...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?

But yes, it's definitely possible and I think if the parents love holidays and travel it's impossible to keep it up. My nephew emigrated at 3 weeks old and has been to seven countries in 10 months, SIL and BIL say it's fine and nice to have a change of scene.

Mine was crawling and putting everything in his mouth at 7 months. He also hated slings. Trying to contain him would have been awful.

I've been to India a lot and absolutely love it. We plan to take our DS at a little over a year. There are some brilliant five star hotels for relatively little money (relative to the UK) so I would be inclined to look into those.

I've never been ill there, DH has had a mild upset stomach but no worse than the UK.

We avoid eating meat accept in ththe five star hotels and only eat sea food in reputable places on the coast where it has been freshly caught, or at 5 star hotels.

Mine was on the move at 7m too. Travelling is definitely easier before they become mobile.

I would definitely do everything you can to make sure breastfeeding has the best chance. Get your support lined up now and get really clued up on what to expect in the first days and weeks. It will be so much easier than sterilising bottles and making up formula safely when travelling.

At 6-7 months neither of my kids were eating much anyway and would nurse happily round the clock. They definitely upped feeds in the heat anyway so so long as you nurse on demand hydration should be fine).

It sounds like a great trip and I would plan to go.

I'm due dc4 in April. I'm not a traveller but from experience of my dc he will probably have been crawling for almost 2 months by November so will be in the stage where he'll want to be put down all the time.
He'll also probably be not sleeping much and all the brilliant hormones that get you through the first few months of sleep deprivation will have worn off so I'll be a wreck even though I'm used to having dc that don't sleep.
And by November I'd imagine he'll be eating 3 meals as well as breastfeeding so feeding him would be tricky too.
Of course your dc might be a nice, easy one but you could end up with a hard work one like mine.

Similarly to others, I would say it massively depends where you're going, staying, and how much travelling you are doing once you're there.

Flying to Mumbai, staying in a fancy hotel, and not moving, probably not an issue. But if you've got to do a significant amount of road travel to somewhere more rural I'd probably be more reticent. The temperature will also differ significantly depending on where you're going.

Fwiw I travelled around India for two months in my thirties without getting ill once. I know anecdotal evidence off the internet is not at all useful, but it's not a total inevitability you will get sick.

Smtiff has it I think. Unless you dont mind loosing the cost of the flights if you cant use them. I think the chances of the baby being ebf at 7 months are very small. As for imobile....ds was pulling up and crawling by then. We went to a wedding in a field when ds was 4 months it was -ok. Even 2 weeks later it would have been a nightmare. Honestly 2-3 months is much easier, but you obviously cant change freinds wedding plans.

I would. They're a great age although their napping can be a problem if they can't do it in a buggy in noise.

I've been to India without children but took our oldest to Africa at 6 months. Youngest was 4 months when they went to SE Asia (Laos, Cambodia) for the first time.

I gave birth to DC1 in Asia and was told a certain amount of bottled (not mineral) was fine. I think I was told it was about 10% of their average daily feed could be additional water but do check my figures.

@hungrywalrus gave great advice but direct flights don't work well for us. We'd prefer a few hours on a non-direct flight to eat a Burger King or get a Starbucks and stretch your legs.

Oh and I would avoid road travel as much as possible and use internal flight on any reputable airlines. Cars are fine for short journeys but cross country can be quite scary. After a bad air India internal flight I would never fly with them internally again but I've had good experiences with the other low cost airlines there.

It all depends on the part of India where you're going. For example where my mum's from I always get food poisoning and d&v. Where my husband's from (490 miles away) I don't because it's a big metropolis where everybody uses filtered water, has excellent hygiene, and the state government employs rubbish sweepers. It's the same state but the differences are huge.

If you're staying in hotels you won't have a problem anywhere except possibly Rajestan - kids still die of malaria there even in the posh parts.

They are very portable at that age and I went camping and abroad. The only thing I'd say is its weaning age and lots of westerners get tummy bugs in India (everyone i know that visited who wasnt staying with family) so check catering facilities etc.

Travelling with one baby is relatively easy but I'm not sure I'd go to India. My aunt lived there for a number of years and she said she found the constant stuff you had to do just to stay well quite tiring (& she has lived all over the world with kids and was hardly roughing it in India).

