...to think it's possible to go on holiday with a 6/7 month old?

[naranciata]

Expecting DC1 in April. Friend getting married in India in November and has invited me, DH and baby to be. I am very keen to go and have wanted to go to India for years and years. DH is trepidacious (understandably) but he's naturally much more risk averse than I am. I think it will be hard and scary but mainly an adventure. DH is Googling stats on road traffic accidents in India and saying I should go on my own.

Can I have your experiences of holidaying with small babies?

You absolutely should not supplement a breastfed baby with bottled water. Extremely dangerous. Breast milk is all they need, for one, and most bottled water isn't suitable for small babies.

I don't agree with this at all - babies are fine with pre boiled cool water in the heat but in india it just adds another hassle of sterilising bottles and although water is fine its not essential - just breastmilk will be fine - just give little top ups often to keep baby hydrated.

Babies in heat is really, really tough. They really struggle with it and it's not nice for them. You'd need to make sure you had a decently air conditioned car and hotel but it's still not nice for them out and about.

At that time of year you could be taking them a 20 degree jump from what they're used to and it really isn't nice.

Plus you have no guarantee at all you will still be breastfeeding that far in. Most mothers aren't despite intending to.

OP, we were in southern Spain and the south of France during summer with a 4 month old bf baby and it was fine heat-wise. It's also easy travelling with babies compared to slightly older toddlers!

DH lived in India for a while and got pretty ill, I get why people say avoid. I'd probably do it though.

We did a lot of travelling before we had kids so once they came along we wanted to carry on. Before DS went to school he had been to New Zealand, the Seychelles, Malaysia,France and Iceland. If breastfeeding travelling with a baby is so much easier. I breastfed on takeoff in planes so baby didn't have a problem with ears popping etc. Before I had kids we went to India and met a young German girl who was travelling with a toddler. She was having a wonderful trip as everyone was so friendly towards her and the baby. I would say go for it. An invite to an Indian wedding sounds a great experience. All too soon kids grow up and you are restricted to travelling in school holidays only - make the most of it while u can.

I've been to India a few times- always ended up with Delhi belly, I'm well travelled (sometimes with small ones too) and lucky enough to have stayed in amazing hotels, am rigid in water hygiene and careful with food choices ie local food no ice no dairy no salad etc; at that age a baby will be exploring things and foods- whilst probably fine (given many Indian babies obv fine!) it's a huge change to your babies gastro system - new food (weaning?) / germs and not safe to crawl on floors etc- also if poorly depends where you are as to level of medical provision as things escalate v fast...
My baby ended up in a Spanish hospital with just a simple sickness bug, dehydrated- that was awful, wouldn't wish it on anyone

We took a 4 month old to Mallorca which was fine. Not sure I would take a baby to India though.

I suppose it depends on how adventurous you are but it would be an absolute 100% no for me.
I can't see any benefit to your child from the trip. S/he will be hot, uncomfortable and could potentially become very ill. Afaik you can't even give a child that age malaria prophylaxes, and what immunisations would you both need?
I have flown long-haul with a baby that age and found the entire trip (not India) gruelling.
Lastly if your DH has concerns now, he's going to feel even worse about it when your baby is actually here.
Can you put off the decision until you see how you cope with the baby?

Cool - thanks Feckitt, problem solved.

Ideally will put off final decision as long as possible but am mindful of increasing flight prices the longer I wait, as well as her need to plan for the wedding in terms of guest numbers etc.

I'm fully immunised and there are baby-appropriate versions of everything you need for India I think. There are a couple of anti-malarial that are suitable from 6 mo with a private prescription so about £40-£50.

DS is fifteen months now and has flown about ten times - our first trip away was a drive the length of the country when he was five weeks old. He's also been to a very hot wedding in the south of France and it was absolutely fine. So I definitely don't think a baby needs to stop you going on holiday! In fact DS was far more portable at 6 months, when he would sleep anywhere and wasn't constantly trying to escape , than he is now as a toddler.

