Guten Tag from Germany. After a 20 hour travel day from door to door, we finally made it to Germany to see Jeremy. As you all know, I am down an arm at the moment, so my mom came with me to help us out for a few weeks. Travelling with a baby is never easy, but with one arm it would have been impossible. Here are some tips (including my favourite Pampers diapers!) that helped me get through the flight, as well as how I am dealing with Olivia’s jet lag. Hopefully these will help any of you travelling with babes over the holidays.
- Keep Baby Dry—this is most important! We all know a wet baby is a cranky baby, so I use Pampers Swaddlers to keep Olivia dry and happy. I love Pampers Swaddlers because they are a blankie soft diaper and have a unique absorb away liner, which keeps wetness and mess away from the baby’s skin. Swaddlers also have the wetness indicator, which changes colour making it a breeze to check her to see if she needs a change when we’re in public.
- Let There be Light—I learned my lesson the hard way on my last trip to Germany. I arrived at noon after flying all night, and promptly took Olivia to bed with me in a dark room for 8 hours. A 6 hour time change is never easy to combat, but I’ve learned that light makes all the difference. It took me two weeks to get her back on track after mixing up her day time and night time. I now make sure to keep her in the light all day, even for naps, and the dark for the night, even if she wakes up. Dimming the lights when you’re getting your baby ready to sleep, lowering them more and more as bedtime approaches is a great way to create a soothing atmosphere. It’s amazing how much faster she adjusts to the new time zone just by light and dark.
- Keep it Cool—Olivia will not sleep if the room is too hot or too cold. Each baby works differently, but for Olivia the cooler the better. I keep her room at 18 degrees and I put her in a sleeper and sleep sac. Rule of thumb is to dress your baby in no more than one more layer than you would wear yourself, based on the room temperature.
- White noise—I don’t know anybody who doesn’t sleep a little better with white noise, and this goes for baby too. Babies sleep better with the washing machine or the vacuum running, so feel free to go about your regular routine during naptime or after bedtime. I use a fan on high facing away from Olivia to keep her sleeping soundly all night long.
- Relax! Babies pick up on our anxiety and frustration. If I’m stressed out, Olivia feels it, and the last thing she will do is go to sleep. Just know that you are doing a great job, and enjoy every minute with your beautiful baby.
Pampers has some great resources with more tips on how to keep baby sleeping peacefully. You can visit them here:
I will let you know how our jet lag goes, but so far it is looking great!
-Ash
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Very informative post! A lot of cool tips that I’ll definitely try to remember and share with some of my family friends who have become mothers. 🙂
Glad to hear that you’ve got your mom helping you during your time in Germany!! Hope you’re enjoying the holidays with Livy and all your hockey wife family!
PS: Olivia melts my heart with her cuteness, can’t believe how much she’s growing! Times flying