Kiki0033

Hello. My husband and I are thinking of traveling from the U.S. to Bali or China with our 10 month old and wanted to hear opinions on flying 18-20 hours with a little one. ... Any other thoughts on other good places to travel in Asia with a little one are also welcome. Basically, like most people on this forum, my husband and I love to travel and have been to Eastern Europe, Central America, Tanzania and Tahiti. We planned to continue traveling once per year even after having kids, but our daughter is so attached to us that we are hesitant to leave her at home with family for 7-10 days. ... This had lead us to consider bringing her with us.

Any thoughts, opinions would be appreciated!

Thanks, Kirsten

Jaya

The bigger question is do you want a 10 month old with YOU?

A young toddler will change what you can and can't do on the trip. Eating out, long days, etc that you can do just as a couple are much different and more restrictive with a 10 month old that may also want to get down and crawl on the floor.

The airplane part is easy - little ones usually do fine. If it were me and since you are not taking her to visit family in China or Bali, I would leave her behind.

Kathie

It's true that it would likely be good for you to have a break and to see that your daughter does just fine for a week or so without you.

But if you really want to take her with you, I'd choose someplace easy-going, where you don't have to be out touring all day to get what you want out of the trip. For me, that would rule out CHina, but would make Bali or Thailand, for instance, good destinations with a young child.

HappyMom32

A 20 hr flight is very hard on a baby. Many times we saw parents comforting babies on these long flights and felt sorry for everybody, including other passengers having to put up with the crying.

lcuy

I think China might be difficult with a 10 month old. They want to crawl everywhere, and china is pretty dirty at floor level in many places.

I would choose Bali, Thailand, Singapore or Japan. All are very child friendly places, especially Japan. We took our four month old there, and had one of our best trips ever!

Where are you coming from? You might consider flying into LA to break up the trip, as that would be the hardest part of any of these locations.

That said, we traveled quite a bit when our girls were little. We took them along on some trips and left them with my parents on others. We loved having them with us, but the trips without kids were really refreshing.

I really think it was good for them, as they learned to be flexible, and really bonded with their grandparents, who were a five hour flight from our home. My parents loved having them all to themselves, as when Mom & dad are around, toddlers will still gravitate toward them.

Kiki0033

Icuy-Thank you for your thoughtful response. We'll be coming from D.C. I hadn't thought about going to LA first, but will look into flights, etc.

When you were in Japan with your 4 month old did you have any trouble finding taxis/transportation with seat belts for the child carrier? Did you bring a pack-in-play along? Finally, did you get your baby vaccinated for Hep A? They do Hep B in the hospitals at birth so we are all set on that end. I was reading though that Hep A is usually not given until 12 months of age. Thank you again!

mohan

Your question reminds me of a fun article:http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/tr...ys-babies.html
I love Bali but I pray hard that I don't get sick when I am there. If you want to play safe, Japan would be the best option.

lcuy

When our girls were that little carriers weren't allowed on planes, so we didn't bring one. Even now, we tend to take trains and the subway for a lot of our trips. Taxis usually have good seat belts though, so I think you'd be fine.

Not sure what a pack-in-play is.
If you want to let your child play, there is usually a play area in the childrens' section of the big department stores. When our girls were that age, it always shocked me that parent would just leave their ids there and go shopping. I don't know if that's still the case, but it was an eye opener regarding how safe they felt. People are incredibly friendly and helpful toward you if you have a baby in tow, especially a foreign looking one!

Another nice thing about Japan is that it is so clean and the water is safe to drink.

crosscheck

kiki, Our boys are now 17 and 20, but we did travel with them internationally when they were your daughter's age (mostly to Europe, often work-related). We were insane and usually brought the baby carrier, backpack, carseat AND a stroller - sometimes two. (As a result, my husband now insists on carry-on only). We found that most hotels had pack 'n plays (portable crib/playpen combo). You can check beforehand.

I think it's a good idea to wait and go to more exotic locales later, unless you're going to park yourself at a touristy resort....and then it's not really worth the flying time.

