Finally, some down time!!

OK! I didn't think preparing for a trip and traveling with an infant would be SO EXHAUSTING! I thought it would be tiresome but that was the understatement of the year. I ended up having to bring 3 duffle bags with me to Japan and 2 and a half of them was for my son who is 4 months old. I did find a blog that provided tips and I tried each of them and can say that I did find my favorites. The original blog post is from Mighty Moms. (Link in the name)

Some of my favorite tips were:

-"Give him a pacifier during the take-off/landing portion of the flight. Don’t feed your baby so well before the flight takes off that he doesn’t want to suck during takeoff!If he’s not a binky-fan, let him drink a bottle or sippy cup. The sucking movement of moving the lower jaw down, will stretch the ear canal and help the ears pop."

-"In the last few minutes before boarding, change your baby into…

- An overnight diaper that’s more absorbent

- A diaper that’s one size LARGER than what he usually wears (again, more absorbent)

- TWO diapers, with the first diaper slightly cut so it can drain into the 2nd diaperAny of these options should help him last a little longer than usual (hopefully until you land!) without having to do a diaper change."

AND MY ALL TIME FAVORITE:

"Your value as a mother isn’t decided by strangers on an airplane flight."

I had to keep reminding myself that everything was going to be ok as I was having a panic attack while boarding. The greatest part is EVERYONE on my flight was so willing to help me out. My son is freakishly quiet if he is being held and people were willing to help me out in any way. I sat between 2 business men on my flight from San Francisco and They taught me the tricks on making my flight easier especially with my son. Hats off to them for talking to my son whileI took a power nap before we landed because he stayed happy all through the flight and landing.

Arriving in Japan can be overwhelming but I took a deep breath and was able to notice things that I've never seen before.

First, There are about 3 bathrooms before I got to immigration and that was perfect for changing a doubled up diaper. Once I arrived to Immigration, there was a long long line and that alone took so long and my son got a little fussy as we were no longer moving around. Everyone around me was playing Peek-A-Boo with him and talking to him in many different languages that he was entertained. Once we got our picture taken and fingerprinted (They do it to everyone) then we were escorted to a priority line for people who are elderly expecting mothers, injured or mothers with little kids. That shortened our time by 45 minutes. ( There were TONS of people)

Narita Airport has free carts for your bags so I reccomend to ALL to take advantage because they are very convenient. After getting our bags, and clearing customs, were were on our way. There are many different options to get into downtown Tokyo. There is Train, bus, taxi. You can also ship your bags somewhere like your hotel and then take the train so you don't have to worry about your bags. We took the Airport Limo. This is just a large orange charter bus and very convenient. Please note, it's 2 bags per passenger. This is a new rule so if you've been to Japan in the past (ME) this will be a surprise when you arrive with 4 bags needing to go under the bus.

The bus ride is relaxing and you can see some awesome sights and it reminds me of a movie trailer for what you are about to experience in Japan. We took the bus to a hotel and my parents me us there to pick us up and drive us to their house.

It's so nice to be home and still trying to get over Jetlag. While you are Jetlagged, try to use the opportunity to go to Tsukiji Fish Market.

VLOGGER Tokyo in HD uploaded an amazing video of Tsukiji Fish market that you should really check out. I've done this is the past many times but I don't want to do it with my son as I'm very clumsy and you can slip if you are not careful. Subscribe to their channel for more awesome videos showing some great parts of Tokyo.