We are undertaking our first major trip across continents in about a month from now. And I am writing down the shopping list and a checklist of things that has to be packed up for Nikki. Even for a 2 hour trip that we make over the weekend to visit the temple, I pack up 2 bags for Nikki, 1 diaper bag and other a supply bag.
Diaper bag will have
· Epi-pen (injection for anaphylaxis – life threatening allergy attack)
· 5-6 diapers, wet-wipe box, diaper mat
· Formula supply that would last for a couple of days
· 3-4 of gerber/beechnut fruits / veggies (Nikki does not ever have them)
· 2 servings of ½ cup cereals (what if he doesn’t like rice and wants oats and vice versa)
· 1 serving of snack variety that is in vogue during that week
· 2 bottles, 3 spoons, sipper, 2 cups
· A flask with hot water
· 5 sets of clothes
· 3 pairs of socks, gloves, hats (even during hot summer, what if it suddenly gets cold)
· Infant Tylenol (what if …)
· Pedialyte (what if, you know what…)
· Moisturizers
· Hand sanitizer
· Pacifier (he has never had one, it MIGHT come to rescue if he cries inconsolably)
· Teethers, 1 or 2 toys (these will be taken in hand if the diaper bag overflows, which it does most of the times)
· Baby Comb (you won’t believe the amount of hair Nikki has, I can plait his hair. Will try posting his pictures soon, DH is not willing to make them public yet)
· Nursing pads for self (I stopped nursing him during the day 2 months back, what if?)
· My mobile and wallet if I don’t wear pants with pockets
Supply bag:
· flask with lukewarm water
· dozen diapers, one more box of wipe
· more toys
· towel
· blanket
· more food supplies depending upon the duration of the trip
My mom calls the diaper bag pudhayal (treasure trove), you will uncover lotsa stuff other than those mentioned above. Some examples: coupons, brochures from Ped’s office, prescriptions, pens, let me stop here, I am digressing from the point of this post. I think this must have given you guys an idea of the level of preparedness I am in for Nikki in normal circumstances, where I have access to all of these stuff in less than 30 minutes, even if I forget to take them along.
All of you travel-wise moms out there, please provide your 2 cents on what WILL BE, MIGHT BE required and WHAT YOU WISHED YOU HAD TAKEN while traveling to India. I am advised to even pack diapers, wipes and the like from here. I am not sure if I really have to, diapers & wipes that you get in India should be good enough I guess. But with Nikki, I want to be on the safer side, I would rather go overboard than regret after going there.
We are having a Ped visit coming up in a week, she said she would be immunizing him against Measles (he is close to 10 months now) and nothing else. One of my neighbor here said her Ped gave her daughter some pills to treat Malaria. Should I ask for anything from my Ped? Any wisdom on this account will be greatly appreciated. We are taking Lufthansa via Frankfurt, so any experiences, travel restrictions you have come across, heard about recently, please let me know.
Now, I don’t want to sound like a hyper-protective mom who thinks of India (rather coimbatore, my home town) as a disease ridden place. I want Nikki to be exposed to all kinds of environments, but reasonably so, I want to be enjoying our vacation there, not to let Nikki get sick and suffer along with him. Despite warnings of having a weakened immune system, I and DH are NOT taking any vaccines or tablets, just planning to be careful with water and outside food. The latter I don’t think I can, I am just waiting to devour all junk food from the street shops. The thought of having to vaccinate myself to be at MY HOME is unthinkable. I cannot even think like that.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Need some wisdom…
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13 comments:
my first son never needed a pacifier either! hopefully yours won't either.
I have an idea to make the pacifier even better. I am looking for support from mothers like yourself who know what it's like to try and find a pacifier in the dark.
The idea is a pacifier that lights up when it falls out of a child's mouth. Making it easier for parent and child to find. I need your vote to make it a reality. Vote Here: Light-up Pacifier.
Yeah, you do get most of the stuff in India these days, but guess you'll be playing musical chairs with relatives houses, so its better to bundle stuff from your bag than go shopping for it and not find the right size at teh last minute!
"to vaccinate myself to be able to visit my home is unthinkable" True.
Am sure the podhigai will not let you down.:-)
First time here but having travelled with a infant already 2 times I think you have pretty much everything covered. Liquids are not allowed at all but once the security checks are done you can go ahead and get some water there.
I would advise you to pack a lot more diapers even for the flight. We ended up having to run around the airport searching for some diapers during one of the times and it was not pretty:)atleast 10 would be a good number. Pack some extra dresses cause you never know when they will need it. Take some warm blanket as it will get colder in the aircraft.
As for the diapers from India they are a bit costly and also not the same quality ones which we get here. So incase you can pack as many as possible. And yes while you are there always use the mosquito net. My little girl developed quite a severe skin reaction to the normal mosquito bites there.
Over and above relax. I'm sure you will have a great flight and a great vacation!
Make sure you have more diapers and wipes in teh carry on. Extra clothes for baby and you too, formula, bibs. Also take a bottle of the soap for baby from here to start with and then you can buy the J&J stuff there. I guess you cannot take water and other liq past security but Starbucks will fill ur flask.
