Going to SE Asia with a 7 month old

[Miss_Dee]

DF, Shoopy and I are going on our first international family holiday in 10 days. It was a very last minute decision, only booked a couple of weeks ago but we've finally settled on spending our month long holiday in Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. What kind of things will I need to think about/pack/prepare for with a 7 month old? Apparently huggies are readily available in each country and I'll take some cloth as a pack up, we're doing BLW and plan to stick to fresh fruits and veggies though at a pinch Heinz and Gerber baby food is also readily available, I baby wear which will make travelling slightly easier....what else should I think about?

[chody47]

Food wise, are you BF? If not, is the formula you use readily available?

Check that each place you're staying has cots for bubs (unless you wanna take your own).

[feeb]

ONLY use bottles water you dont want bubs getting a yucky tummy.

Do you BF of FF??

Have fun

[HotI]

weather is pretty sticky there, you want something light for baby wearing.

how will you transport bub in a car? are you happy to wear her? I was last there 3 years ago, but didn't see any car seats and cars wouldn't necessarily have the hooks even if you took your own car seat.

for fruits and vegies, (especially when I was pg) I went with ones that I could peel or the skin was taken off to eat them (banana mango, pineapple...)

so jealous, would love to head back

[veus]

We recently came back from malaysia, s feeb said, bottle water is a definite.
Fruits should be fairly easy to get.
You can find veg but they're prob not the usual broccoli etc. more Asian veggies.

Coz of the weather & humidity you might find baby wearing uncomfortable.
Huggies are easy to get, but they're not as absorbent as the ones here. Sizing isn't exactly the same either. So you might need to do some trial and error.

When u get nappies @ supermarket, get tissues and wet wipes. Don't expect toilets to have paper.

Food wise there usually is something for DD (18mo). If in doubt order freshly cooked stuff.

There's also a bit of hand foot & mouth going around at the moment. We just wiped the table etc before DD ate. Not sure how much that helped but more for our comfort.

[Butterfly Dawn]

When baby wearing, a light t shirt and nappy maybe all you need.
Take bug repellent and maybe even a mosquito bracelet for baby?
Banana and yogurt will be a good staple for baby. Try stick with imported brands for foods- save on any trouble for everybody with new ingredients.
Hand sanitiser and wipes!!
Nappy rash cream and a barrier cream at every change- the nappys are different, even the same brands as at home are diff. We found Korean and Japanese. nappy brands like mamapoko better then huggies or pampers.
Supermarkets sell multi packs of tissues for the toilets.

I would either take a baby capsule or wear baby in the car. A capsule that can be held by seatbelt will protect more then nothing.

Sounds like a great holiday. Hope you have a blast

[Mrs P]

Definitely get a cot-sized mosquito net. This was invaluable when we took DD to Thailand.

[veus]

Oh yeah forgot abt car seat req in Malaysia, NONE. Malaysians are starting to realise the importance of it but not many own one.

Mossies was a bit of killer for us. DD was fine for a week and after that they just seem to find her wherever we went.

[Miss_Dee]

Thanks for the tips everyone. I breastfeed so that's one less thing to worry about. Will be taking a sippy cup as well and only giving bottled water. Planning to just baby wear in taxis as when we were in Indonesia we noticed some cars didn't have seat belts at all! We're staying with friends in Singapore, but everywhere else I've made sure DF is booking a cot when he books our room. That's very interesting to hear the nappies are different. I just assumed they'd be the same as here so its good to be prepared for that.

What is a mosquito bracelet and where would I get one?

[sahbear]

Definitely babywear in taxi's - when we traveled through Malaysia and China, I wore DS in the Ergo in all taxis and private cars.
Also on some flights (mainly within China) we weren't able to get seatbelt extensions for DS who was traveling on our laps.
In those instances he was in the ergo on the plane as well, which was frustrating - just be prepared in case this happens. I was perplexed to say the least!

[Butterfly Dawn]

We get the braclets from our sporting goods shop. Our kids wear them all summer to help keep mosquitoes away. You can also get repellent patches you can put on stuff like cots, they are handy.

Check vaccinations, its encephillitis (sp) time soon, that's something you don't want to risk. not sure if its sth east Asia though.

[dusty]

Sounds like a great trip you have planned! I'd love to hear how it went and any tips you learn for travelling with a wee one when you get back have fun.

[BellyBelly]

Having just gotten back from a humid Fiji with a 7 month old - the flight was easy in comparison to dealing with humidity. DD decided to teeth (pretty badly ) so we had to work hard to keep her cool and baby wearing was very hard. No answers but we found cool showers throughout the day helped. Think about the humidity and comfort measures to make it an easier trip.

[Miss_Dee]

The humidity does worry me a little, especially as Shoopy is a hot bod like her Daddy. Aside from cool showers, and staying in the a/c (which will be easy in Singapore, not sure about every where else) any other suggestions for keeping her cool?

[BellyBelly]

We kept her free of clothing for the most part, just a nappy. Well crushed ice to suck on (if water quality is okay), lots of pool time. We were able to source an extra fan to put in the room as well as a baby bath, from reception. Cool facewashers. Will think more!

[veus]

DD is a hot bod one too. Light cotton singlets and undies was pretty much all she lived in. Some days no clothes. What you find is there's generally hot period but then it'll rain and it cools down. But the humidity is constant. We take as many showers as we need. Usually at least 2. One after middayish and another late Avro.

Bring nappy cream too coz the humidity seemed to do funny things to DD's bum. Not sure combo of nappy and/or humidity or other factors.

[HotI]

Not quite the same, but I went to Cambodia and Vietnam when I was pregnant, at the start of 2nd tri. my morning sickness had eased but I hadn't got to the energetic bit of 2nd tri yet. We would go out in the morning and do something, come back and chill in the air con of the hotel for awhile in the middle of the day (I often had a shower and a nanna nap) and then head out again in the late arvo. I can imagine having to do similar if I was going with kids.