relocating to Kenya: sleep
Everyone knows that when little ones' routine is disturbed, they don't sleep as well. It's to be expected that they would have a hard time transitioning, not just to a new home and different schedule, but also to a new time zone. Kenya is currently 8 hours ahead of Texas, but since we moved before DST, it was a 9 hour adjustment.
We arrived in Mombasa a few minutes past midnight, March 2. Getting to our house took some time, then our friends who brought us home stayed for a while, then the boys were wound up. It was after 3 am before we went to bed. No one had trouble sleeping.
The boys slept until 8 am for the first week, and they did have a harder time than usual going to bed for a few days, but they both took great naps, and hello! I can't remember Nate ever sleeping as late as 8 am, though I'm sure he must have.
Maybe it's because we had such a long, hard trip and we arrived in the middle of the night, or maybe it's because we maintain normal bedtimes and don't let ourselves sleep much during the day while we adjust, or maybe it's because we're just blessed, but we had no trouble with jet lag at all, as far as sleeping goes. Ben had a hard time getting his eating schedule on track. He woke up to eat every night for about the first week. Hey, it could have been a lot more difficult.
In Texas, we had taken the side off of Nate's crib so that he was in a toddler bed. We wanted him to get used to sleeping with no sides because he would have a twin bed here. When Nate's bed was set up, I had to put sheets on it around him because he loved it so much, he refused to get off! He adores his mosquito net, too. The mosquitoes are usually only out at night, and the net is hot, so I don't make him use it during naptime, but many days, he asks for it.
Ben doesn't care one way or the other about his crib or his mosquito net. The crib came with a little bassinet on wheels, which we keep downstairs. He usually naps in there so that I don't have to go up and down the stairs so much. We also use it as a play yard for him when we're outside. He sleeps in his crib at night, but he does not like to fall asleep there. In Texas, his "bedroom" was one corner of the living room. I think it's comforting to him to fall asleep listening to Rodgers and me talking, with the lights on. We put him to bed downstairs in the bassinet, then move him to his crib after he's asleep.
We arrived in Mombasa a few minutes past midnight, March 2. Getting to our house took some time, then our friends who brought us home stayed for a while, then the boys were wound up. It was after 3 am before we went to bed. No one had trouble sleeping.
The boys slept until 8 am for the first week, and they did have a harder time than usual going to bed for a few days, but they both took great naps, and hello! I can't remember Nate ever sleeping as late as 8 am, though I'm sure he must have.
Maybe it's because we had such a long, hard trip and we arrived in the middle of the night, or maybe it's because we maintain normal bedtimes and don't let ourselves sleep much during the day while we adjust, or maybe it's because we're just blessed, but we had no trouble with jet lag at all, as far as sleeping goes. Ben had a hard time getting his eating schedule on track. He woke up to eat every night for about the first week. Hey, it could have been a lot more difficult.
In Texas, we had taken the side off of Nate's crib so that he was in a toddler bed. We wanted him to get used to sleeping with no sides because he would have a twin bed here. When Nate's bed was set up, I had to put sheets on it around him because he loved it so much, he refused to get off! He adores his mosquito net, too. The mosquitoes are usually only out at night, and the net is hot, so I don't make him use it during naptime, but many days, he asks for it.
Ben doesn't care one way or the other about his crib or his mosquito net. The crib came with a little bassinet on wheels, which we keep downstairs. He usually naps in there so that I don't have to go up and down the stairs so much. We also use it as a play yard for him when we're outside. He sleeps in his crib at night, but he does not like to fall asleep there. In Texas, his "bedroom" was one corner of the living room. I think it's comforting to him to fall asleep listening to Rodgers and me talking, with the lights on. We put him to bed downstairs in the bassinet, then move him to his crib after he's asleep.
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