International travel with a little one

Our little stowaway

I've had a number of people ask about how the flight and time change were for Baby K, so I thought I'd share how everything went. Overall, I really could not have asked for anything better. I even traveled by myself back to Switzerland with Baby K and survived! I was relieved for this, seeing as I am traveling by myself with her for all of our trips back to the US from now on.

Like many other things involving Baby K, I read numerous blogs and advice about how to handle international travel with a little one. Despite going on numerous trips within Europe with Baby K, I was a little worried about a 10-hour flight and seven hour time difference.

Here are my big takeaways from our first international flight with her:

• If you can rent or borrow baby things at your destination, do it. We did not take a stroller, pack-and-play or carseat because we knew we would have these things to use in the US. It just makes it a little easier to get through check-in and security.
• Flying from east to west is harder than west to east because it's a daytime flight; people tend to have their window shades open and the lights may or may not be turned off. This makes nap time a little bit more difficult.
• Baby K is not used to being held for hours on end, so we had to figure out a way to let her wiggle a little bit. For us, the solution was making a pallet under the seat (in business class) and letting her roll and kick around (see above). She also ended up sleeping down there, as we could make it dark by hanging a blanket over the area. I think you can also ask for a Moses Basket as well.
• We always put her down for bed/nap time when she's awake, so the pallet worked well for that as well.
• We tried hard to essentially stick to her usual schedule that she knows of eat-play-sleep. We acted like it was Swiss time on the plane the whole way there so she knew how the "day" would go.
• When she was awake, we took turns holding her, so that we could both have a chance to eat and rest some. When I was by myself, I ate before getting on the plane so I didn't have to worry about how that was going to work.
• Traveling from the US to Europe was great! It is a nighttime flight, so I essentially did her nighttime routine, including giving her a baby wipe bath and changing her into her pajamas, fed her, then put her down on her pallet. No joke, she slept the entire flight; I had to wake her 30 minutes before we landed. This also gave me a little bit of time to snooze as well.
• If you can make the diaper bag your only carryon, that's ideal. We have a backpack as a diaper bag, so even when I was by myself, I had my hands free. I wore Baby K on the front and had her diaper bag on my back.
• Most importantly, relax! I know it's hard, but I've decided babies are like dogs, they can smell fear. If you're stressed and frantic, they will be too.

Now...on to dealing with the time change. This one was a little rougher than flying- probably because it lasted more than a month!

• When we arrived in the US, we immediately switched Baby K over to Texas time so she could start to get acclimated. We didn't plan anything the night we arrived, as I had no clue what state Baby K would be in. My family came over, but other than that, we were at home.
• Keeping in mind that it was the middle of the night for her (and us, but you kind of have to forget about that) she was really fussy when I woke her from a nap around 6pm (1am in Switzerland). We kept her awake and did bath and bed time as normal, then put her back down.
• I would suggest bringing a blanket and possibly a sheet with you from home so that things smell and feel a bit familiar, even if they aren't.
• Baby K never slept normally (for her) the entire month we were in the US. She's been sleeping from 7:30pm to 7:00am, without waking, since she was about 12 weeks old. This never happened for us in the US. She pretty much woke at least once per night the entire time we were there. 
• The first few nights, Baby K woke around 1am, 3am and 6am. In the middle of the night we gave her a little snack and put her back down, otherwise we just put her pacifier back in. Many people recommend going ahead and getting up to play with them when this happens, but I just couldn't. We typically kept it dark and put her right back down.
• People also typically recommend not planning anything big the first few days, but that just wasn't possible. Baby K was dedicated at church the Sunday after we got in, so it was full speed ahead pretty much from the time we got in. Besides...you're traveling, what's the fun in taking it easy??

And back to Switzerland...

• It took Baby K a full 14 days to get back to our time zone.. For those of you who are keeping track, that's six weeks of time change stuff.
• When we came back, we switched her back to this time zone immediately, just like when we arrived in Texas.
• For the next week or so, she would wake up a couple of times after we put her down for bed. She initially woke up around midnight or 1am, wanting to play. I got up with her the first few nights, typically staying up for 30 minutes to an hour, but then moved to just putting her pacifier back in and letting her roll around until she went back to sleep.
• She was pretty sleepy, and sometimes cranky, during the day when we first got back. As it was the middle of the night in the US, this was understandable. I think making her stay awake during the day made her sleep better at night and switch back fairly quickly.
• As the nights went on she woke up earlier and earlier, moving to 11pm, then 10pm, then around 8 or 8:30. Finally after about two weeks, she stopped waking up at all. Woohoo...back to normal!

