Babies in HK and Beijing
So, before travelling around the world - or over the world, since our plane flew from Chicago over the North Pole, Siberia and Mongolia before landing in Hong Kong - I was worried about what to expect for jet lag. What would it be like? How would little A react?
Here's my story:
Baby Jet Lag
Little A threw up all over me, Andypants and a passenger about one hour into our 14 hour flight. It was a 24 hour flu that he passed on to me, Andypants and presumably the poor puked-on passenger whom we never saw again. PassengerMan was very good natured about the puke, perhaps not so happy about the flu that followed.
After going to sleep fairly easily at around 9PM, Little A woke up at midnight for a quick bottle and then again at 3:30AM to start his day. This pattern continued for about 5 days, but with slightly earlier bed times each night.
By the time we got to Beijing, we only had two nights of waking up at 4AM and hanging out in the hotel room while Little A ran from one side of the bed around to the other. I couldn't believe that the breakfast room only opened at 6AM. I angrily walked around Beijing's hutongs while Andypants lounged in the hotel room "because one of us had to try and get some sleep." Ha! The whole napping thing doesn't work anyway when we're not at home. You just shrug and move one.
Strollers in two Chinese cities:
Our fancy friends in HK live in Mid-levels, which means about half-way up the Peak. This makes for some very very steep climbs at the end of an exhausting day. Of course, this really meant hopping into a cab while it struggled up the hill. No car seats for babies in HK or Beijing. Babies ride on laps.
OK, back to strollers. Steep climbs also mean steep descents. Someone I know in San Francisco said when her first baby was born, she was walking down some incredibly steep hill, the stroller in front, when a stranger stopped her and advised her to walk with the stroller behind in case she lost her grip and bye bye baby. Both SF and HK also have a lot of stairs because of those steep hills. This is no good for a stroller. There is no way I could have manged that city by myself with a stroller. The BabyBjorn was a life saver but Little A was pushing its weight and my back's limits.
Beijing is very flat but the streets are enormous, with lanes and lanes of traffic. You can't just cross the street at the light, you have to take the underground walkway - and you know what that means - lots of stairs. They had these hilariously steep ramps for "wheelchair" access, but if you were really in a wheelchair you would risk another serious spinal injury flying down these 30 degree angles. Either that, or you would never again emerge from the underground walkway, not being able to get up enough speed to power up the ramp.
The Forbidden City also sucked for a stroller - and there were many strollers there. This was the only place in Beijing where we saw many while people. Most with new Chinese babies in strollers. Stairs, raised platforms and doors that didn't open to the ground made me want to just hang at the Starbuck's (yes, it's true) and screw the sightseeing.
Here's my story:
Baby Jet Lag
Little A threw up all over me, Andypants and a passenger about one hour into our 14 hour flight. It was a 24 hour flu that he passed on to me, Andypants and presumably the poor puked-on passenger whom we never saw again. PassengerMan was very good natured about the puke, perhaps not so happy about the flu that followed.
After going to sleep fairly easily at around 9PM, Little A woke up at midnight for a quick bottle and then again at 3:30AM to start his day. This pattern continued for about 5 days, but with slightly earlier bed times each night.
By the time we got to Beijing, we only had two nights of waking up at 4AM and hanging out in the hotel room while Little A ran from one side of the bed around to the other. I couldn't believe that the breakfast room only opened at 6AM. I angrily walked around Beijing's hutongs while Andypants lounged in the hotel room "because one of us had to try and get some sleep." Ha! The whole napping thing doesn't work anyway when we're not at home. You just shrug and move one.
Strollers in two Chinese cities:
Our fancy friends in HK live in Mid-levels, which means about half-way up the Peak. This makes for some very very steep climbs at the end of an exhausting day. Of course, this really meant hopping into a cab while it struggled up the hill. No car seats for babies in HK or Beijing. Babies ride on laps.
OK, back to strollers. Steep climbs also mean steep descents. Someone I know in San Francisco said when her first baby was born, she was walking down some incredibly steep hill, the stroller in front, when a stranger stopped her and advised her to walk with the stroller behind in case she lost her grip and bye bye baby. Both SF and HK also have a lot of stairs because of those steep hills. This is no good for a stroller. There is no way I could have manged that city by myself with a stroller. The BabyBjorn was a life saver but Little A was pushing its weight and my back's limits.
Beijing is very flat but the streets are enormous, with lanes and lanes of traffic. You can't just cross the street at the light, you have to take the underground walkway - and you know what that means - lots of stairs. They had these hilariously steep ramps for "wheelchair" access, but if you were really in a wheelchair you would risk another serious spinal injury flying down these 30 degree angles. Either that, or you would never again emerge from the underground walkway, not being able to get up enough speed to power up the ramp.
The Forbidden City also sucked for a stroller - and there were many strollers there. This was the only place in Beijing where we saw many while people. Most with new Chinese babies in strollers. Stairs, raised platforms and doors that didn't open to the ground made me want to just hang at the Starbuck's (yes, it's true) and screw the sightseeing.
posted by erica at 4:02 p.m.
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