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22
Dec 2010

Do you have a sound machine?

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Experienced Travel

Kids are often awake on a plane when others aren't (or don't want to be).

We have done a lot of traveling with our 2 kids.  It used to be that taking the short 2-hour flight with one very content child from Iowa to Texas would stress me out.  2 years, 1 child, and dozens of flights later, I chuckle as I think about all the places and time zones we’ve been in.  Very little stresses me out now.  Maybe that’s a wee overstatement, but I usually fly very confidently with both my children.

Most of my confidence comes from experience and preparedness.  I usually think through all the timing and changes I can and try to plan accordingly.  I have come to know both what bothers my children and what aides them in getting the rest they need, regardless of the time zone or transportation.  I have also resigned myself that travel of any kind just doesn’t afford kids the same routine, and that’s okay.  Losing a few hours of sleep is the price we pay for the privilege of traveling.

Do You Have a Sound Machine?

I will say that one of our funnier moments was when we caught a late night flight from Germany back to Scotland, but not our city.  We landed at 11pm and still had a 3 or 4 hour drive to get home.  In hindsight, we should have gotten a hotel.  Sadly we assumed that our kids would nod off and sleep most of the time.  Well, that didn’t happen.  Our older daughter did her best to sleep, but our son, bless his heart, was continually disturbed by the lights from the oncoming cars.  He would wake up, screaming, right next to his sister.  Since they both are normally quiet while sleeping, our daughter had never had to deal with this kind of noise.  She did her best to sleep through it, but finally asked with bleary eyes and a tired voice, “Do you have a sound machine?”

That was the day (well, the night) we learned several things.  First, if it’s well after bed time for everyone, go ahead and get a hotel room.  Second, do what you can to prepare the kids for the changed environment by talking about it ahead of time.  Lastly, bring our portable sound machine for overnight car trips.

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06
Dec 2010

Sound Machines for the Holidays {& Extra Family!}

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Holiday Travel

It’s the holiday season.  If you did in fact survive Thanksgiving, then you only have Christmas left to go.  And it’s not that the day itself is all that bad, it’s all the days surrounding it.  If your family is anything like mine then you have lots (and lots) of company…at your house.  Or, maybe you’re the company…at their house.  Either way, no matter how well you might get along, it’s an acoustic nightmare.  From nap time to bed time, household noise can be quite stressful.  Whether you’re worried about the noise your own family is making for others or vice versa, many hours of sleep can be lost.  The result is haggard and harried people the next morning, none of whom are very festive or excited about eggnog.

Sound Machine App #1

If your company is making noise, use a sound machine for your own family.  It will help cover the added noise of extra people so that you (and your children) can still get good sleep.

Sound Machine App #2

If it’s your own children making too much noise for grandma or other visiting kids, why not offer a sound machine to your company?  They can choose a nature sound they like and tune out your own rowdy kids.

Sound Machine App #3

If you find yourself traveling for the holidays, it’s time to consider a portable sound machine.  Chances are, you’ll feel more relaxed and more at home.

Whether it’s for you or your guests, sound machines are a wise investment because they protect everyone’s number one concern: sleep.

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06
May 2010

Tips for Jet Lag Reduction

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Moving Overseas

My husband, 2 small children (2 and 4 months at the time) , and I moved overseas almost 2 years ago.  It was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever dealt with emotionally.  Not only I had I recently had a baby (which does a number on my emotional state) and sold my favorite house I’ve ever lived in, I also had to say good-bye to my friends and family for 4 years while my husband earned his PhD.  I took it on myself to do the bulk of the packing because I knew I wouldn’t see any of our stuff for the duration of those 4 years- I wanted to be the one to decide what to store and what to give away.  In addition, we were still getting up with our baby at night, whether it was a feeding or a paci-replacement effort.  So, after everything was packed, sold, give away, or stored, and after we lived with family for 2 months and then said good-bye, the real fatigue set in….right when we skipped several time zones to Scotland.  It was a 6-hour time difference that I had never before experienced, much less with 2 little ones.

Tips for Jet Lag Reduction

Jet lag is pretty miserable anyway.  Arriving already exhausted only makes it worse.  But, as adults, we can reason through it and promise ourselves naps or coffee or whatever it takes to muster up the energy to keep going.  Unfortunately, children do not have the same ability to realize why they feel so tired or to talk themselves into sleeping even when they don’t feel like it.

So, we found that protecting their sleep was essential.  Here are some of the ways we ensured they (and therefore we) got good sleep:

  • Count on 1 day for every hour of change.  So, we had a 6 hour change- therefore, it took about 6 days for everyone to be completely back on track and feeling well.
  • Be reasonable in your expectations- you can’t expect to regain 6 hours in 1 night, no matter how tired you are.  (see #1)
  • Eat meals on the NEW time schedule.  This will help your (ahem) bowels, as well as your ability to sleep at the new times.
  • Shorten naps- don’t allow yourself or your children to nap for long periods during the day (unless they are infants).  This will only prolong the nighttime troubles.
  • Decide on a course of action for middle of the night wakings- will you snack a bit, get a drink of water, watch a movie, etc.?  You’ll make better choices ahead of time than in the moment.
  • Get black out blinds- almost everyone sleeps better in a dark room.
  • Use white noise.  Chances are you’ll be sleeping at odd times, possibly when the world around you is up and about (and therefore making noise).  Thus, mask it with white noise and they even have jet lag sound machines.
  • Be patient- you’ll get on track, I promise.
Categories: Tips and Tricks Tags: , ,
27
Apr 2010

Why You Need Portable White Noise

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White Noise Revelation

It's important to get a small, portable generator so it's not a stressful addition.

I have posted several times about using white noise for travel.  I’m not really sure how I ever lived without my trusty, portable white noise generator.  We never actually used white noise until we had children and started getting annoyed at barking dogs or loud neighborhood children waking them prematurely.  The first white noise we used was a fan.  It did the trick of covering problem noises, but presented several new problems:

  1. It was large and heavy, and therefore cumbersome to carry around, let alone pack in the car with all the suit cases and other essentials, such as the actual children and car seats, etc.
  2. It was unsafe.  Even though I trained my daughter not to touch the fan, I was constantly worried about her curious little fingers.  Plus, after reading about how Mike Tyson’s daughter accidentally strangled herself on the cord of an elliptical machine, I was nervous about cords.

Why you Need Portable White Noise, too

So, we invested in good, portable white noise generators.  Here’s what they bring to the table (or a hotel room, for that matter):

  1. They are small and weigh virtually nothing.  Thus, they are easy to pack and hardly take up any precious baggage space (which is important since airlines have severely limited what you can bring for free).
  2. They can be plugged in or can operate on batteries.  So, if you’re worried about safety, you can eliminate any cord use.
  3. Obviously, they cover noise.  So, wherever you are, you are not held captive to ambient noise.  This can be clutch, especially if you’re by the elevator or below partiers in a hotel- or anywhere in a Latin-American or UK or European hotel the night of a soccer game.  Yikes.  Been there and didn’t sleep because it was before my white noise revelation.  Tragedy.

Portable, reliable white noise generators are honestly one of the best investments we’ve ever made.  In fact, we have 3- 1 for each bedroom.  And they are the first things we pack, no matter where we go.  (And we go a LOT of places).

Categories: Tips and Tricks Tags: , ,
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