Ok, so now you have my two cents on long-haul traveling with an infant. I'm sure things will change as she becomes more mobile, but hopefully starting her early will help in the long run. We are headed to Prague in a couple of weeks, but then back to the US for Christmas, which means two more long-haul flights for Baby K and me. Here's to hoping everything goes as well!

On a lighter note

On a lighter note from my post yesterday, thought I'd share what we've been up to these past couple of weeks. We have been watching Horned Frog football on the weekends, but the games don't come on until around 9pm our time, so we have plenty of time to do other stuff on the weekends!

A couple of weeks ago we went to this little wine place near Lausanne (Rivaz), Vinorama. It was a nice little spot to enjoy a picture-perfect Saturday.

People have been out on Lake Geneva enjoying the fall weather we're having. We woke up to this a couple of weeks ago.

We spent some time in Vevey as well, as they have a market on Saturday mornings. 

We also finally got a babysitter one Saturday night and enjoyed dinner and drinks out. We were watching the Frogs on the iPhone via Slingbox.

During the week Baby K and I are just making our way around, out and about doing stuff. Two times a week we go to 'Fit Mama' boot camp in Lausanne, held in Parc Milan. This past week it was rainy and cold. But, we did as the Swiss do, and abided by the saying, there is no bad weather, only bad clothing and worked out despite bad weather.

On off days we may run down by the lake.

We've worked a little bit on the garden as well. Baby K likes to be outside and help when possible.

Baby K and Tanner have also become best buds.

Last weekend we had some friends who just recently moved to Basel from Texas down to Montreux. We strolled around a bit, grilled hamburgers and watched college football. It was really fun to do something so familiar to all of us.

J&M have a daughter who is just over a year. She and Baby K got along great, squealing at each other quite a bit. I see much more hangout time for Baby M and Baby K in the future, including some travel, I'm sure!

So that's just a brief update, but now you're in the know about a little bit of what we've been up to. This weekend holds more college football in store and enjoying the great weather we've been having.

Hope you all have a great Friday and a happy weekend too!

What am I doing?

My loves!

I haven't blogged in a while, and I'm not quite sure why. We've been getting into a routine and making Montreux our home for a couple of weeks now. I think I keep saying we're working on getting settled because I'm trying to figure out what I'm doing. Not with the blog, not with Baby K, but more just with my life in general.

I'm a stay at home mom now. That is a little strange for me to write, and not something I thought would ever be part of who I am. These past couple of weeks have really been the first time that I've admitted this to myself and acknowledged this is what I'm doing right now in my life. Even now, when people ask me what I do, my response is usually that I'm a social worker. That may sound strange to some, but no other response has ever even crossed my mind. It's like I can't let that part of my identity go (nor do I plan to).

I'm struggling though. Even though I very much recognize we're so fortunate to be where we are right now, including me not working, I just don't think the not working part is for me.  I want to do something. And not that taking care of Baby K is not important work and doing something, but I think I need more.

Typically during the week I find myself trying to get into various social activities with other moms and expats in our area, just wanting to get out to meet and interact with other people in a similar situation. Those have been good, and I have met some new people, but most things are purely social. I've noticed this desire within myself to solve problems and make a difference somehow; maybe it's just the need I have to contribute to something bigger than myself, BK and Baby K. BK is becoming more and more relevant in his career and I know I also have a fear that I won't be relevant when we return to the US.

But of course, I'm assuming like most moms out there, I go back and forth. Do I really want someone else looking after Baby K so I can get a job or at least volunteer on a regular basis? What happens to the lifestyle we've led for the past year-and-a-half? Would we be able to travel as freely? Would Baby K and I still be able to go to the US for a month at a time, so we really have quality time there? Can I have it both ways?

I feel certain some of my frustration comes from feeling like I am hitting a wall getting answers about childcare and being able to volunteer my skills somewhere. People pretty much look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that I want Baby K to be in creche two days a week. Not to mention that as a family unit with one parent not working, we fall to the very bottom of the priority list.

I'm not really sure how things will play out. BK and I have started the conversation about what we want things to look like, so hopefully we can figure out what works best for us as a family. It's the age old question of how to have time individually, as a couple and as a family too. How do you make it work?

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll share what's happening with us and how things are working out. Until the next time!