As for carrying diapers, sure take a pack or more, but you sure can get some good ones (pampers, huggies) in India which you can use and once in India, you can ise cloth diapers if thats ok. As far as vaccinating baby, ask your ped and I don't think baby may need malaria ones. When in India, just make sure you use boiled and cooled filtered water, extra boiled and cooled milk (if u r planning for it).
Good luck.
Hi,
we have a ten months old baby too .we are planning for a India trip in the end of nov .I think our lists are similar except the Brita pitcher and water filter.
Our ped asked us to contact travel clinic in our area.
The travel clinic nurse suggested that we take water filter to filter the boiled bottled water.
She prescribed anti-diarrhoeal and anti-malarial tablets.Malaria pills have to be taken once a week starting from one week before we leave and have to be continued until after 4 weeks after reaching here.We bought some mosquito repellent lotion to apply on the skin and another to spray on the baby clothes.Along with these the nurse recommended Hepatitis -A vaccine to prevent any food and water borne infection but our babies are too young for that itseems so she suggested Gamma glogulin inj. for short term protection .
As far as food is concerned she asked us to take all baby food (cereal).Also its ok to give peeled fruits and cooked veggies.
U'll have to take a pacifier when u fly.I heard babies have to either nurse or use pacifier to avoid the discomfort in the ear during take off and landing.
Wishing You A Happy and Safe Journey.
Swapna
Never been to India but we travel with our son (now 2.5 years) all over. Our last trip was backpacking Peru & Bolivia. Along with food and toys, you will also find it helpful to have a baby carrier and a Downtime Sleepy hat (www.downtimebaby.com) to help baby sleep on the airplane, car, etc while you are traveling. It was so helpful for us. Our son was sleeping through the airplane cabin lights going on in the middle of the night, taking a bus trip during his naptime in the Altiplano, etc. There is nothing better than a well-rested baby while you are traveling!
Reg Gamma Globulin
We travelled with our little one ( then 7 mths ) to India last year. Our ped advised against Gamma Globulin since he said that it is a Blood based Vaccine and it is better to avoid it (being blood based and risk of contaminated blood; though Iam sure they are very careful)and he thought she did not need it. We did not go for it. This is just our experience not meant to confuse or counter anyone else's comment. :)
Reg Gamma Globulin again..
Swapna if you are still in the process of deciding on the Vaccines please do ask more questions abt Gamma Globulin.
I think you have got everything pretty much covered. Do take formula and baby food as much as you can cos you may not get the same brand in India. And do pack some extra clothes for yourself in the cabin luggage just in case the little one throws up or something else during the journey. This happened to me once when Bunty was little and threw up not once but twice, one on the flight and once at the transit airport and I ran short of my clothes supply as I had packed only one extra pair for myself in the cabin bag for emergency rest was all packed in the booked luggage.
Hi,
I spoke to our ped yesterday ,he said its ok to give Hep.A vaccine .
Anyway Thanks A Lot for your information.
Swapna
All anonymous commenters(other than Swapna), please leave a name if you don't have a blogger id. Now that there are so many anonymous comments, I have to come up with names for you.
Light-up pacifier anonymous: Your comment is not relevant to this post at all, I did not even click on the link you provided. I did not give my son a pacifier because I DID NOT WANT TO and I don't believe in it. (Pacifier is there in my diaper bag because of DH's insistence)
JLT: Will take as much as possible, weight limit permitting. I think you meant "pudhayal". :-)
Fuzzylogic: Welcome to my blog. Thanks for your inputs. Will definitely pack more diapers. I did not think of blankets for Nikki, will pack it too.
Shobhana: Thanks. I did not think of packing dresses for myself. Will pack a couple of shirts in case Nikki throws up or makes a big poop. As for his bathing paraphernelia, we do not use J&J because of his eczema, will be taking extra supplies of his soap, moisturizer & everything.
Swapna: Thanks for the long comment. It is very informative. Don't you think the water filters in India are as good as Brita? Do we even have to take it from here? I will check with my Ped about tablets for Malaria, Diarrhea and Gammaglobulin. I am planning to give him milk/juice from the bottle while landing/take-off. Need to buy a hypo-allergenic mosquito repellent too. Thanks for your wishes and wishing you a happy & safe journey too. FYI, we are also flying at the end of this month.
downtimebaby anonymous: We are not touring India, we are visiting our parents. There will be lotttt of willing baby carriers to whom I can safely handover Nikki, the moment I land there. I did go to the link and found the hat FANCY.
Gamma-globulin anonymous: Thanks for your concern. It is always good to have another perspective. Will check that out with my Ped too.
2b'smommy: Will definitely pack extra clothes for throwing up and pooping eventualities. btw, have your test results come?
Swapna: looks like you are visiting my blog often, please delurk more often.
I am late here, you seem to have a pretty good list.
One more thing if you are still b-f-ing. My daughter refused to go on them in the flight resulting in engorgement. Luckily I carried the hand pump and that really helped.
Also, if he is a picky eater, he might not eat or drink as much, which is ok. Its ok if he does not eat enough solids for a day, make sure he is hydrated enough. Wouldn't hurt to keep some baby juice, popsicles, just to keep hydrated.
Thanks DDMom, he is almost weaned. Do not have that problem.
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