Travelling to a different time zone. How does it effect Babies?

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Hi,
I'm travelling with my 4 months old son in two weeks time from Hong Kong to Denmark a 6 hour time difference. I'm a bit worried about how the time different will effect his schedule.
What are your experience?

I was wondering what happens and what to do with his schedule when we get there?
How do we get him to sleep during the night? in Denmark
and how do we get him back to his schedule when we get come back?

He's on the Gina Ford schedule. which goes like this:

wake up at 7am feed.
sleep at 9am for 45m
feed at 11am
sleep at 12 till 2.15pm
feed at 2.15pm
15m nap at 5pm
bath at 5.45pm
feed at 6pm
sleep around 7pm
feed at 10.30pm
sleep at 11pm till 7am

more question not regarding schedule.

Do airline provide seat belt for babies? or do I have to get one of those flight belt?

How much breast milk can I bring on the flight?
If I bring frozen breast milk how do I prove it is breast milk?
I heard you have to taste it in front of the guards. My breast milk will be stored in a sealed frozen bag. Do I have to get some out to taste it?
 
your baby will suffer jet lag, just like you do.

a rule of thumb is one day for each hour change. 6 hours shouldn't be too bad. i took my two kids to canada, a 14 hour change.

as for breastmilk....ummmm.... why would you need to bring any? you will be travelling with your breasts, right? you will be MUCH less stressed just feeding directly.

as for seatbelts, airlines do not provide them. i bought a baby b'air vest and found it completely useless.
 
Hi Carang,
Yes I will be travelling with my boobs, I want to bring some milk just in case. I get quite sore boobs if I feed directly all day.

Thanks for the advise.

any tips and tricks to get better service from the airlines?
 
I just travelled to Canada (12 hrs time difference) with my then 4.5 month old. He was extremely jetlagged and disoriented for nearly a week. We just travelled back here after three weeks. Again, very jetlagged, though not disoriented.
On the Canadian side I tried to fight it with him. he wanted to sleep all day, but I woke him up every couple of hours. At night he woke up and just cried and cried for 2-3 hrs. This went on for a few more days. When we got back, since I was totally exhausted too, we just both slept whenever we wanted and for the first few nights if he wanted to be awake, I let him and we went out into the living room and played (well, I watched tv) for a couple of hours until he got sleepy again. It`s been a week and he`s totally over it now.
I breastfed on the plane directly so I don`t know about the breastmilk questions you have though. How long is the flight? I wouldn`t recommend bringing frozen milk either since it`s just such a hassle to do anything on the plane - so much easier just to open your shirt.
Do you have a bassinette? I didn`t on the way there, and though I was with my husband, I will never have a lap baby again. It was not nice and I didn`t sleep a wink for 15 hrs. Coming back I was alone, though with a bassinette. When he actually slept in it, it was heaven.
I found ALL the plane staff the be really helpful and even adoring of my little one. I got extra water(they gave me a big bottle to keep at my seat) since I was breastfeeding. When I was alone, eating was a bit tricky. I had one attendent offer to hold my baby while I ate if I was able to wait until after the service was over and eat late. Luckily, before long my baby fell asleep and I could eat. A lot of the attendents are mothers themselves so they are quite willing to lend an extra hand if you need it. I was really pleased with the `special` service I got, and it was readily given to me. I don`t think you will have to worry.
As for seatbelt, there are no special ones. You wear yours and just hold your baby in over the shoulder position for take off and landing. I nursed my baby instead and nobody said anything.
Good luck! I feel for you!
 
Going to Europe should fine IF you are on a night flight, when you arrive early morning just put him straight onto his normal morning schedule - you may have to add in an extra daytime nap to make sure he goes to bed at 7pm European time.

We've never had any jet lag going there or problem getting our daughter onto her GF schedule, but coming back is the killer. Each time it took around 4-5 days for her to acclimatize back to HK time. they tend to wake up at 2am for a few hours and want to play!

I took frozen EBM on board once and kept it in ice provided by the airline staff, I didn't have to taste it going through customs at all. However, if you are going via LHR they can be pretty strict.

No seatbelt required, they will give you a lap belt for take off and landing and hopefully you have reserved the basinette seat? Otherwise take a baby bjorn or sling.
 
BTW, I've pumped on board also with no problem. Feeding direct with my son was fine too, I used a nursing cover until the lights went out and after that no-one can see anyway.

Our most recent flight was practically empty so I would move to a spare two-seater as it was really private and comfortable to sit and feed in the window seat.
 
We have an midnight direct flight so no need for nasty LHR (I hate that airport try to avoid it every time we travel) it's a 12 hour flight.
There's a bassinet on the flight so we want have to bring one. unless all the seat with a bassinets are taken.

Thanks all for your helpful advise!! cheers :)
 
Do you mean that you didn`t book the bassinette seat ahead of time? If not, I would call them asap and book it. I tried to book mine 10 weeks ahead and it was booked already.
 
