Ben: jetlagged!

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 22 June 2007 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

One thing I was absolutely not looking forward to about coming home to Singapore was getting my kids over jetlag. When we went to America last year, then-13-month-old Dan took 10 days to fully overcome jetlag. There was lots of waking up at night, crying, and falling asleep in the middle of the day. And now, coming home with 2 kids, I anticipated the jetlag adjustments to be doubly difficult...

But you know what? Kids surprise you. 4 month old Ben has been adjusting well to jetlag, only after 2 days. I am truly amazed at this kid's ability to adjust and to sleep sleep sleep. Here's a short run-down of what's happened:

Ben usually knocks off around 8pm. I give him a short feed at 10.30pm/11pm (Gina Ford fans will know about this 'short feed' part of the routine) and he wakes up at 8.30am the next day. The day we flew, he knocked off at 7pm. We managed to get him into the airport shuttle van and he stayed asleep till we got to the airport at 10.30pm - then, he woke up!! But, he didn't cry for milk or anything. Jus lay in his pram staring. Amazing! This was good because we took a very long time to check in at the counter and go through security. By the time we arrived at our gate, it was almost midnight (I kid you not!). Still Ben just lay there, awake, but quiet. I tell you this kid is amazing...

So anyway, I decided to feed him and put him in the sling. He fell asleep at 12.30am in the sling and so when we boarded the plane, he was already in snoozeland. YAY.

Ben managed to sleep for 7 hours in the hotsling, albeit with a lot of patting & walking up and down the aisles. So, he woke at 7am, which is roughly his normal waking time. AH - BUT, he was still on California time 7am. This is actually 10PM SINGAPORE TIME. Of course, I was fully aware that should he go through his whole routine, he'd basically be awake fom 10PM SINGAPORE TIME and sleep at 10AM SINGAPORE TIME. Which means, he'd wake up and start his next day at 10PM SINGAPORE TIME... which is, essentially, horribly ridiculous. All I could do at that point, while seated on the plane, was to just cross my fingers and hope for the best. And pray.

And strangely, Ben adapted! He took more naps, shorter ones, and ate more frequently. And, when we landed in Singapore at 11.25AM (Singapore time), he was still awake! Don't ask me how that happened. I think he just couldn't sleep - he was probably a bit fed up of the sling & uncomfortable, so he couldn't sleep. I guess the excitement of being in a new place, plus the indescribably humid weather made him stay up too. In fact, Ben stayed up while we piled our luggage into the car, he stayed up IN THE CAR (car rides usually put him straight to sleep) and he stayed up to play with all the rellies who came to our house. He finally lost it and started crying out of tiredness at 1pm. So I put him to bed. I gave him his short feed (a la Gina Ford) at 7pm that day. And then, he woke up at 2am to start his day. So, he did sleep for his regular 12 hours period, but it's just that it was the 'wrong' 12 hours - from 1pm to 2am!

Still, it was much better than expected. (I had expected he would sleep from 10am to 10pm remember? Then, I'd have to stay up ALL night with him, from 10pm to 10am! This way, I actually got some sleep, before having to start the day with him at 2am)

So that was Day 1.
Day 2 was even more amazing. We basically stretched his schedule so that he knocked off for the day at 3.30pm. I gave him his short feed (a la Gina Ford) at 7.30pm that day. AND THEN, GET THIS (drum roll!!!!). BENJAMIN SLEPT TILL 7AM THE NEXT DAY!!! This means that he slept for about 15 hours!!! (3.30pm to 7.30pm is 4 hours. Then, after short feed, 7.45pm to 7am is about 11 hours!) This boy is RIDICULOUSLY amazing.

So, by Day 3, Ben was waking at a highly reasonable hour of 7am and sleeping at 6.45pm.

My ideal is if he can wake at 8am and sleep at 8pm. And that minor adjustment should be absolutely no problem, given all the major adjustments he's made in the past 2 days.

I really don't know how he did it. But I truly praise God for it. Sleeping for 15 hours! WOW!

But what I do notice is that despite all the sleep, Ben is still more tired than usual when he's awake during the day. He'll cry a lot more because he's cranky and he'll fall asleep more at the breast. I think his body clock is still adjusting but at least all the major adjustments seem to be over with!

(And if you're wondering why I'm typing this out at 5.40am ... YES, I AM JETLAGGED HAHAHAHA ... but thank God both my kids are asleep!)