Having said that - I'd be a bit cautious about going somewhere without ready access to safe water with a small baby. I suppose if you're exclusively breastfeeding or able to use readymade formula it needn't be an issue though. It also depends what kind of place you're staying and how safe you feel - I spent my early 20s travelling to some wildly dodgy places but there no way I'd do it now with a baby in tow - too much stress and not much fun!
I'd say go for it, it'll just require a bit more planning than you're currently used to

There's India and there's India, and there's traveling and there's traveling. Yes over a billion babies have been born in India in living memory, but generally not to parents of a western mentality.

Would I go backpacking through Goa, hitchhiking and taking trains with a 7mo? No. Would I go to a fancy pants 5* wedding in Jaipur or Mumbai where I'm driven to and from everywhere and the hotel has doctor's on call? Hell yes.

November is a nice time of year to travel in general there. Make sure you have pukka health insurance. Don't assume you will bf (and think hard about logistics if you do end up ff), and don't book your flights until baby is at least 3mo and you are over the worst of post-partum recovery. Fly direct. Don't go for more than 10 days. Get him used to a sling and don't bother with a stroller. Consider delaying weaning until you get back. All being well you'll have a great time and be smug down the line about how you took him to India as a baby!

We were fairly frequent travellers from when my DS was just s few months old. Personally I don't think I would do it. Main reasons:

• nightmare long flight. Babies at 7 months are awake a surprising amount especially during the day. However given the age they are very hard to entertain especially in the confines of a plane
• jet lag. Hopefully by this point your baby would be in a good routine... jet lag will

Make your life difficult

• the whole thing will be much safer if you are breastfeeding but you don't know now whether you will be or not. So you have to think about ease of sterilising things, having drinkable water for making bottles etc. Even if you are breastfeeding imagine you get a stomach upset and are feeling horrific.
• anti-malarials / other immunisations needed- i wouldn't fancy having to give these to such a young child
• heat / sun

I'm an adventurous traveller and DD has flown 30+ times in her short life. Only now, at 6, am I risking a majority world destination with her.

List of reasons;

Malaria
Dengue
Yellow fever
Government issues
Natural disasters
Travel issues
Instability
Hepatitis
Unsafe cars, trains, boats and bikes
Generally shit stuff
Diarrhea (which kills and is the actual worst thing on this list in terms of worry)

Of course if you will be staying at the Four Seasons, that's another matter. But I scraped by the odd time in some interesting places and I don't want to worry about DD.

We've travelled loads with our children starting from when the first one was 6 weeks old. I'm guilty of packing too much which is the only problem. For sleeping we took either a pram with the carry cot part when they were tiny and then a travel cot when a bit bigger. Most airlines allow 2 pieces of baby equipment for free. If you've travelled lots already then you'll be fine. Don't underestimate the jet lag though. The baby may take a while to adjust to the new sleep pattern but if there's 2 of you you can take turns.

My experience isn't so relevant to your issue as while I took DS1 on holiday at 7 months (Cyprus ) and 18 months (NZ), and then DS 1 and DS 2 to NZ at 3 / 18 months of age... Cyprus and NZ aren't India!

I love India and would love to go back there, so if you can get there I would go for it. I ate vegetarian food for the duration, and only from restaurants / hotels, no street food, and had no issues with D&V at all.

Breastfeeding if you can do it will be safer in view of water risk issues, but if you have to FF then think about using the prepackaged cartons of formula and sterile disposable bottles for the duration of your stay. Definitely get baby used to being in a sling for transporting them around and be absolutely vigilant with sunscreen and a hat for them.

Cyprus was in the high 30s when we were there and we found that a siesta in the middle of the day (in the air conditioned hotel room) suited DS1 at 7 months very well. We all slept with him for a while and then he came out for dinner with us in the evenings in his sling when it was cooler. At some point he would fall asleep in the sling and it was easy enough to clean his gums while still asleep and transfer him to his cot when we got back to the hotel.

I think it does depend on whereabouts you are going... back of beyond India with minimal facilities I would think twice, but Mumbai / Delhi / Goa / Rajasthan generally are so well geared to the tourist trade you should be fine.

Millions of babies survive in India every year :)

Travelling with kids have its own pros and cons but I think it is fun.

