or friends), we would at least do a little mini bath in the sink and put him to bed, and it worked. On nights where we are out at a party or dinner (which has only happened 3 times), we wouldn't be able to bathe him, but his internal clock had developed and he would fall asleep on his own right around 7pm.
4. Transitioning to Longer Night Sleeps with 5am Half-Feeds and Soothing
When he started extending from 11pm (after late-night feed/dream feed) to 5am, I started doing a half-feed at 5am. He would then go back to sleep right away and wake again to start his morning at 7am. After 2 nights (or early mornings) of 5am half-feeds, we tried just soothing him to go back to sleep at 5am (making sure first that he wasn't actually starving). This worked and within a few days he was soothing himself if he did wake at 4 or 5am, and go back to sleep on his own.
Now, he still may wake at 4 or 5am, but doesn't cry. In fact, he sometimes wakes now at 6 or 6:30am but doesn't cry. He snoozes for a bit and/or waits in his crib until we come get him around 7am or later.
5. Do not use fall-asleep dependencies
We use Baby Whisperer and BabyWise's "Eat, Activity, Sleep" routine for every cycle during the day. This helped Little Dave NOT rely on eating (breast-feeding nor bottle) in order to fall asleep. He also does not rely on music, mobiles, rocking, walking, or soother in order to fall asleep - especially for his 7pm. Yes, we sometimes have to use rocking or walking to fall asleep for naps, but we really tried for unassisted/independent sleeping for his 7pm sleep very early on. Again, I think this helps him fall back asleep on his own easily if he does wake in the middle of the night.
So how did we start all this? Three main books we followed: Baby Whisperer, BabyWise, and The Contented Baby. We liked and disliked some things from each author, so we didn't blindly follow each one, but rather used a combination of things from each that fit us. Most of the concepts above fall in line with the theories in these 3 books. In addition to the books, there are other helpful online resources, such as: Baby Whisperer Forums (if you want things like specific tactics on implementing the "EASY" schedule), My Baby Sleep Guide (a woman who's obsessed with baby sleeping more than me, who has read or tried a lot of different theories).
For any parent out there suffering from baby-related sleep deprivation, I encourage you to try these tips and read more in some of the books above!
1. Start early.
We start sleep scheduling at 3 weeks old. We scheduled for day and night, but focused first on the night time sleep. Some will argue that you can't start that early. We did and Little Dave took to the schedule and is now used to it (especially his night schedule), but most importantly he started sleeping 7pm-7am at 12 weeks, so I would argue that you CAN start early. And in fact, why not start early instead of suffering through sleep deprivation for longer, if you can get it more manageable early on?
2. My husband calls it being dead-beat parents. I call it Cry it Out.
Joking aside, this can be tough. But we committed to it and started at about 5-6 weeks old, maybe earlier. It's a little hazy. We started with letting him cry for 5-6 minutes at his 7pm bedtime and see if he would stop and fall asleep. A couple of weeks later, we had to let him cry a little more some nights... sometimes up to 20 minutes (not straight, but on and off). If he was ever wailing hard (at any time), we would go to him, settle him, and help him go to sleep. But often times, it was 20 minutes of whimpering, fussing, or on-and-off crying.
He is now able to soothe himself, and go to sleep on his own (most of the times*). And if he does wake in the middle of the night, can put himself back to sleep without parental help.
* When I say "most of the time": he goes to sleep on his own without crying for his 7pm bedtime. For naps, last week he started unassisted sleeping and was successful for several days. Then we traveled and we are out of his comfort zone (home) so he went back to struggling/crying for his naps the first few days of our trip. We have been in our hotel for a week, and has fallen asleep on his own for naps for 2 days now. Hopefully it will go back to the unassisted sleeping regularly when we get back home!
3. Same shit every night: Establish consistent night bed time and routine.
7pm became our standard baby bed time by around 3 weeks old. Our routine starts at 6pm: nudie time (to dry out bum!) for about 15 minutes, bath time (every other day with soap), moisturize and massage (some nights more time spent on this than others), feed, lullaby, then in bed around 7pm. Some nights may be a few minutes off, and we are OK with that.
Even if we were at someone else's house for dinner (family or friends), we would at least do a little mini bath in the sink and put him to bed, and it worked. On nights where we are out at a party or dinner (which has only happened 3 times), we wouldn't be able to bathe him, but his internal clock had developed and he would fall asleep on his own right around 7pm.
4. Transitioning to Longer Night Sleeps with 5am Half-Feeds and Soothing
When he started extending from 11pm (after late-night feed/dream feed) to 5am, I started doing a half-feed at 5am. He would then go back to sleep right away and wake again to start his morning at 7am. After 2 nights (or early mornings) of 5am half-feeds, we tried just soothing him to go back to sleep at 5am (making sure first that he wasn't actually starving). This worked and within a few days he was soothing himself if he did wake at 4 or 5am, and go back to sleep on his own.
Now, he still may wake at 4 or 5am, but doesn't cry. In fact, he sometimes wakes now at 6 or 6:30am but doesn't cry. He snoozes for a bit and/or waits in his crib until we come get him around 7am or later.
5. Do not use fall-asleep dependencies
We use Baby Whisperer and BabyWise's "Eat, Activity, Sleep" routine for every cycle during the day. This helped Little Dave NOT rely on eating (breast-feeding nor bottle) in order to fall asleep. He also does not rely on music, mobiles, rocking, walking, or soother in order to fall asleep - especially for his 7pm. Yes, we sometimes have to use rocking or walking to fall asleep for naps, but we really tried for unassisted/independent sleeping for his 7pm sleep very early on. Again, I think this helps him fall back asleep on his own easily if he does wake in the middle of the night.
So how did we start all this? Three main books we followed: Baby Whisperer, BabyWise, and The Contented Baby. We liked and disliked some things from each author, so we didn't blindly follow each one, but rather used a combination of things from each that fit us. Most of the concepts above fall in line with the theories in these 3 books. In addition to the books, there are other helpful online resources, such as: Baby Whisperer Forums (if you want things like specific tactics on implementing the "EASY" schedule), My Baby Sleep Guide (a woman who's obsessed with baby sleeping more than me, who has read or tried a lot of different theories).
For any parent out there suffering from baby-related sleep deprivation, I encourage you to try these tips and read more in some of the books above!
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