Threat Advisory Level

After my first plane trip alone with the little man, I have created my very own Threat Advisory System. This helpful system was inspired by Homeland Security, and similar to our national threat level, the advisory rarely goes below Yellow...

GREEN
Baby is asleep, or perhaps having a bottle. There is a LOW RISK of loud noises, crying, melt-downs, major squirming.

BLUE
Baby is currently occupied with a toy, or perhaps looking out the window. There is a GENERAL RISK of loud noises, crying, melt-downs, major squirming.

YELLOW
Baby is starting to squirm, throw toys on the floor, whine in progressively louder tones, and will not accept his pacifier. There is an ELEVATED RISK of loud noises, crying, melt-downs, major squirming.

ORANGE
Baby is only consoled by playing with parental possessions at significant risk of permanent / expensive damage (e.g., sunglasses, cell phone, iPod) or personal injury (e.g., keys, jewelry). There is a HIGH RISK of loud noises, crying, melt-downs, major squirming.

RED
Nothing will pacify baby, leaving parent to consider why did they make this stupid trip in the first place, how can such a sweet creature make cry so loudly for so long, and what is that loud grinding sound? Oh, it's my teeth. There is a SEVERE RISK of loud noises, crying, melt-downs, major squirming.

NOTE: Do not accidentally proceed directly to Code ORANGE by forgetting that your sunglasses are on top of your head, well within arm's reach of any baby who knows his stuff. Once the sunglasses are in the baby's hand, removal removal of said glasses causes immediate escalation to Code RED.

Traveling Alone with a Baby

Two weeks ago, I made my first solo airplane trip with the little man. This is the first of several posts on the things I learned on the trip. Overall, it went really well, and the little man was a little prince nearly the whole way. For the record, he is 10 months old, and not yet walking.

The trickiest part of traveling alone is navigating from the car to the plane, and from the plane to the rental car. Here are some of my tips.

1. Minimize the large bulky items that you take with you. If you're staying with family or friends, have them borrow a pack n' play, stroller, etc, so that you don't have to lug that with you. If you're staying in a hotel, nearly every hotel will provide you with a crib.
   
2. Use curb-side check-in. This is a little tricky with only one driver, so you have to have two car seats. One to check at the curb, and one for the little one to ride in on the way to the parking garage. If you have more than one child, well, I guess I'll have to figure that one out when I get there. This was also nice when we returned to the car on the way home - I didn't have to install the car seat with the little man on my back, or sitting on the front seat getting into stuff he wasn't supposed to.
   
3. Use a baby carrier. In #1 above, I recommend leaving the stroller at home*. My ergo baby carrier got us through the airport in a breeze, and you get lots of nice smiles from strangers who like to see a cute little baby riding on your back.
4. Pack only one wheeled suit case, if you can. I used our bigger-than-the-ones-that-fit-in-the-overhead wheeled suitcase. Then check and see if you can hook your car seat onto the handle of the suitcase somehow. Our Britax Roundabout has a strap near the top that works perfectly for this. I hooked the car seat over the handle of the suitcase, and was able to make it to the rental car bus pretty easily. I didn't even need a Smarte Carte. If you need more than one bag, then you'll probably have to go the Smart Carte route.
   
5. I was committed to taking only the diaper bag onto the plane (and checking everything else), so I had to put food, blankie, toys, my wallet, diapers, changing pad, bottles, etc, etc, into the one bag. I packed a little bag of little toys, which were variously successful. Also successful as baby entertainment was the in-flight magazine, the silverware from my lunch, the three people sitting around me who were making faces at the little man from time to time... All back to the Fun for Nothin' concept. You don't need to bring a ton of toys, and you can't if you only want to bring one bag on the plane.

*Note that if you leave the stroller at home, you may have issues using the restroom! I found I had several options (listed in order of preference): 1) Go with the little man still riding on my back, 2) Go in the airplane bathroom, holding him carefully up as high as I could (elastic-waist pants recommended, as the belt buckle was the biggest challenge), 3) get a flight attendant or the nice lady sitting next to you to hold your baby while you go, or 4) put your baby on the floor in the bathroom (ew). I only tried #1 and #2.

Supply Irony

So I think it's ironic that you spend months and months and months worrying about your milk supply, and doing everything you can to keep it as high as possible... but then when you're ready for it to go away, it takes forever!! I just spent the last two weeks aggressively protecting my chest! I was full, in pain, and all lumpy. Why didn't anyone tell me about this?? I went from feeding the little man once a day to not at all, so it's not like I quit cold turkey. I found I had to pump once every day or two. And then, just when I thought it was going to be like this forever, it just stopped. One morning, I woke up, and was back to normal. I had kind of gotten used to that nice bra size, but the three glasses of wine I had last night helped me forget those lost cup sizes. I think I might take an aspirin today just to celebrate.

I Forgot One

I forgot one of the REAL reasons to breastfeed.

MUCH less stinky poop.

More Fun for Nothin' Ideas

I just found this great blog with lots and lots of free/low cost fun activities for little: No Time for Flashcards. I can't wait to try some of the ideas!

Fun for Nothin'

You may have noticed a new link on my side bar... Fun for Nothin'. I was reading my blogs the other day, and came across this much more eloquent version of the same idea I talked about a while ago. The flickr group has even more ideas, and for more ages.

I also really enjoyed this article in Wondertime about parents who take their baby to some fairly remote destinations. On these trips they have a "no toys" rule, both because it would be hard to take toys from a practical point of view, and also because their baby seems perfectly happy to explore the world at hand... even when it doesn't beep or light up.

I think the key is to develop your adult creativity so you can find "toys" anywhere you are, and/or let your baby find their own toys, since they are so curious and creative by nature.

Sleep is for the Weak?

I recently heard of a new book by several mommy bloggers called Sleep is for the Weak. I've been thinking about that title a lot lately. But I think they got it a little wrong. I'd call it "Sleep is for the Self-Disciplined, Well-Organized, Worry-Free, Non-TV-Owning, Non-Blogging, Super-Lucky Moms Whose Babies Supposedly Sleep Through the Night." Qualities which I possess none of.

The one night the big man and I had a little getaway without the little man, I STILL WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT.

The one night the little man slept until 6 am in a vaccine-induced sleep-coma, I STILL WOKE UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. (Why is it that I have to run in and check to make sure he's still alive? Humans beings are known to sleep through the night on a fairly regular basis.)

Every night at 8:30 when I say "tonight I'm going to get to bed early," I STILL STAY UP blogging, watching TV, doing chores, and getting ready for the next day, only to sag into bed 5 minutes before the little man wakes up crying. Then I sometimes want to cry a little, too. But did you see that super-cute picture of the little man that I posted over on my other blog?

Counting the time I was pregnant and getting up to pee every night, I'm at well over a year now without a full night's sleep. And I haven't been in a car accident, or gotten fired at work (actually, I just got a promotion!), or gotten into any major fights with any of my family members, so I guess I'm doing OK. Maybe the succinct answer IS the right one: Sleep IS for the Weak.