Ma Chauffeur’s 5 tips to a successful first flight (at least with my 7-month old)

By the time February rolls around every year, I’m a Michigander who yearns to see and feel the warmth of the sun.  In order to boost our vitamin D levels, my husband and I decided to start a new family tradition – an annual winter retreat to Naples, FL! 

I don’t know how many of you moms worried about your first flight with your LO (or still worry if you haven’t taken your first flight yet), but after sleep training then 5-month old B in December, I seldom worry about any new experience with him now.  I worried more that I would forget B’s SPF 50 sun tan lotion and birth certificate than how he would handle his first flight. 

Despite my worry and to my surprise, during and after the flight we received many compliments from the crew and other passengers that B was extremely well behaved so without further delay and in no particular order, (although my husband may disagree), here are my top 5 tips to our success on our first flight.  

#1. A bottle of water.  We heard having something to drink upon lift off and landing was critical to popping ears.  I planned to breastfeed B to help pop his ears, which I eventually resorted to, but since he loves to do anything “adult” do and we’re practicing drinking out of “big boy” cups, he was fascinated with a bottle of water for longer than I expected. 

#2. A boppy.  Some parents told us their LO sleep in a front body carrier on their flight, but B is not a fan of any carrier and hates to be confined.  (You can only imagine our shock when B was hours old that swaddling was completely out of the question).  I had to be creative as to how he was going to sleep on my lap.  Praise to the high heavens that what I thought may work, actually worked and my mother’s intuition kicked in!  B felt most comfortable sleeping on our boppy on his back with both arms and legs extended far out in all directions.

#3. My boob. On the flight to Florida, there were a few seconds when B started to cry.  After being kept up past his nap time, exhaustion set in.  His fascination with the bottle of water ended and I panicked. Was he going to cry during the entire 3-hour flight?  I quickly whipped out my boob and B was home sweet home.  As soon as his crying started, it stopped, and he slept through touch down upon our arrival in Florida.

#4. Reading B’s cues. I knew I had to make B as comfortable as possible since this was a completely new experience.  Upon take off, when he looked at me like I had 10 eyes, I explained what was happening.  When he started to cry, I fed him so he could go to sleep.  When he woke up in a panic from his sleep, not knowing where he was at, I positioned him in the other direction on the boppy, fed him again, and he slept the remainder of the flight. The flight attendant even commented he looked so relaxed and peaceful.

#5. My husband. He stood in the aisle with B until he was required to sit down.  He entertained B for the longest game of peek-a-boo that I’ve ever seen. He shielded wandering teenage boy’s eyes when my boob had to make an appearance for breastfeeding.  And he told me I was doing a great job keeping B as comfortable as possible.  I must say so myself, he is husband and Dad of the year in my world!

From one mom to another, I hope you find one of my tips help you in your first successful flight with your LO.  PS – And after worrying about B’s birth certificate, they never asked for it. 

Ma Chauffeur thinks Dr. Ferber is a genius

In my humble opinion, Dr. Ferber is a genius! I only paid $12 for his book, Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problems, and after reading it and practicing his methods, I would have gladly paid a lot more. I could literally write a book myself about solving my 5-month old son’s sleep problems using Ferber’s methods, but I would need to find a publisher and like I have time to do that.  

Since transitioning from sleeping on our chest, B co-slept between my husband and I in our bed.  Typically B would wake up every two hours, we would change his diaper, I would breast feed him, and he would go back to sleep. This routine would happen from 8PM to 5AM every night.

For some reason (I now call it a blessing), three days before Christmas, B wouldn’t fall back to sleep after I fed him. For three nights my husband and I walked with him, desperately trying to catch some z’s. I’m pretty sure this is how sleep walking starts with adults.  Maybe I should check to see if Ferber has also written Solve Your Adult Sleep Problems. 

Anyway, we paced so much around our bedroom until he fell asleep until his next feeding that we may need new carpet.  But ultimately the tipping point these nights is when we laid him back down to sleep in our bed, he woke right up and demanded to be walked again.

Then a light switch went off, literally.  On the third night at 2 A.M., I turned on our bedroom light and told my husband I had had it and we were starting “sleep training” that night, or rather that wee early morning. Before that night, we didn’t agree on when we would start sleep training, but we agreed that B would still sleep in our bedroom in his port-a-crib.  But on that third night, I was so sleep deprived that I said he’s going into his big boy crib in his own room.  

In order to save B from the impending fate on a big boy crib, my husband rushed to assemble B’s port-a-crib while I flipped through the table of contents in Dr. Ferber’s book to see what chapter addressed the sleepless child and how to solve it.  It was almost like a race to see who could finish first.

To keep this blog entry from becoming a book, I’ll spare you the how we went about solving B’s problems. If you wish to know the how, pay the $12.

HHHhhggggggdgijsdgjHere are my highlights:

#1. First, we decreased the number of feedings from 5-6 per night to one, giving my ta-tas a break for a few hours. 

#2.  Did sleep training involve crying?  Yes and a lot of it.  But we managed B’s crying to a point that we were comfortable with. Did I give up?  Almost, but my mommy instinct told me to stick it out.  Our decision to sleep train B at 5-months was the single BEST decision we have made since B has been born.