Go for it! Be sensible and take precautions, get good insurance and check out the health care where you're going. As others have said, it's easier flying with babies the younger they are. Is there any chance you could take a short flight somewhere when the baby is 3-4 months old so you can get an idea what flying is like to help you prepare for long haul? Tbh even if it's a nightmare, in the grand scheme of things it's a matter of hours. Oh and apply for your baby's passport as soon as they're born as my DDs took a while to come.

I travelled a lot when mine were babies. But I would worry about malaria.

Devilish - India has more babies than any other country on earth. Just by following local medical advice of boiling water & washing hands & avoiding uncooked food/dairy etc you'll be avoiding 99.9 per cent of food bugs.

Would it be with your DH or just you and the baby? I definitely wouldn't do just me and a baby!

We loved travelling pre children but DS was an awful sleeper as a baby and got worse in unfamiliar surroundings - at its worst on a holiday at 9 months hours of pacing with a crying baby who wanted to be asleep but couldn't quite be. 6 to 7 months is when babies cut their first tooth so this could be you. Would you still think it's worth going if it's like that? Will you have friends going who would look after the baby in the day so you could have a nap, with only one bedroom it'll be very difficult for you to take it in turns with the baby at night? It's also likely to be hard work during the day, at 6 to 7 months DS was crawling and wanted to be on the move continuosly, although he loved watching stuff so the wedding would have helped entertain him.

Having said that, given its a wedding I'd be much more up for giving it a go as it's an experience. However, I'd expect it to be hard work and probably a bit stressful (harder than being at home with the baby) and that you may come home feeling in desperate need of a holiday to recover. Would both you and your DH be OK with that, and how well would you as a couple cope with the potential stress of it, would it make you argue? Will you be happy spending the money on it given it may be hard work?

You may have an easy going baby and none of the above applies, but until it's a few months old you won't know what kind you have!

I travelled abroad with DS aged 3 weeks and a holiday in hot climate with DD aged 3 months. Definitely wouldn't put me off. Saying that- this was Europe so you'd have to do serious research, but with good planning- and packing (!) - it should be fine.

Don't forget to check out which vaccinations you and your baby will need as part of the decision- making process.

I wouldn't put my baby through it.

My DCs are pretty well travelled but I wouldn't take them to India for many of the reasons listed above by pps. It does sound like you've already made up your mind though.

I wouldn't do it, no way.
Holidays anywhere with little ones anywhere are not relaxing at all, I think I would find it extra stressful being so far away in a country with the potential for an upset stomach

Astoria - babies born in India will have some immunity to local pathogens from their mother.

Anyway just reporting what my aunt said -she has lived all around the world, including south east Asia & poorer parts of the Middle East & said she found staying well in India 'hard work'. OP said she wanted to hear all sides.

I agree with smitff, there are different ways to spend time in India, the ideal with a baby is five star all the way but bear in mind that's going to be spenny. I've been a few times and went when my youngest was 10/11 months at the time. November is a lovely time of year to go in the North.

Where's the wedding?

In some ways if your baby is only 6/7 months old at the time it's easier as you can take baby food with you, boil water in hotel rooms and so long as you're careful what you eat and drink you should both be fine.

Bear in mind that taxis don't always have seat belts in the back so you would need to make sure you book a driver through the hotel with seat belts so you can use a car seat!

As someone else says maybe aim to book flights a month or two after the baby's born and you can see how you feel then.

How difficult it will all be primarily depends on your mindset. I first travelled long haul with my children from around 4 months and took them to places like Thailand and India from a young age as we lived in Asia at the time.

I've seen huge changes in India over a 10 year period of travel there with children but my experience is primarily of Delhi. Parts of it feel like Singapore, fancy high end malls with all the designer shops.

There are also fewer cows wondering around there these days!

If you decide it's not something you want to do as a family, hope you manage to go anyway, weddings in India can be amazing!

Haven't read the thread, sorry. I'd say research the risks, healthcare, do what you can to still be BFing and then go for it. I'd love to go to India. I also think it's fantastic that you want to go and feel so positive. It's certainly doable and, with good planning, could be a wonderful trip.

One caveat- I wouldn't book anything until the baby is here and you've had a few months of motherhood, if you can delay that long, or make sure your flights etc can be cancelled. It's easy to underestimate just how much work and stuff can be involved in doing anything with a baby and you may feel differently once you've experienced it. Or you may not, in which case have a great trip x