My Week on the Road…
My week on the road with George…
Returning from a whirlwind trip to Tauranga and Auckland, I have had to spend the weekend recovering, getting George back in a routine and allowing us to catch up on sleep!
While I have travelled the world with a newborn, this trip was shattering, as unlike all those trips, for example, Delhi to Kashmir with a 3-week-old for a week, I was doing this alone!
The timing of packing a car, working out travel times that suit his sleep and fit in with friends and family and the work I had to do…. Not to mention remembering to ensure I was fed and watered to keep my milk supply up! Lucky for George, I am well-practised at this, but I was shattered by the time I got home.
The knowledge and experience that I was grateful for were knowing how to adapt his routine to fit in with the periods of sleep that were cut short by the filming that I was doing, getting him back on track for his usual evening routine so that I could get sleep and cope with the load I had to take on the next day!
It can be very easy to flag everything you have created when you are away; it is much easier in a way to ‘go with the flow’, but often the repercussions are not worth it, and one thing I was sure of was the fact that I was going to need my sleep at night to be able to do my work and drive safely.
While I was driving or feeding in the night, I thought about all that I had been through on this journey or even in the first three days of being home, Fussy feeding, resettling, how to avoid a baby waking in the car while you are driving alone, practising the 80/20 rule that I have preached for many years and juggling family and friends whom all want to meet, hold and give love to the little man.
The 80/20 rule is about giving a baby consistency but being mindful that there are days and times when you need to break routine. So when for example, George woke early when arriving at a friend’s house to stay, instead of taking him to the room to resettle him, ignoring a 3yr old who was so excited to see him, I let him get up and interact. It made his little friend Grey’s afternoon, and George got to share a bath with her too, but there were repercussions, he was tough to feed, exhausted, and I had to comfort him more than usual and take him to a quiet space to feed before settling to bed for the night (with a couple of resettles too!).
Fussy feeding usually starts around 6-9 weeks of age. These babies are very aware, very visual and curious and will often do this when out and about or if a mother’s milk flow is fast, and so with George, it was to start with the feeding in different places; he took the first part of the feed with no problem. Still, he then would not take the rest, resulting in him waking 1x more in the night and then a sudden increase of milk (after three days on the road), and then he fussed at my supply being too much!! Suddenly, he wanted to be a single side feeder, not both sides like he had been. Argh, because I know what this creates with many babies, snack feeding in the day, catch up at night… then they are not as hungry in the day and very hungry at night – and so the new cycle goes!
So when I got home, three days I spent rising above his complaining at the breast, expressing to help reduce the fullness for the start of the day feeds, and then we, by day 3, were returning to our usual routine. Phew!
While away, I took his bassinet, but what I did love, to avoid disturbing him from his sleep so often, was using the mountain buggy carry cot, which fits inside the bassinet fitting for the buggy… this was so great when visiting someone and popping him down for a sleep before a walk.
Also, the clip-and-go option with the car seat and buggy… I am using that where I need to pop into shops, I don’t want to lift the capsule where possible post surgery and a weak back and being able to lock it onto the buggy wheels makes it less disturbing for him… his does look like he is riding high, people are tempted to come and say hi because he not hidden away under the hood of the bassinet!
Yesterday was a prime example of how I love routine; I had TVNZ come down for the day to finish filming; they were doing a follow-up story on me after the story ten years ago… So I needed George to be looked after for a couple of hours…. Lucky for me, my friend and neighbour who work at home could do it, and so into his carry cot, down the road, we walked. I settled him to sleep, and 2.5hrs later (my feed was due at 2pm ish), I had a text at 2.05pm saying he was awake!! She only got to have snuggles just at the end!
Now I am on day 6 of being home; George is back on track with settling and sleeping; days 4 and 5 were good, but day six was great! Each day he got easier and easier, but this morning was just dreamy… a sleepy yawn after 1hr 15, and I swaddled and into bed after 1hr 20; I heard a few grizzles as I finished off expressing, but soon it was quiet and by 1hr 25, he was asleep…no need for settling technique or dummy (he is a sucky boy!) and no crying, bless him. I have to say; I love routine! So from 3 wakings in the night for the last few days of my working trip (fussy feeding in the day/hungry at night), then back to 2 wakings, then last night I had just one.
