Adjusting babies feeds/sleep - overseas

[enigma]

Has anyone got any tips / ideas on how to adjust Aneta's feeds & sleep when we get to Europe in January ?
She will be 7 and a half months old when we get there , its going to take us 30 hours ( flights & stopovers ) to get there. During the trip i was thinking i'll keep my watch set to Perth time and treat it as Perth time no matter where we are.
Once we get to Europe , it is 8 hours behind Perth time. So if she follows this routine , she will be sleeping all day , and up all night :-/
We have such a good routine , she eats every four hours during the day and sleep from 7pm until 7am.. i really dont want to stuff it up ..

[Fi]

To be honest, routine is going to be the last thing on your mind if you are attempting a mammoth journey like that with a small baby.
I have found everytime I've travelled with Jenna (we have been back to NZ 4 times, and off to the pacific islands once) we just did what we had to do. The Islands trip was the worst. It was a night flight, and she fought the sleep. Planes are a terrible place to get a baby to sleep for more than short naps. Well at least - I found that.
We ended up having lots of snacking feeds trying to get her to go to sleep. A snacking feed on take off and landing. A snacking feed when she was ratty. A snacking feed in the terminal in transit.
My honest opinion is just to go with the flow and feed when she needs it, and let her nap when she needs it (watch for your tired signs) and save the big long sleep for when you get there. It will take a couple of days for her to adjust, just like it would you or I, but thats par for the course!
I have to say I'm tooo scared to attempt a europe trip with a baby. I have desperately wanted to go, and looked at options numerous times, but I've had enough experience with short international flights to know my mind isn't in the right space to attempt it unfortunately. Other mums are much stronger than me - My sister has travelled ALOT with her daughters, and it was tough, but doable. But yeah - I reckon routine goes out the window when you are doing something liek this!

[enigma]

Fi i know where your coming from , if she is whingy etc i will give her a feed whenever she wants one..but HOPEFULLY it will resemble the routine we have at home ( hehe im being optimistic )
Believe me i dont want to fly so far sooo many hours with an infant , but my husbands Australian visa expires and we have to go back .. so no choice for us!

[ej]

Hi

Im doing the same flight next week although in reverse (Zurich, Brisbane). I too was thinking like you and will be keeping my watch set to Zurich time. But also being flexible as to how DS is going. If he wants to sleep when its not sleep time then I will be letting him. DS has just started sleeping through the night (6pm - 6am)the last two weeks and really hope that he gets back into the swing of it once he has settled down. I would just be prepared for things to be a bit over the place to start with and like the other poster said, they should settle down in time just like we do. Maybe once you get there, try and get straight back into the routine that you have at home.

I wish you luck.

Emma

[Lucy]

I did a big trip to the UK last April with Charlie when he was 8 months old. He too was in a fantastic routine, and I hoped it would all be OK.

I agree with all that Fi said.......on a huge flight like that, I just wanted to get through it all with him OK, regardless of routine. I set our clocks to UK time straight away, thinking "Lets just get there and we can see how we go at the other end".

He did a lot of snacking on the plane (milk and a little solids.....not much solids though as he had only just started them and it was SO messy!).......heaps of milk feeds though.

He slept OK, but in short bursts.....nothing much than 3 hours at a stretch.

When we finally got to H'Row and in the car, he totally crashed in the car seat before we even got out of the car park! That was around 8am UK time so I treated that as his morning nap. I then was a "cruel mummy" and kept him up without an afternoon nap, and did our usual bath and bed routine at around 6pm UK time, and he slept through and then he was perfect for the next 3 weeks, back into his normal routine. (It was just me suffering from jet lag and ms!)

When we got back, I did the same thing in reverse and it took 2 days to get him "back to normal".

HTH

[SSmiles]

Oh gawd, I don't envy you at all! We flew to Perth (so only 3 hours time difference) a couple of weeks ago with our 2.5 month old and it was the worst thing I've done since he was born. It stuffed everything up (feeding, sleeping etc) and he is still having troubles 2 weeks later. I wish we didn't go (it was for my sisters wedding though) and wouldn't recommend it to anyone but sometimes you have to do what you have to do.
Riley slept well on the plane (but we couldn't because he was on our laps) but the time difference has just caused so many problems.
Good luck! I hope it isn't too hard on you all...

[Liz]

Good luck with the travel! I can't offer advice on routines..coz well... we don't have one! LOL. Tallon just sleeps whenever he's tired. He does have different sleep at night tho, longer, and doesn't completely wake up when he wakes (iykwim). But it's only fair to expect jet lag for bub as well as for mum & dad. Our body clocks all adjust eventually. I think I'd do what Lucy did.. only because that's what I do to myself when going to the UK. I MAKE myself stay awake through the day and wait until night to sleep.

Have an awesome time OS tho. I'm a bit envious!

[enigma]

Thanks everyone for the much needed advice!
im soooooo stressed about this trip , not so much the time change over there , but the 30 hour travel time !!... How are we going to occupy a 7 mth old for that long , i do not know :-/

[Tracey]

I travelled back & fourth to Bali on numerous occasion with Maddison from 9kws of age. The minute we boarded the plane she'd fall asleep & after landing (6ish hours later) she'd wake up.. she never even noticed we'd gone anywhere & then would feed & sleep as per normal....

