Moving to Germany with the Babies

Moving to Germany with the babies has not been as easy as we anticipated.

First, the time change...  They were sleeping through the night at home, not perfectly, but they would typically fall asleep between 8-10 pm and sleep until 5 - 8 am.  While adjusting to a seven hour time change is difficult for anyone, I think it's harder for the babies because, unlike the adults, they mostly slept through the flight and aren't sleep deprived when they they arrive.  And you can't tell the babies to hold off on sleep until it's bedtime German time.  Well, I suppose you could, but it's hard to enforce (especially when you could use their sleeping time to get unpacked yourself).  Anyway, almost two weeks later, and they generally go down between 10 pm - 2 am and wake up around 8 am.  It's been tough...

Second, there is the change in the products available for the babies.  For example, baby cereal in the U.S. is iron fortified (as is the formula).  Allegedly, lack of iron can lead to iron deficiency anemia, which can lead to all sorts of delays and impairments.  And, one of the boys' doctor said that Will needed to either have 1/2 cup of iron fortified cereal or would have to take this horrible iron medicine.  He is taking 1/2 cup of cereal but we have run out of our iron fortified cereal (and iron fortified formula) from back home. And, here, not all the formula and cereal is iron fortified.  In fact, we have had a hard time finding any formula or cereal that is iron fortified.  So I am worried sick that the boys will have iron deficiency anemia.  

In addition, I cannot find nipple replacements for our bottles.  The formula seems thicker which requires new nipples.  As it is, Will (who barely takes the minimum formula normally) has reduced his formula intake by about half because he gets frustrated that more formula isn't coming through the nipple.  So, I have to worry about him starving.

Also, we had awesome firm organic mattresses for infants back home.  Here, they just sell these flimsy toxic looking mattresses.  They are way cheaper than our mattresses (30 Euros compared to $300), but that makes me worry that that they are poor quality.  [UPDATE: FOUND SOME CLOSER TO 100 EUROS BUT NOT SURE THEY ARE LIKE THE ONES BACK HOME.]  They also don't seem to sell special firm mattresses for infants here, like they do back home, which is allegedly important to reduce SIDS and suffocation risks.  So now I have even more worries!

I know there are trends in baby products and in recommendations from pediatricians such that what we do back home doesn't mean it's the best and only way to do things (obviously, babies survive and thrive here and in other non-U.S. countries); however, it is the only way I know and it freaks me out do ignore all the very strong U.S. recommendations for baby care and baby products.  Sigh.... another adjustment.  If only I were more flexible....