Since Crosby's arrival, we have kept up with some travel, although admittedly not nearly as much as we used to do before her arrival. With each trip we take with her, we think to ourselves, the last trip was so much easier.....
She is just more active, more mobile, has a more set schedule, and also eats real food now. While some of these things make it a bit easier to travel with her, they also can be a bit challenging as well. For this most recent transatlantic flight we took from the UK to the US, I wanted to make sure I had enough food and snacks prepared for her during our trip. I always find that on the flight from the UK to the US, I end up eating 4 or 5 meals that day because we gain an extra six hours due to the time change. It was a bit tricky to figure when I should feed Crosby and how often she should eat, but I wanted to be prepared with lots of healthy snacks and meals, and of course extra of everything, in case we would be delayed at any point.
So, I packed the following: cucumber slices, breadsticks and spreadable cheese, a few packets of Ella's baby food for back up, "Puff" snacks (US product), dried cranberries, whole wheat breadsticks, an avocado, a hard boiled egg, dried strawberry snacks, string cheese, green beans, and chopped strawberries. Sounds like a lot of food for a little baby but I am glad I had it all for her. I ordered a child's meal on the plane but it was just like the adult plane food - not really anything great to eat, so it was much better that I had plenty of fresh food on hand for her. However now that I have so many extra things to pack for my child, it seems my bag never has anything for myself in it....it is just filled to the brim with the "in case we need this for the baby" stuff! I would say I feel like a pack mule when I travel now on these transatlantic flights....
While the flight to the US was a bit more difficult than previous flights in that Crosby really wasn't interested in staying in her seat for the full 8 plus hours (and who can blame her, it's no fun for an adult!), the most difficult part of this trip so far came after our arrival in the US. We were staying with Scott in a hotel for a few days while he went to work for some meetings. I think it was the first and last time Crosby will be invited to stay with him on a transatlantic business trip! With Crosby being just a little bit older and on more of a good sleep schedule, she had a more difficult time shifting her schedule this time around. The first night in the US, she woke up at 2:30am and was ready for breakfast and playtime since her body thought it was 8:30am UK time. When we kept trying to get her back to sleep, there were lots of screams - er, for about 3 hours - and needless to say, I am sure we were not popular guests in that hotel as a result.
The scene at 3am in our hotel room: Crosby sitting on the chair eating cheerios off of a cutting board. Up until this trip back to the US, we have (very luckily) not had too many issues with Crosby adjusting onto CMT from GMT. Unfortunately this trip it has taken her a good 5 full days to get back on track. Lesson learned that it is much more difficult to be in a hotel room with an infant who is fighting jet lag versus being at a house where there is space to play and eat snacks, etc. It was also very nice to have grandparents or other family members available (as Scott would say they are saints) who were with us to get up in the middle of the night to entertain our jet lagged child, so we could get a little bit of rest after walking around like zombies for the first few days back home.
Traveling back and forth on a transatlantic level is part of what we will continue to do since we live away from family but it has gotten more challenging with each trip we take. I am trying to enjoy the time we have now at home but am also dreading the return flight journey and the jet lag issues we will face once we are back in England where we will not have the extra help from family (going East seems to take even longer for Crosby to adjust back into....).
So I wonder, is it fair to travel like this with a child? I know there is no serious damage but it does seem to take its toll on her for about a week on either end of the trip. And at what point in the future will it get easier to travel with her? Or is that time now and I just don't realize how easy it is now compared to what it will be like in the future? I really don't know, but I guess time will tell....
3 comments:
We travel back and forth between the UK and US often (my husband is from England, our son was born there, we now live back in the US) and just flew over on Saturday with our almost 4 year old son and our 8 month old daughter. It definitely gets easier, I promise you. Travel all around with our son is just so much easier, less stuff, an ipad to keep him busy, easier transition to time, it got easier around 18/24 months. I feel for you! I also find for our kids (and us) it is harder traveling to the US than to the UK.
I think it gets easier and harder! My two were 10 and 7 on our last trip to the UK. They were able to schlep their own carry-ons which was a big help. What I had not anticipated was the gazillion kids' offerings on the seat-back TVs. They didn't sleep one wink - not helped by the fact that once my husband was asleep, the older one accepted the flight attendant's offer of some coffee! The kids were sitting with him in the row behind me, ostensibly so that I could get some sleep as I would be driving once we got to London. By the time we finally got the rental car, all my husband wanted me to do was drop him back off at the terminal so that he could return to the US alone!
It does get easier, I think you're around the peak difficult time. Once they hit about two, they can be bribed to stay put and can also be entertained with a leappad or even an ipad. My kids loved those doodle things where you draw a pic then wipe it off and go again, you can get a really good one from early learning centre with the pen attached by a string so it can't roll off onto the floor like crayons and paper can. They also loved their leap pad where you put in a cartridge and a book and do activities, but that's very old fashioned now, I am sure leapfrog will have a mire electronic version!
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