#3.  B can sleep anywhere from 7 to 11 hours at night.  Even though I cherished going to bed with him cuddled next to me, I now put him in his crib and I have the freedom to do whatever I wish, whenever I wish and not to mention our entire family gets real quality sleep.

#4. Thanks to a very nice digital video monitor (an awesome baby shower gift), I can pan, zoom, tilt, talk back, all at the touch of my fingers anywhere in our house.  It’s so comforting to know that B snores, farts, and sleeps with his butt up in the air.

#5.  Last, but perhaps the most important, the confidence that this training has given B is priceless.  He loves to sleep in his crib and seems to look for it when he’s tired.  He is such a happier baby when he wakes up in the morning and after his naps.  My husband and I feel and see his sense of pride when we tell him he did such a great job sleeping.  And the little boy who wailed when we put him in a car seat, now soothes himself in it and they are practically best friends.

I’m sure B will endure other sleep problems, but for now, because we were so successful in reducing and eliminating a number of B’s sleep problems so quickly, Dr. Ferber has made me feel like a genius.  

Ma Chauffeur in 5 – Believing in a smooth ride

Even though I’ve only been a mom for four months now, I learned within hours of my son's birth that finding just five minutes for myself each day would be a challenge.  My blog entries will be your excuse to finding your five minutes even if it means you read it aloud to your little one while he’s watching you on the toilet.

This past weekend my husband, my four-month old son, B, and I were going to bring our 1949 Packard “Hugo” home.  My husband was going to drive Hugo while B and I followed him in our SUV. 

You don’t know this about B yet, but he doesn’t travel well AT ALL in the car.  He always wants someone in the backseat with him, and “Miss Bee,” one of his favorite toys, although this formula doesn’t always guarantee a smooth ride.

Since the ride home was 40 minutes, we were planning to pick up my Dad to ride in the backseat with B.  Just minutes before we were to pick up my Dad, something came over my husband and I. B was so sound asleep, we decided that I would try to make the ride back home with B alone in the back seat.  Do you see where this memorable adventure is headed?

I was feeling pretty confident in our decision, that is until we hit a bump as we pulled into the driveway to pick up Hugo.  You guessed it.  B woke up! You can only imagine the look on my face.  I was praying he would fall back asleep.  Once I saw his poopy face, I knew we were in for a long ride home, longer than 40 minutes.

It was less than 5 minutes after B woke up that I called my husband to pull over.  B needed a diaper change and feeding.  After a change and feeding, B was wide awake.  My husband suggested he sit in the backseat with B and we drive around the neighborhood until he fell asleep. I thought it was a brilliant idea! We just didn’t discuss how long we would drive around for. 

We had only been driving for a few minutes and I was ready to call my Dad. My husband suggested we drive for 15 minutes. I knew sooner or later we would need to do this so I kept driving and praying.

Fifteen minutes seemed like an eternity, especially driving up and down the same three streets.  My husband acted like he was asleep while B watched him.  When I had given up 12 minutes ago, now B was asleep.  My husband quietly jumped out of the SUV to get back into Hugo. I still had my doubts that B would wake up and cry.  Forty minutes later we pulled into our driveway, B still soundly sleeping.  Mission accomplished!

Looking back on this experience, I learned life lessons that aren’t taught, but rather come with personal experience.

#1) Don’t worry...until whatever you’re worrying about actually happens.  I anticipated the ride home with B would be full of tears and screams.  Little did I know, it was one of the most peaceful rides.

#2) Listen and try.  While I wasn’t thinking clearly and wanted the easy way out (to call my Dad), my husband had a plan and it worked!

#3) Get a back seat mirror if you don’t already have one.  I can’t tell you how many times I looked at the mirror during that ride home. I bought that mirror for $20 and I would have paid $100 for it.  I breathed easier seeing B’s face whenever I wanted to, not to mention keep the roads safer.

#4) Never underestimate the power of prayer.  Prayer was probably not necessary in this situation, BUT it gave me hope.

#5) Don’t give up.  I’m disappointed that I didn’t believe in myself and B at first. Here’s to believing this holiday season. 

Ma Chauffeur truly does exist

Ok, I’m here and I’m there, and I’m everywhere.  Is it that obvious that I’ve been reading Dr. Seuss to my 4-month old B?  Right now he is napping across the Boppy on my lap and his nap is supposed to last another hour, but then again he woke up an hour early this morning so you do the math. Anyway, here’s to a quick intro.

I was born, raised, and now live and work in suburban Detroit.  I’ve been married to the love of my life for 1 ½ years and together we created our little miracle, B, who was born this past July.  Besides being a SAHM, I work from home for the CFO of a Big 10 University, I'm the CEO of my own company Motor City Vintage Rentals and, of course, our household.

Even though I absolutely love all of my “real” jobs, my most satisfying job doesn’t give me a monetary paycheck, but a paycheck of sweet giggles, ear to ear smiles, wet kisses, tight hugs, and crocodile tears. I'll gladly accept nose burning farts too. I might not always do everything perfectly, especially as a new Mom, but at least I can sleep peacefully until 3:45a.m. knowing I tried.