We just took little one to Pakistan to meet the in laws and it's OK. Couple of tips /points :

• Fly direct if possible and get a bassinet for the baby on the plane. Feed baby during take off and landing.
• Don't underestimate the amount of paraphernalia you'll need for the baby and pack accordingly. I had to resort to a checklist for the first time in my life.
• Use a sling when you don't fancy baby being touched by all and sundry and /or it's crowded. Clean baby's hands often.
• Bring lots of hand sanitiser and use it often.
• You might feel awkward about nursing in public so plan accordingly.
• Private medical hospitals in India in the larger cities are often really good. There's a reason there is medical tourism to India. As long as your insurance is good and you're not travelling to the sticks it should be fine.
• You can bring a carseat for the little one for your trip. Just bear in mind that it may be brutalised in transit. Remember to ensure that the seatbelts are accessible in the cars that you travel with as they are frequently tucked away. We bought a second hand one for this trip and are leaving it here. A lot of babies are injured when they are flung out of people's arms as a result of an emergency stop.
• If you're staying with friends and eating homecooked food you're much less likely to get sick. Ask for recommendations for places to eat out. When you do eat out, places with higher footfall are best. Don't eat street food unless it's either been vouched for by a local or you can see it frying in front of you.
• you may well not be as mobile as you think as baby will want to stretch and could get super moody. It is also very likely that there won't be many changing facilities so you might need to improvise.
• Bring a mosquito net. Even if there isn't malaria there might be dengue. Apparently the dengue mosquito feeds during the day.

That's all I can think of. PM me if you like.

Good luck!

We traveled to Sri Lanka when ds was 2 1/2 months old, dh is from Sri Lanka and we went for 6 weeks. I found it fine with him and he was bottle fed. And it was any easy age with him to travel :)

Trvelking long haul with a 6-7mo wouldn't faze me - it's a relatively easy age to do it. Travelling to India would be a trickier decision.

DH and I joke that every holiday we have involves a 'near death incident' - getting hopelessly lost somewhere a bit dodgy, navigating a perilous mountain path etc. But India is the only place I've been where every day had its own 'near death incident'. From the utterly crazy driving (e.g. our driver going the wrong way down a busy motorway headlong into the traffic to make a short cut), getting caught in a crush on the metro in Delhi, being attacked by a pack of potentially rabid monkeys, getting scammed by tuktuk drivers and dropped miles from out destination without a map or a phone, being followed back to the hotel by a gang of men late at night. And this was on a very 'civilised' organised tour. I also got an upset stomach despite being extremely vigilant about hygiene.

I did love India but i am not sure I could do it with a baby, I would be constantly nervous.

Please dont give a baby bottle water its a huge no no on my nhs weaning course. We were strongly advised tap water only which in india wouldnt work. My dd is 7 months and judging by the other mums most are only going on holiday in the uk. France of similar can see no problem but not sure about india.

I'd be quite worried about the water - most friends who have been to India loved it but said the first few days at least they were struck down with bad tummies. Much easier if you're breastfeeding though. Also depends where you'd be staying - major city with good hospitals? I would also be concerned about vaccinations have you looked up whether the baby could be fully vaccinated?

I think risk is a personal thing - I definitely don't think you would be reckless or stupid to go with a baby (it's not like you're taking it to a war zone) but I also don't think you'd be precious to decide not to do it with a small baby either.

Bottled water = mineral water, not cooled boiled water. Mineral water is not suitable for babies.

Taken 3 month old to Europe and 8 month old to Australia. No problems. Not quite India though! Having been to India myself, I'd take a baby.

I absolutely would do this. My only concern would be car safety and I'd consider hiring a driver rather than use taxis (this isn't as ridiculous as it sounds, is fairly cheap in India). The time difference shouldn't be too much bother, baby will just go to bed later than usual and wake up later which is a good thing on holiday! Health care is as good if not better than the UK if you have decent insurance. I'm also one that puts on weight in India!

My best friend is Indian but didn't take her 6mo to a family wedding as she said he would have been overwhelmed by the noise and the amount of people who fussed over him, but other friends babies love weddings. You might need to see what the temperament of your baby is like first.