I'm beginning to think about James first trip to see June's family. Thinking of going June/July, so he will be seven or eight months old. I'm sure that many of you have travelled with a baby, so do you have any tips, pitfalls to avoid etc.

Particularly interested to hear about baby friendly airlines (do they exist); what did you take with you (in light of the fact that a trip to the shops involves massive preparation in terms of what we take); staying in a rural village (June's mum lives about an hour north west of Khon Kaen); baby friendly hotels in Bangkok and Pattaya.


Regards

Gary

Gary
If he is still breastfeeding then its really easy if not then take plenty of his usual tipple.

We took Wesley 3 times in his first year always flew Thai or Swiss and booked the travel cot (Only up to 10kgs)

We took a cheap buggy and bought a travel cot in Big C which we left with the family , this was a swinging type with biult in mossie nets etc.


Otherwise take nappies for the first few days and baby sun screen.

Most hotels have child beds otherwise just get a baby bed (see above).

We also took a car seat for the hire car which doubled as a chair.

You can buy Calpol etc in most pharmacies.

ash

As an aside, is malaria a problem? is there medicine for children of this age? Also, my wife will be returning for the first time in 14 months, is maleria a problem for her?

BigRed

Malaria is best prevented in small kids by mossie nets and careful swatting. (the mossie not the kid )

We never bother with Malaria prophylaxis in thailand but its best to get advice from your GP depends on the area.

ash

gary, we took our daughter 5 months old, phuket air, i know you cannot now but they were great to us. we also took buggy onto plane.
milk sachets for easy measuring of feed
pre packed disposable bottles and teats can be used 5 times
toys to occupy the mind ours and babies
nappies for flight+1 day
evrything else we bought when we had settled in hotel, sukhumvit soi22 cant remember name but j&p court in pattaya soi lenke great family hotel we always stay there bc & ac.
before child & after child
hope its peacefull and trouble free
steve

well our daughter is 10 now , but we first took her when she was 10 months old, we went with gulf air then (who were excellent service wise) but obviously had to change planes in the gulf, do after that trip weve always gone direct! much less hassle! also we had the cot thingy (i think its called a basinette?) but it wasnt big enough for her to sleep in comfortably! really i was surprised as to how much she took everything in her stride! (considering she was only 10 months old!) but as i say the worst thing we found was the actual flight ie not being direct and waiting in bahrain or whereever it was for 3 hours! so if you can get a direct flight! and "personally!" ive found the evening departures better as you are more (in theory anyway!) likely to sleep! good luck and enjoy yourselves! ps. i guarantee everybody will make a fuss of your baby!

GaryG,

Your predicament sounds very familiar to where we were a year ago. We took our 5 month old son to Thailand for 3 weeks in Apr05, we flew with Thai Airways who were excellent, they provided the travel cot etc for the flight and whisked us through check-in etc taking us to the front of every queue we were presented with. We took our own lightweight buggy which we were allowed to walk onto the plane.

We took the usual powdered milk (3 large tins), nappies/wipes (just a few, easy to buy there), jars (took a few).
Essentials for us were a mosquito net to go over buggy (especially important for the evenings) and lots of hand held fans, I fashioned a lightweight rig from wire which fitted around the top of the buggy allowing 1-3 of these fans to be attached this way the boy had permanent air conditioning wherever we went. Make sure you have loads of batteries too.

You can buy sterilization tablets from any supermarket so that the bottles etc can be done in cold water, this was very helpful since you will always have access to cold water and a bowl/sink.

We stayed at the Marriot Resort and Spa in Bangkok and they too were excellent, a large cot was available in the room and the staff were receptive to every baby demand.

We also went up to the inlaws in Phetchabun for a week and didn't have any problems. Trust me when I say there will be plenty of people queuing up to take good care of you son in the village.

All in all the trip went a lot better than we had predicted and our son adapted a lot better than we had expected. Be warned that your son will get LOADS of attention wherever he goes in LOS but it's all good. Lastly don't want to state the obvious but make sure he drinks plenty of water.

Enjoy!!

Gary,

We are in a similar situation to yourself with our baby daughter.We plan to travel back to Thailand later on in the year when our daughter will be 14 months old.
From reading the postings I feel alot happier about taking her to Thaialnd and especially taking her to see the inlaws in Isaan.
Will have to buy a mossie net though and take plenty of sterilising tablets!

Regards

Jon

We have taken Kelly a few times, first time at 3 months latest at 15 months.

Aom takes a little case as hand luggage with Wet Wipes, a small Sudocream, several nappies, nappy sacks, a small plastic changing mat, about 6 feeding bottles and a (heavy) crate of the SMA baby milk cartons. This suffices for getting to Thailand and allows a few days until supplies are topped up in Thailand (Only some SMA milk retained for the return journey). Supplies are then topped up in Thailand with Mamy Poko wet wipes ~200baht in Big C/Tesco Lotus etc, very good Mamy Poko nappies BigC 449baht for ~30+ nappies and at 15 months Kelly was happily drinking the small cartons of "Dutch Thai UHT Milk"at 21baht each from BigC.

Bottle sterilisers, tablets, cots etc can all be bought very cheaply (compared to the UK) when in Thailand.

Kelly has flown via Thai and EVA Air, both very good in our experience. Make sure that you specify when booking that you require a bulkhead seat where the cot/bassinet is attached to as you are taking an infant. I think there is a cut off age of when the bassinet is supposed to be supplied, on the last outward flight, at 15 months, we had bulkhead seats, but were not allowed the bassinet (there was a spare seat for Kelly though). On the return, still a spare seat, but the stewardess brought a bassinet along for Kelly (at her age even though she only just squeezed into it, it was more comfortable than a seat. On Thai and EVA there have been fold down baby changing facilities in some of the loos. The new EVA 777 on our last trip was excellent, individual screens (includes a cartoon channel) and lots of legroom at the bulkhead.

EVA and Thai both provide a "baby bag" which contains amongst other things a nappy, a few wet wipes and a couple of jars of baby food.

We take a light weight buggy and flying with EVA it was a case of priority boarding for passengers with infants. We take Kelly in the buggy down to the plane and leave the buggy at the door (make sure at check in that it is tagged) and the buggy is then loaded on the plane after boarding. On landing sometimes the buggy is brought to the door again, but more often arrives at the luggage carousel separately to the other buggage. When leaving the plane check with the crew where you should pick up the buggy.

We have similar experiences to Voodoo, Kelly is a real centre of attention wherever we are, she has a great time and fortunately for her she picks up the amount of attention from people rather than that I receive from the mosquitos!

Speak to your doctor about jabs needed, the most important I think is Hepatitus jab, worth considering even if not mentioned by doc. Very important though is to keep baby hydrated and out of the sun and use sunblock as much as possible.

If your baby has any health problems then there are plenty of top notch hospitals that will most probably charge very little to give a check up. Worthwhile doing a check on hospitals in areas you will be visiting before you leave for LOS, eg Bumrungrad in Bangkok, Aek International in Udon Thani etc.

Good luck and enjoy.