Sleep is for the weak
The toddler and I are just back from two weeks in Vancouver, where we visited my brother, his wife, their toddler son and their scrumptious newborn daughter.
Everything I worried about in advance of the trip – the plane journeys, the adjustment to the time difference on the way out, how the toddlers would get on – it was all a waste of time. Jetlag on our return – that’s what I should have been worried about! The plane journeys couldn’t have gone better. I think the fact we were taking night flights each time helped enormously. On the way out, she slept for six hours of the nine hour flight from Heathrow, and on the way back, she fell asleep one hour into the flight and then stayed asleep for the remainder of the flight and our transfer through Heathrow. Amazing. And I have Knee to Knee Slings to thank for that. Before I left, the Dun Laoghaire-based store loaned me a Lenny Lamb ergonomic sling to review for the two weeks. It was amazing. I swear the thing came loaded with sleepy dust and the toddler slept peacefully in it the whole way through Heathrow on the way home. I didn’t even have to remove her from it going through security. It was fantastic.
So now we’re home and trying to recover from the seven hour time difference. We’re making progress. We got back to Ireland at 6pm on Saturday and Saturday night was a bit of a mess. Yesterday I felt like I’d been run over when I dragged myself out of bed at 9am. But last night was much better. She was in bed asleep at 7.30pm and slept until 4am. So now we’re up and I’m sneaking in this blog post while she watches an episode of Bernard (the Mr Bean of polar bears in case you’re unfamiliar with him – you’ll find him and all his antics on Netflix).
Hopefully we’ll continue along this track for the week and be over the jetlag by Thursday or so. Why is it so much worse travelling East than West? Maybe that’s a question for Dr How’s Science Wows?
Disclosure
I received a Lenny Lamb sling on a two week trial from Knee to Knee Slings for the purposes of completing a review. And I am a member of the Netflix Stream team.
Glad the travelling went well, but the jetlag is always hard and frustrating. The main difference that it is harder travelling East to West is that you loose time while you travel so it is a much harder adjustment to the time zone in the West.
Our circadian rhythm gets knocked out of sync and it is worse the more time zones we cross. That couple with reduced blood oxygen, lack of exercise and dehydration during the flight, really make the transition harder.
There are a few tips for preparing before or during the flight but once you arrive home you can try a little natural light therapy. When travelling East try to avoid early morning sunlight but get as much as you can in the afternoon and evening, that may help readjust your internal clock more quickly.
Aside from the jetlag I hope you had a great holiday and thanks for the question, I think Dr. How will have a blog post out of this too 😉
Naomi Lavelle recently posted..Mystery Creature revealed – the Sea Pig
I’m glad the travelling went as good as it did – I’ve heard the slings make a massive difference, we have yet to brave going anywhere further than wexford with tiny man but definitely looking into it for future holidays! The jet lag is a pain, hopefully it will go away sooner rather than later!
Lisa – Four Walls, Rainy Days recently posted..Must-Do Monday – Cork City Edition
OOh wow, what a great trip! Glad it went so well. PS I love your new header with the owls!
Thanks Joanna. We had a wonderful time. And the Owls are courtesy of my husband. I love them.