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Jetlag is never fun, so imagine fighting it with three young kiddos.
Yes, brutal is the word.
I've already been through this a few times with my twins and it was definitely no cakewalk, so I knew factoring in another five-month-old infant couldn't make things any easier.
Well, this is one of those rare situations when I'm downright glad to be wrong.
Once back in the U.S., we all expected to stay up nights for at least a good three weeks.
That's roughly how long it took my twins to overcome jetlag in their past three time zone-crossing travel experiences.
This time, just one week.
Seriously.
It took pretty much just one single week to get them in tune with the local time.
I couldn't believe it either.
That first night when the three girls slept through the night from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m., I could almost hear the hallelujah chorus.
So what made the difference this time?
I'd say the biggest one is that me, the mom, learned to loosen up and go with the flow.
In our past trips, when my twins were up at 2 a.m. ready to rock and roll, I was frustrated and annoyed, only in a rush to put them back to sleep.
I thought responding to their needs would only encourage them to continue waking up at odd hours.
I thought the act of ignoring was the smartest way to go.
Turns out, that's where I was wrong.
This time, when the girls were up at 1 a.m., not only did I let them play as if it was daytime outside, I also gave them a full breakfast, something I did not do in the past.
Again, I didn't want them to get into the habit of waking up in the middle of the night asking for food.
But I figured, if their little bodies are telling them to get up at 1 a.m. and eat, that's what they'll need before being able to go back to sleep.
Instead of prolonging the time awake for another three hours, I decided to feed them right away.
And it wasn't just some light snack kind of breakfast. It was a full-blown meal with rice, soup and the whole shebang.
Of course, Baby C got her share of formula, regardless of the time.
I realized that infants also tend to feed erratically during the first few heavily jetlagged days.
So during those very first days, we were all up at 1 a.m. for breakfast, the kids would play for about an hour to two hours max and return to sleep.
They'd get about a three-hour nap and be up for the day anytime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.
It wasn't that bad from the start.
And as the week progressed, they all began to wake up later and later until they eventually stopped waking until morning.
I made sure to go out in the sun at least two hours a day to help fight drowsiness and pick up more energy.
As you can see, it's not like I did anything phenomenal.
I simply allowed my kids be the boss and followed their needs, but the result almost sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?
Experienced parents should know how disastrous jetlag can be.
So for those newbie travelers who plan to cross a time zone or two with your little one, it may be worth trying out my latest method.
It's too easy, especially deep in the middle of the night, to lose patience over sleep, so be sure to prepare yourself mentally by accepting the fact that you may not get any sleep for a few days at your new destination.
Once that's your starting point, things can only get better.
Ah, parenting calls for so much mind control.
But take it from this experienced mom, it's all worth it.
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