korea part 3: by jean

here are my final thoughts on my trip to korea.

in terms of packing:

i forgot to mention that i packed a saline nasal mist for miles.  i don't know about you but my nose gets very dry whenever i fly so i end up putting aquaphor up my nose (i know that sounds gross but it really works).  miles started to get lots of dry boogies so i used the saline mist on him a few times throughout the flight so it wouldn't bother him.

here was  my post about my list of things that i was planning to pack.  one of the big things i was contemplating about was whether or not to bring a pack and play.  i knew miles could sleep on the floor but because he moves around so much i was concerned that he might roll out of his sleeping area, or roll over the pillows i put down to create a boundary.

in the end, i was able to buy a used graco pack and play off of park slope parent's classified section and it worked WONDERS!!  (kathleen huddy, you can breath now!)  i was able to put him down in the pack and play and walk away when it was time for him to sleep, like how i do back at home in his crib.  my parents were so impressed by how i could simply put miles down to have him fall alseep by himself rather than getting him to fall asleep and then putting him down.  (read about miles's and logan's sleep trainig here!  it's the best thing i ever did!)  they kept saying miles's was such a "chak han" (nice/good) baby to fall asleep himself.  i said, sure he's a good baby and all....but it's also called sleep training!!

because he was able to fall asleep by himself, once he adjusted to the local time, (and got used to being with his grandparents) we were able to leave him before bedtime to go out and meet with friends for dinner. i still asked my parents to text me once he fell asleep but all in all (except for two big meltdowns), he slept well once we left him.  sleep training, it does a body good!

in korea:

because my parents lived about 30-45mins outside of seoul, we typically hung out around their area during the day and then went out to the city at night by ourselves.  we did take miles on the bus once, and that worked out pretty well.  we made sure we left right around his nap time so he fell asleep the whole ride on the bus.  i also put him in the bjorn and just wore him the whole time to be safe.  the few times we did take him to seoul with us, we took him by car with my parents.  i was too chicken to take him on the bus/subway into the city in case we couldn't find baby friendly places to change, feed him...and since he can't eat everything we eat yet, it was too much to pack for him!  traveling with a baby was definitely very different.  we didn't get to venture out as much as we had hoped, but we were grateful to have a happy baby during our trip! :)

on the plane:

miles overall travelled VERY well.  as i mentioned in korea part 1, miles JUST fit in the bassinet that attached to the wall so he slept for about 5~6 hours once it was his bedtime on our way back.  AND the flight wasn't full. our seat was by the window so the lady that had the 3rd seat in our aisle got to move to another area so we had the whole row to ourselves.

miles enjoying his flight back to nyc!

meal for miles: gerber's mangos and rice, some japanese crackers, soy milk for babies, gerber's mixed fruit juice, and mushroom/carrot/beef/rice porridge

in the end, our trip to korea was a success!  as scary as it was to think about being on the plane for so long and dealing with jetlag, it was great to be with family.  we are now dealing with jetlag AGAIN so i'll keep you guys posted!  hopefully miles will adjust back to ny time soon!!