EGYPT WITH AN 8 WEEK OLD BABY

[NAT1612]

Hi,, I am looking for some advice on travel with my baby. He is due 8/09/12 and we have just booked a holiday to Egypt (Sharm) for when he will be about 8/9 weeks old. Has anyone been and if so do you have any useful advice water for bottles etc?

Not been to Egypt so no specific advice - but in general, travelling with such a young baby should be quite easy as he will be very portable in a sling (front carrier) and will probably sleep most of the journey, waking for feeds. If you can breast feed, even just until after the holiday, it will also make the journey MUCH less of a hassle. Judging how much milk to take on board, getting bottles warmed etc will be the hard part.

It will be very, very hot. We were there last September and we like the heat but both found it uncomfortably so for part of the day so perhaps prepare for siestas/being out of out the mid-day sun.

Sorry can't help with the baby practicalities as I'm 40+1 with DC1 (who may be a product of one too many cocktails on that Sharm el Sheikh holiday )

Thanks for your reply :-)

Has anyone been who has any info on the quality of the bottled water for bottles, and are nappies widely available?? Thanks

Went to Sharm last month- plenty of supermarkets for bottled water and plenty of pharmacies should you need one.

Is breastfeeding not an option?

Thanx guys :-)

No will not be breastfeeding,,I figure it will also be safer not to breastfeed as I will be eating and drinking local produce so if I get ill I wouldnt be able to continue doing so anyway. I have been three times before but my son is 14 so have never needed to look for nappies etc lol!

OK, I am not a breast feeding basher (honest) but even if you did get ill from the local food (really? on a resort?) I don't believe that means you can't bf. It's far more likely that a bottle will spoil quicker in the heat or that sterilisation facilities aren't what you expected. Just saying. If you have already decided you are not bf then that's that.

BF far safer than using bottled water imo! Aren't there too many salts in bottled water?

Second what 33 said. ( again not a BF basher) but if you do get sick your milk is safe as your body knocks off the toxins. Also agree with the sterilisation you would need to use bottled water for that as well as generally the tap water is not safe to drink.

but obviously don't use mineral water as baby won't be able to tolerate the minerals - very important.

actually some bottled mineral water CAN be used for making up formula, they do in france these bottles generally have a special symbol or logo on to let you know its safe for making formula, so see if they have anything like that? :)

Thanx everyone.

5madthings,,I have heard that too about the bottled water that states its safe for making formula. I will take my nappies, sterilise my own bottles and boil the water that is safe to use. I will be using bottled boiled bottled water for sterilising and making formula. Thanx again everyone :-)

I did it with a 12 week old in June one year but he was EBF so no advice bottles etc, it was the easiest holiday ever (far easier than now he's a toddler with a mind of his own!) as the heat made him sleep a bit longer and he just fed a bit more often. Good luck!

Hi

They have bottled water which will be your only option but it will have a high sodium content, I had to use this as boiling tap water wasn't an option it just smells like bleach and is full of it and despite the bleach it will still make you sick.

I mean my baby didn't get sick with the bottled water option, I did try boiling it in a kettle first thinking it would boil off some of the salt. You can get most brands of bottled water in sharm so you can choose.

If I had a choice personally I wish I had been ebf as I think this would have been the best option but like I said we were fine no harm done etc

Actually boing water with a high sodium content makes it worse - more concentrated!

Hi, DH is Egyptian and I used to live there. There are loads of bottled waters, just be careful which ones you choose.
www.egyptindependent.com/news/health-ministry-shuts-down-mineral-water-companies-due-contamination

This sounds like a really bad idea. I assume you're not visiting family, you're unsure of making up bottles under these conditions, you expect to be sick yourself, it will be very hot...

I wouldn't take a baby that tiny, who is not being BF, to egypt. Sorry! And I say that as someone who bottlefed DC2.

Here is the list of recommended Immunisations for travel to Egypt. I think you may need advice from a specialist travel clinic about the safety of such a young baby.

If you are going to do it tho, make sure to use hot boiled water that's been allowed to cool for less than half an hour to make up bottles. It needs to be above 70 deg celsius in order to kill any bugs in the baby milk. Same advice goes for UK. Apols if you already know that.

Have you considered that your baby could potentially be 2-3 weeks overdue? I personally wouldn't take such a young child abroad, particularly to such a hot country.

I wouldn't discount breastfeeding on the basis that you might get ill on holiday...

Hi

Yeah I know was stupid of me got confused I think I boiled a couple of bottles then realised I was doing it wrong and probably increasing the sodium

like I said we were fine baby was fine, I mean what do the egyptian babies drink right :)

immunisation wise, my mum got us loads of vaccines first time she was taking us over, we got sick from those not from egypt, she soon realised when she go t there that they weren't needed. Also your not going to the country side, now if only they had a vaccine for the vomiting/diahhrea/food poisoning but again this is unlikely if u stay in sharm, if you go to cairo be careful where you do eat.

Please take specialist advice from someone you know to be qualified about infant immunisations.

I have only taken an older baby (6 months) abroad and that was the Med, not Egypt. However, I took cartons of sterile, ready made formula and the pre sterilised bottles to save having to worry about that while I was there. I would suggest the same tbh, or at least the cartons of formula.