Ben: hotslings & 15 hour plane ride

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 20 June 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

So we were in a bit of a panic because SQ said it couldn't provide a bassinet for our 15 hour plane ride back to Singapore. "I'm sorry. All the bassinets have been booked. You are on the waiting list. There is nothing we can do." That was the standard reply every time we called them - and I did call them quite a fair bit, as I was truly worried that the plane ride would be a disaster if I had no bassinet to lay Ben down to sleep and had to, instead, carry him for 15 hours in my non-atheletic, highly non-muscular arms. ^__^

Well, we prayed about it a lot. And I also went ahead to buy a hotsling. This is an angmoh brand sling which looked both comfortable & easy to use. I had first heard about hotslings from my friend, S., who, being the entreprenuerial stay-at-home mom she is, imports hotslings into Singapore to sell. No rings to pull and adjust in different directions - those ring slings always confuse me and I never got the hang of them! In contrast, this hotsling was simply put-on-and put-baby-in, AND it could be easily folded into the size of a handkerchief folded twice over.

We had a lot of fun when the hotsling arrived a week before our departure. After I put Ben in the hotsling, I was so tickled. Just look at the picture! He looks so 'befuddled'. "Mommy, what you doing to me?" So cuute! I started putting Ben in the hotsling for his naps to "practice" for the plane ride. And he did very well - he'd fall asleep almost immediately once he was in the sling. Praise God! It was also fun going out to the playground with Ben in the sling & Dan walking by my side. You know, I was never into "wearing my baby" ^__^, but this sling was really kind of attractive.

Skip forward to the plane ride. So how was the 15 hour journey? Hmm. I would say, on balance, it was better than expected. I had ridiculously low expectations. I thought - come on, sitting in cramped economy seating, with baby on your lap for 15 hours. Can't pee. Can't move. Can only pick at your meals. Or have Husband feed you scrap morsels. What could be worse? I think my low expectations helped to make things turn out 'better'. ^__^ Ben was fed while we waited to board the plane, then I put him in the sling and he was asleep even before we got to our seats! He managed to sleep 7 hours in the sling - but not continuously. Every hour or so, he would shift his position and wake up. Or, I would start slouching in my seat and his arm would be cramped up against my body and he'd wake up because it was uncomfortable. Basically, I had to keep getting out of my seat and walking up and down the aisle and patting furiously to get him to go back to sleep. I felt really bad for the passengers around me. But hey, it was still better than what I had expected! (And at least my kid didn't cry continuously for 45 mins, like some other kids on the plane. A mother's consolation is that other kids behave worse that hers. HAHA.)

I was also really thankful that 22 month old Dan was an angel on the plane. True, he refused to sleep at his normal time - he was so excited, he slept from 1.20am (when we boarded) to 2.30am ONLY, then he woke and just kept looking around at all the passengers and activity going on. However, he was strangely quiet, not tired or fussy, and just very happy to sit and stare and absorb everything. He eventually went back to sleep after a few hours of 'absorption', and slept for another 4.5 hours straight. He usually sleeps 12 hours at night, but hey, 4.5 hours is better than nothing yea? Whoohoo!

Well, anyway, I am so glad we survived the plane ride. There were definitely a few moments when I, who only took two 30-minute naps on the plane, was about to lose it. But all in all, it worked out, thank God for that.

So would I use the hotsling again? I think I might - for short naps or for short trips out. But definitely, kids sleep better when they are lying flat and in their beds (and swaddled!). Or at least, Ben does. Especially when you're talking about overnight sleep of long periods, like for Ben, who usually sleep 10 hours straight these days.

In any case, I am really glad I got to use this hotsling & try it out. I'm always being forced into trying out these newfangled things and then realising they're not that bad after all. (I have a strange suspicion of newfangled things, especially for babies.) More on that later.

But now... the challenge is to overcome jetlag!!