If you didn't purchase a seat for your baby, I would ask if there are any empty seats that you could get and put your baby in the carseat on the plane. If that's not an option then definately request a bulk head seat. When I flew with my then three month old she sleep sooooo well in the car seat and never fussed. On the return trip, she was 4.5 months old and we didn't have an empty seat for the car seat and it was very difficult to hold her and she was extremely uncomfortable and cried until we got this bassinet type thing (it basically looked like a duffle bag). We had to put her infront of our feet on the floor but she managed to fall asleep for the rest of the flight after that.
 
i highly recommend forgetting about taking along frozen breastmilk.... the headaches that would involve, i cannot begin to imagine. you will have a high enough stress level that you don't need to add to them.

you would:
have to maintain the temperature of the milk
carry along bottles, nipples, cleaning tools
worry about sterilising them
worry about warming up the milk
worry about whether the milk is melting too quickly
worry about whether the milk is going off

if necessary, i would take a pump and a bottle, if your nipples really can't handle 4-5 direct feeds over the course of 12 hours. (no judgement, just in case it sounds like i'm making one! )
 
keep in mind with carseats, it is not recommended to keep a small baby in one for extended periods of time. something like 2 hours max...

i never travelled with one, simply because i've taken my kids back on my own and just didn't have any extra hands to carry one along with everything else i had to carry.

to set your mind at rest, travelling with a child younger than 1 is not very difficult, it is once they get mobile and want to explore that it becomes increasingly hard.

good luck and most importantly.... HAVE FUN!
 
Hi Carang,
Thanks for the advise. Didn't take to comment the wrong way at all.
I think I want take any frozen breast milk with me after all. I'll def bring a pump with me though.
Hopefully by the time we fly I can feed him exclusively on the breast, Its been 2 whole days that I've been feeding him on the breast. still a little bit sore. I have one breast which he seem to have a bit of problem in sucking so it gets very sore. but it's getting better.

We do have a rocker which he loves sitting and sleeping in and it's big enough for him to be comfortable in so if the worst comes to it we'll take that with us on the flight.
 
the other thing i was going to mention is that if it is a night flight and your baby normally sleeps fairly well at night, you won't have any trouble. you may not even have to feed as often as i suggested. you baby will most likely follow his current schedule and therefore not need any feedings except on waking up just before landing.

as for sore nipples.... that will get better with use...you'll get used to it & baby will become more adept at it with practice.

when i took my 2 year old and my 5 week old to canada (36 hours door-to-door, via tokyo, portland, vancouver, kamloops, calgary and finally regina... oh wait, there was a blizzard and we were diverted to saskatoon where we sat on the runway for over 4 hours, unable to disembark because there was no security for us, then finally back to regina) on my own, the one saving grace for me was that i was exclusively breastfeeding. it was SOOOOOO much easier than having to worry about bottles, formula, sterilising etc. i don't even think i took a pump with me....can't remember, that trip is a total blur!
 
Gosh, What airline is this that you can't book a bassinet more than 38 hours? Also, in case you are a frequent flier with this particular airline- try throwing a fit!.... Seriously! Sometimes these guys just don't get it when they come up with such rules and only become flexible till you absolutely demand it...

Most American airlines do not have a seat belt for the kid, but Cathay does (which slides on to yours); its a pain and not very practical frankly. God forbid something were to happen, and we had to evacuate- I would spend more time undoing the damn belt than running for safety.
 
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The web site said that we couldn't book 38hours before the flight. but we rang them today and manage took the bassinet. it was klm.
The requirement is that your baby must be less than 10kg and less than 65cm. He's 9.2kg and 64.5cm so by the time we fly he might be over weight and too long. We're going to lie about his weight, lets hope they don't check.
 
9.2 kg and he`s only 4.5 months? WOW! Healthy littly guy!
The bassinette on my flight was pretty small. But even if your baby is too big by then, at least you`ll have the good seats and the option of putting him somewhere even if it`s just for a bit.
 
Rather than take frozen milk I'd try to take fresh milk. Fresh breast milk will last for up to seven days in the fridge and even at 15 degree (C) it will last for 24 hours. If you have it in a cooler bag with the frozen blue packs it will be fine. And fresh milk is much easier to deal with then frozen milk.

Sore nipples are usually because of positioning problems. If you send me your email address I can send you some photos which might clarify the latching technique to avoid soreness.

On Wednesday morning LLL is having a meeting in Starbucks, Alexandra House, Central. You are very welcome to join us and we can discuss the latching face to face. All our meeting details are at LLL-HK Meetings

Best wishes,
SARAH
 
KLM.... I have flown them before, such an uptight airline. Don't worry, they will not weigh your baby:)
I traveled with a 3.5 month old (long haul) and then again when he was 5 months (short haul). I breastfed on the flight but took all my pumping gear along. The baby did not really have much jet lag. He is also on GF routine. What I had heard and would highly recommend doing is to make sure that your baby gets up at 7am local time and starts his routine feeds, no matter what time he slept at night. Then he can have one or 2 naps more because he may be very tired but try to keep him up during sunshine hours- not Denmark sunshine hours though!!...LOL My baby adjusted within a day or so.
 
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