India with a 15 month old

[dragonleo]

Travelling to goa and mumbai next month for a friends wedding.
Any tips of essentials to take / general advice?
Thanks

Leave the child with family IMO. Sorry if that's not exactly helpful, but I wouldn't put a child of that age through all that.

I took DD at 6 weeks, though I got lots of advice similar to carlajean, and we survived to tell the tale :-) Water always boiled for a couple of minutes then cooled - not just for the child but for everyone. Or else bottled. Don't compromise on sterilising bottles even though child is over 12 months. Go armed with different kinds of insect repellants, and also after-bite ointments (we use DH's after shaves!). Baby calpol and neurofen. Thin cotton clothes to cover baby's arms and legs. Your doctor's phone number, and/or identify a paediatrician over there well in advance. Carry own baby food and formula. Buy bottled water, processed packaged foods from respectable shops and chains, and not street corner operators.

up to date jabs and insect repellent with 30% deet or more. Dengue zone.

mmm ... I don't think you should leave your child at home. People will travel to India all the time with children - you just need to be sensible.

I wouldn't take a child that age backpacking round India but really can't see the problem with Goa and Mumbai!

My Dd went to Malaysia at 18 months, Sri Lanka at 2 1/2, then Goa at 3, and 4, and 5! I don't think she even got a stomach upset. I agree you do need to be sensible.

Agree bottled water. I never sterilised bottles in Malaysia at 18 months, and just bought cartons of milk. You can buy them easily in Goa too. Depends how fussy your child is I guess. My DD wasn't bothered if it was UHT or not cow's milk (never quite sure what sort of milk it is in India!). On the other hand, we have just been away with 5 month old DS and it was no trouble to take Milton tablets, buy a cheap washing up bowl and sterilise the bottles.

I would take some baby food for travelling but presumably DC can eat rice, veg, naan bread, cheese sandwiches, even if they don't like curries?

My blond haired blue eyed DD gets so much attention in Goa, with people wanting photos with her and talk to her or touch her. It can get a bit wearing and I didn't mind if a family wanted a photo of her with their children but sometimes men would try to take photos of her or want a photo of her with them. This just seemed, at best, a bit weird so we did keep an eye out for people trying to sneak photos and stood in their way.

Make sure you have any jabs your child needs and get advice on malaria tablets. If recommended you will have great fun trying to get a 15 month old to take them! We crushed them up in honey when DD was younger.

Take loads of factor 50 sunblock - what I have seen for sale in Goa is often lower factor and can look as thought it has been hanging around for a while.

The sea in Goa can be very rough with really strong currents. You may just be paddling but if you do go in deeper holding your DC make sure they have armbands and you hold on very tightly.

Most places to eat won't have highchairs. We bought an inflatable booster seat from Argos that was very useful.

A folded up MacLaren pushchair fits perfectly on the shelf above the seat at the back of a Tuk Tuk!

I'm travelling to Mumbai and Goa in January for a friends wedding and am planning on taking my 15 month twin boys. I don't have any specific advice for you Dragonleo as I'm just starting to ask the same questions... but if you or anyone has any suggestions for places to stay I'd love to hear them. I've heard Mumbai is a disaster for kids as you can't use a pram and most hotels don't have babysitting facilities (Indians mostly have extended family for that). And in Goa I'm finding it really hard to find baby friendly places. No one seems to offer cots (travel cots not so easy to take when you have twins!) and everywhere has stairs and pools. Any suggestions welcome.

Sounds great! We have been many times from our dc were 4 months old. It will be fine.
Agree on bottled or boiled water. I would not take food from here as such but some organix or goody bars and small raisin packs come in handy as snacks as you otherwise always end up with high sugar biscuits. You get lots of raisins in India but not really the small packs.
Accept that dc might live on rice, chapati and cheese and fruits for the time you are there.
Carry nappies and wet wipes if you can. I find it difficult to find larger nappy sizes and they tend to be quite expensive.
Accept that you will not always have seat belts and never really car seats and ask the driver to drive carefully. I appreciate that this can feel quite odd but I do not think it is possible to do a complete journey always with car seats.
Echo that you should carry sunblock from here.
Kushka, try taj holiday village in Goa. It is expensive but lovely and very family friendly ( kids under 5 are free including their meals).
In general I find India very very child friendly in terms of acceptance of children. Yes there might not be many parks and soft plays but most shop keepers, hotel owners, waiters etc seem to genuinely like kids so it is less stressful than in Europe in many ways... Enjoy it!

Get your Hep A jab and antimalarials ASAP. 15 months is too young for typhoid vaccine but s/he should have had the routine 12-13 month boosters.

Thanks for all the advice. Leaving on Saturday...
Got anitmalarials and jabs and visas sorted. Kushka will let you know how we get on!