Our first 24 hours in India are behind us and, of course, I’m reflecting on the journey with a newborn in tow. There’s no fancy way I want to say this, so here goes:
Observation: You – a former party of two, previously notorious and proud of your light-packing capabilities – are now a party of three and you travel with a bunch of shit. At least you did on your first cross-continental flight. (I’ll stop referring to us in the third person.)
After our three checked bags, we had two carry-ons, my handbag and the car seat (to be gate-checked).
OK, maybe not that much, but it’s a lot for mostly one person to unpack through TSA. While I wore Saira and had some hand function, the majority of the work fell on Murali who handled it – as he does a lot of things – like a champ.
A trick: Don’t think about what other people are thinking about you in the security line. You’re fine. Take your time. Don’t sweat.
Observation: During your layover, find an airport lounge, pay the fee to enter, and enter. You’ll have food, drinks, WiFi, sofas, bathrooms and a semi-quiet corner to stretch out all your stuff and play with your kid.
A trick: You don’t need a fancy credit card to take advantage of an airport lounge. There are those open to the public after you pay your entrance fee.
Observation: Fellow passengers might look at you and newborn and groan to themselves. It’s OK. Just smile and nod. Let his/her cuteness invade their souls.
A trick: Board last. One of my momma-traveling friends told me this and it’s brilliant. Send your partner on ahead during infant boarding, but you and the actual infant stay behind to the very, very end. This gives you the advantage of walking and bouncing for as long as possible.
Observation: Flying was basically Saira’s version of paradise. She was held/swaddled/worn the majority of the time in what sounded like the insides of a vacuum cleaner (and we all know how she adores the magical sound of a Shark). Food was on demand (per usual) and she had a bassinet screwed to the wall for her tiny royal needs. What was there not to love?
A trick: Don’t worry about how she might be bothering people around you. This was the last bit of advice my mom gave me and it took so much stress away from me. Being in a tube and restricted to limited movement with a crying infant is stressful enough. Don’t burden yourself with everyone else’s angst.
A trick: Take a gift for your flight attendant (another thing we learned from friends who travel with kids.) In our case, a box of chocolates, and it was a huge hit. It’s a nice way to preemptively say thank you for everything.
Observation: Flying was the easy part (for us). The next 24 hours were the more challenging. Jet lag.
A trick: Let it go. You are no longer in that previous time zone so don’t try to gradually wean them over. That ship has sailed. Begin functioning on local time.
The longest stretch Saira slept that first day was an hour (and that happened only twice). Most of the time, she was cat-napping for a maximum of 30 minutes and most of the time, she would wake up in good spirits as though it were the morning. Instinctively, we treated it as such. Four a.m. and you’re happy and cooing and playing? Alright, let’s party, girlfriend. We’d play for a bit and then, based on her cues, begin our bedtime routine for the umpeenth time. She’d sleep for another 30 minutes, wake up and either we’d repeat playtime and bedtime, or we’d go with a diaper change and more rocking and walking.
Basically, it’s going to be hard and you’re probably not going to sleep much those first hours. Trade off and on with your partner for at least some sleep, and be patient.
This is part of it and it’s temporary.
Soon you’ll all be sleeping again.
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