A Well-Traveled Baby

On Sunday, McKenna and I arrived home, after 3 weeks away from home - first to visit her paternal grandparents in Ontario, and then to visit my family in NB. My poor, dear little girl is still so exhausted and stressed out from all the traveling. When she was less than a month old, we took her to Ontario, and then she visited NB at 2 months. Both times she coped wonderfully, and so I assumed that she would be just as easy to travel with at 4-5 months. Not so, my friends, not so...

I first noticed when we were in Ontario that she was fussier than normal, and wasn't sleeping well at night. I quickly chalked it up to the fact that she wasn't seeing as much of her father and I as usual (we were out doing lots of fun, touristy things), and was making up for it during the night, by nursing more often. Also, she had been getting some formula during the daytime when we were out (she's not a fan). Ontario was a fun, but tiring trip. I got very little sleep, and McKenna just wasn't herself. I could only hope that our trip to NB would go more smoothly. 

Unfortunately, McKenna spent the first week of our visit to NB fussing, eating very little, and waking up 8-11 (yes, I counted) times every night. I repeatedly had to cancel plans that I had made with friends, because I knew that McKenna needed me more than I needed to socialize. The poor thing was just so tired and confused. I spent much of the first week in bed with her, snuggling, nursing, and trying to get her to sleep. Every 45 minutes to an hour, she would wake up and groggily reach out for me, tongue searching, to make sure I was still there. For that first week, I felt like the worst mom in the world for dragging her around at such a young age. It was obviously harder on her than we had expected it to be, and I couldn't wait to get her home and back to a predictable routine. It also didn't help that I was getting flack from relatives for holding her all the time rather than leaving her to amuse herself, or letting her cry. But that's for another post...

It's good to be home again. While I did enjoy myself, I don't know if it was worth the stress it caused McKenna. She's still not sleeping well, and wakes up crying several times a night. We are supposed to be traveling again later on this summer, but who knows? Hopefully she'll be better able to cope at 8-9 months.