I honestly never moticed anything different, if anything we were on holidays & I was much more relaxed & didnt worry if she was up 30 mins later or anything... I think we did about 4 or 5 trips to bali in the first 18 months of her life...

We were staying there usually for 2 months at a time so she was getting used to it.,..

But I guess be preapared for her to be a little bit out of whack & then it wont be so much an issue... But I always would change my watch at atke off, so i was already in their time zone...

[Lucy]

How are we going to occupy a 7 mth old for that long , i do not know

Check in as early as you can and try and score the bassinet/sky-cot (a cot the flips down from the wall under the movie screen in front of your seats. Then when you have finished take off/feeding, pop her in the cot and hopefully she will sleep.....the noise of the engines will often send them off. Then when she wakes she can sit up in the cot and you can feed her some solids and let her have a play in there: take loads of little toys and books.

(I know what you mean though: I was really worried about this with Charlie when we went to the UK.......he ended up "performing" from the cot to the rest of the plane: it was hilarious!)

[Tracey]

Maddy too Lucy...
She would smile & flash her big black eyes & when she was 2 she walked around talking to ppl & they all said she wasnt bothering them it was infact m,aking the trip quicker...

But as a bubba she'd entertain the plane with her showing off wyas...

[Fi]

Hmm depends on what the people around you are like. I always book the bassinette seat a few weeks earlier than my flight leaves. Then you are pretty much guaranteed that its yours, unless someone with a younger baby books on the flight after you. Its never happened to me - I've had the front row for every single flight.
The short haul flights are the worst cause the front of economy where the bass seats are is usually where they put all the more "business" like people, just in behind business class.
So a few flights all I've managed to do is pi$$ off a pile of toffee nosed people in suits with no sense of humour. It totally sucked.....
Taking her on a train a few times might get her used to the whole idea of being confined but not confined to a seat if that makes sense? They wont let your baby crawl on the plane as its apparently illegal. Turbulence and all that jazz.

[sunbeam koala]

How are we going to occupy a 7 mth old for that long , i do not know :-/

I feel your stress!! But having done it with a colicky 7mth old from europe to oz and back again, I can say one thing - we survived! Once you're on the way there's no turning back and you and the rest of the plane are in it together! You'll probably find there will be other babies and parents near you too. The people that end up in those bassinette seats without kids, are usually the tall ones that refuse to sit elsewhere, you will find they put up with the noise and distraction. Fact is, people just have to, you can't run from it lol!!
Remember its only a day travel. Bubs will love the close attention. And will probably rest really well.
We ended up getting a bouncer instead of a bassinette for part of the flight (British Airways) and DS preferred that as he could sit comfortably and see what was happening around him. Bring a doona or a pillow that you can use for the bassinette or if bub wants to sleep on your lap.

[enigma]

Thank again everyone Keep the advice coming !

We have booked the basinette on all the 3 connecting flights , and I have called up twice to confirm
Like you said Deb , once we take off there is no turning back ..
What about prams?? We have a HUGE one .. so we purchased a stroller ( which reclines right back so she can sleep) .. hopefully they will let us on board with it , its an umbrella fold one

[Fi]

The airports and airlines will lend you a stroller if they check yours in.
Also check out food - book baby meals for the planes. Its just processed mushy crap, but at least you can get it on the planes and you dont have to worry about carrying it aroudn with you.

[Liz]

Not sure you'd be allowed to have her sleep in the stroller on the plane (if that's what you meant?)

[enigma]

Liz on the plane she will hopefully be in the bassinette... what i meant by sleep in the stroller was at the stopovers ( we have one in Kuala Lumpur , Amsterdam and Warsaw grr )

[PrincessT]

Enigma - what airline are you flying? Ask them if the stroller will be ok to bring on board or else ask then if they are able to provide you with them when you have stopovers.
We did Sydney-Dubai-Zurich in July with Allegra when she was 6 months and it wasnt too bad. She slept on and off but not too much in the sky bassinette as it was pretty small (and she was used to her large cot and she wasnt wrapped at this stage either). Also as we were in the centre isle the drinks trolly kept wizzing past her head and waking her up as soon as she went to sleep. I would find out if the plane you are flying with has a sky cot in the side isles which is better as you can put Aneta in with her head facing the window and the drinks trolly will be less of an issue.
Also, ask if you are able to use business class lounges if possible during stop off. It may not be possible but worth an ask!!
When we travelled we were lucky enough to be in business so the extra room was really handy and surprisingly everyone was really nice! The flight attendents kept on asking me if I wanted some time 'off' and they would hold her!! Allegra in the direct 14 hour flight to Dubai cried all up for about 2 minutes thankfully. I just breastfed anytime she was cranky and bottle fed her some formula too for that little bit extra. She had only just started solids so I didnt give her any on board.
I took everything you can imagine I would need including Phenergan (which I didnt need but was advised to take even though she was under 2) and I'm glad we did. On the way home they lost all our luggage and if not for me overpacking her nappy bag carry on we would have been stuffed!!
Take a few toys, books that have that rustly paper in them, her own sheets and a muslin to cover her a bit when sleeping (because everyone on the way to the bathroom wants a look) and perhaps her sleepbag to keep her warm. I found they offered us everything, nappies, food, toys on board.. I was even given a little pack with bibs and wipes!
I'll post as I remember more stuff. There is a great travel with kids site called The Trusted Traveller (dot com) and its full of helpful hints and ideas.