BRINGING BABY HOME...what do you take along?

An ICHILD member wants to know should her husband carry a stroller to India to use while bringing their baby home, and other travel advice:

I would not take a stroller to India if I were traveling alone, but if I had an extra set of hands, I would take the "Combi Sport Utility Baby Vehicle". It weighs 10 pounds. The great thing about this stroller besides the fact that it has a basket, reclining seat, canopy and swivel wheels is that it folds in **half** and stores in the airplanes overhead bin.

If you fly on Singapore or similar airline, you can take up to two checked in pieces and one carry on. If your husband has no experience taking care of a baby, then I would not take a stroller along. It just requires too many hands when getting on buses at the airport, getting into taxi's. You have to fold it up, hold the baby at the same time...and not lose track of your luggage.

GAGETS FOR EASY TRAVELING and the BARE NECESSITIES:

I took a No Jo Baby sling (there is a denim sling for men!!) and it is soft, baby can sleep on it in airports, can ride in it with daddy, and it can be put in the airport luggage carts basket for sleeping (with feet hanging out of course). This can store in the suitcase on the way there.

One company sells a special safety belt that you can put on your baby in the airplane and while driving around in taxi's too. It is called BAby B'Air (about $30.00 but well worth the price!). You attatch it to your belt in the air, or car. Probably there won't be any belts in cars, so attatch it to your belt on your waist while driving.

Premeasured formula containers are great. Fill it up before you go out, and make bottles anywhere. Also premeasured formula packets bought here are convenient. If you take the premeasured formula from here, you will have to switch baby to the new formula while in India. I did it, but its not for everyone.

Antibacterial wipes are a must when making bottles on the road in India...and changing diapers too.

Here is what I would take for a 2 week trip if I was traveling alone:

3 jumbo packages of diapers (change frequently in hot weather 2 packs of wipes (use for everything) Desitin diaper rash 8 bottles (rings, lids and nipples too) 2 new baby travel kids (J&J makes these) 2 or 3 nice multi function toys 7 sets of clothing for baby (undershirts for sleeping, socks, outfits - dresses or rompers - shoes if you want) 1 baby towel 6 baby washclothes 2 lightweight blankets Snacks and cereals for baby

One set of clothing for yourself in your backpack and two salwar kameez's in suitcase (or mens clothing). I wear one nice one home from India. Two pair shoes...Birkenstock type sandals that are open toed; one with no back strap and one with a back strap for walking long ways. (optional...cheap flipflops for shower).

TALK TO YOUR PEDIATRICIAN:

Pack baby medicines (baby tylenol, baby tummy meds, baby cold meds and baby benadryl). Ask your pediatrician what you should take along, and what dose she recommends.

Sometimes a baby who has spent a long period of time in an orphanage may have not been exposed to airconditioning. Getting on a cold airplane may bring on a cold or ear infection. Cold meds and tylenol can be helpful for this type of situation. Pressure changes can be very painful for your baby. If drinking a bottle or sucking on a pacifer doesn't help, sometimes sleeping with the assistance of baby benadryl can help. In my experience, there is nothing worse than a baby who is screaming and in pain on a 30 hour flight while her flustered parents don't know what to do. I don't advocate medicating a child without cause, but it may be a last resort when nothing else has worked. Those international flights can be very long, even when the baby is happy and well.

Will It Fit?

Getting everything to fit in a small backpack and small suitcase is sometimes a job for a physicist! For diapers...don't open up the packages. They are much more compact when unopened. Open one package at home and take about 15 diapers out and leave them in the diaper bag or backpack with one of those thin diaper wipe travel cases. Leave the open bag at home and take only unopen bags of diapers. Also, for baby wipes, take them in the zip lock bags (thats how we buy ours) don't take the hard containers which add more space and weight.

Put all clothing in ziplock bags and sit on them to get the air out before closing. Some air will seep back in, but not that much. Smash it all down on the bottom of the suitcase and put everything else on top.

Take extra ziplock bags for all kinds of things you will think of when you are in India such as wet clothing, bread ect. Don't throw them away. Someone there would be happy to wash and reuse them!

If you use TP, flatten it and put two rolls in one ziplock bag. If you camp and have a sleeping bag with a giant zip bag, take the giant zip bag with you for things you would like to store together like medicines. You can pull it out without fishing through all those bags. I have several of those very large bags, and after putting everything in zip bags, I subcatagorize all of my things in the giant zipper bags. It saves me ALOT of time. Take one bottle of water in your suitcase. Buy one in your last port before India and save it in your backpack. Always have water...even before food. CLEAN and safe water for both you and baby means staying healthy.

USING SPACE WISELY

Fit whatever you can in all the corners, inside empty things ect. This saves space. But becare of the weight restrictions of your airline, weigh the bags at least two days before you leave (on your bathroom scales is okay) and rearrange and remove as much as needed! The first time I went to India, I removed about HALF of what I intended to take.

Leave in India whatever you absolutely don't need. The orphanage or a relative can likely use it, and you can make space for things you purchased while there. I just love traveling home with lighter luggage too. It is much easier with a baby!

I put the diaper bag in my suitcase on the way home. Then checked the large bag, and carried only a fanny pack and my backpack. This was much simpler. I carried the baby in the sling, so my hands were free to grab hand rails ect.

On my last trip to India, everyone was using backpacks, from the youngest to the oldest. It was very interesting to see the elderly outfitted with expensive packs, but it sure makes travel easy. Leave those hard suitcases at home. Soft packs are in!

Happy Trails!

Amelia

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