Dear Diary. July '22
We got married…again! July marks the month of us celebrating our wedding in Spain, something we’ve had to postpone since 2020. Mila was a flower girl along with my niece. We were joined by all our closest friends and family for a week in Palacete de Cazulas, Granada - when they say it’ll be a day to remember, we made it a week to never forget!
Along with the day we had Mila, it truly was the best day of our lives. We are on a major come down and the blues have hit since waving goodbye to the last of our guests. Luckily we now have a month in Spain to keep the memory alive and soak up the Spanish sun…and sangria.
This months topic is heat exhaustion
Since leaving to travel full time we have spent most of the time in cooler climate countries and although Mila’s routine has altered slightly her bed time has, in the most part, remained the same. This month has been the first time since leaving Dubai that we have been in a warmer climate and the heat has definitely had an effect.
After settling into a routine of only one nap a day around 11am/12pm and bed by 7pm we were puzzled when after only a few days in Spain she was agitated, whining and rubbing her eyes again around 4pm. It’s hard to know what’s best to do, we didn’t want to start changing her routine too heavily and also didn’t want to revert back to two naps in the day permanently as her wake windows would then delay her bed time and her overall sleep consumption.
Saying all this, when your child needs to sleep they need to sleep. We decided to let her have that second nap that day and see how it went.
To our surprise, after a few days of two naps a day she was back to her 1 nap routine and had adjusted to the climate and the toll it can take on your body. Just as it can with adults, the sun really does take it out of you. She is also a lot more active on this holiday then when we are in-between trips. She is surrounded by additional family members to play with, we are at the park / beach / swimming pool for at least half a day every day and she is just more and more mobile, walking and running mostly everywhere with less and less time in the pram.
The moral of our topic this month is just be easy on yourself as parents. If they need the additional sleep for a few days to adjust and again every few days in our case to top up their rest time, we have rolled with it and it’s been fine. Children are adaptable and remember they are mini humans, so just as we get exhausted after a few full on days in the su, so may your child. Don’t fear heat / holidays, just try to go with it.