You won't know how your daughter does on a long flight until you try it. Make sure you have an ear infection remedy. One of our boys would fall asleep before we took off and didn't wake until we landed. The other would screech (in glee), grab things, throw things and was full-on walking at 9 months. We had to stay up all night with him, keeping him presentable, and had to leave him with local babysitters rather than take him to restaurants. (The good news is that he's calm and focused now.)

Japan sounds like a wonderful choice....My only concern would be all those steps at the train stations.

Venturasurfwidow

My DH and are are like you - love to travel and we didn't let kids slow us down. We took a 7 month old for a week in the French Quarter, a 4 and 1 year old to Alaska on a driving trip and two trips to Costa Rica before they were in their teens. That said, we left the 20 month old home on our trip to Bali and were glad that we did. The flight is difficult even without a baby on board and I really don't think the overall logistics will be worth it. Our daughter had a lovely bonding stay with her grandparents and aunt and we had a great, adventurous trip. My hubby surfed, I had daily massages and we both loved the beauty of Ubud and other less "touristy" areas without worrying about where to strap a carseat into a Bemo. By day 11 I was missing my daughter very much, but SHE was just fine. Our philosophy is to take our kids when it will add to their appreciation of travel - and NOT take away our appreciation of the trip in question. Enjoy!!

rhkkmk

bali or thailand would be my choices

Kristina

kiki- Have you seen the blog www.almostfearless.com? She's traveling all over with her baby. First they were in Thailand, then Bali, now they are in India for 3 months. She wrote a very interesting post about being a "bad mother" and giving up the car seat as impractical in that environment.
Traveling with a baby can be done.
OTOH, if it's only 7-10 days then for a trip that long, it might be best to leave the baby at home.

marmot

I have mixed feelings about bringing a 10 month old to Bali. (About bringing a baby to China, I don't have mixed feelings: Don't!)

We traveled to Asia from the States frequently starting when my son was 18 months and never had a problem with flights or logistics. The worst part was adjusting to jetlag, as there’s no way to reason with an infant/toddler. When they’re awake, they’re awake!

Asians, and especially Indonesians, love children. As our son grew older, he contributed a lot to our enjoyment of the local culture, but at 10 months your daughter wouldn’t be interacting too much.

Having said that, I think you need to be aware that Bali, despite its sophisticated tourist infrastructure, has poor medical facilities and the potential of serious disease like malaria and dengue. (Hepititis A is not common but does occur in Bali.) More frequent are ailments like digestive upsets and skin issues that would be minor irritations for an adult but may be serious for an infant.

In Bali, childcare is readily available and inexpensive, though the caregivers themselves are often just children. Most resorts have “daycamps” for kids, though your daughter may be on the young side for the activities offered. Safety equipment and Western-style accessories like carseats would playpens wouldn’t be commonly found. Strollers are impractical. Highchairs and cribs yes, definitely available.

My conclusion would be leave her at home this time and come back to Bali when she’s about 2 or 3. I agree with what Venturasurfwidow wrote: you’ll miss her, but she’ll be fine.

Nywoman

We always traveled with our children. My daughter was 3 months old when she took her first transatlantic trip.
That said, we usually went to Europe or the Caribbean and always to places with good medical care. Invariably one or the other would get sick even if it was only severe diaper rash.

I would avoid Bali for now, Bali belly is not fun. Also concur with the others give the grandparents a treat, as well as an enjoyable trip for yourselves.

Kiki0033

Thank you all for your thoughts. We've decided on Bali but are still weighing the options of whether to bring our baby girl or not. Of course there is the downside of healthcare, etc. but since I am nursing her and can bring a whole suitcase full of baby food (Gerber uses plastic containers to package their baby food) it seems the eating issue will be easier now than when she is 2 or 3. Plus, I like that she is still small enough to be put in a carrier all day (we have a front carrier and also one with a backpack that my husband uses) so it will be easier to transport her without a stroller. ... I completely agree that the trip will be more relaxed without her, but being so far away from her may also spoil some of the fun. ...

vthatcher

Ooh-where are you staying when you go to Bali? We are thinking of bringing our 7 month old there for a surf trip. We're counting on cheap childcare being available, but wondering if it's safe. So, are people saying to not bring a stroller?