Brazil with a one-year-old... am I going to regret this? Advice please...

[justaphase]

Hi everyone. I am new to this so hopefully I have posted in the right place and everything?.

Need some help, please.

We are going on a two week holiday to Brazil, to an island called Morro de Sao Paolo in Bahia, near Salvador. Fantastic!!!!! Except we have a one year old boy who I really want to take with us.
Since we told people we were going we have been subjected to constant pressure from parents and in-laws alike who insist that we leave the baby here. We have been told Brazil has the worst poisonous insects, all sorts of diseases, bacteria, nasty water. He will get a shock from the climate change, malaria, dengue fever, hepatitis, be bitten by a snake and god know what else. Plus it is too long a flight to take a baby on.

As a result of all this I am quite scared now. I really want to take him with us, we both work FT and if we don't see him during holiday, when?....

Has anybody been to Brazil (or elsewhere in LatAm) with a baby? Am I going to regret this? Any advice appreciated please?.

lol at kid under 3 apreitcating diverse culture
parp
parp parp

under 2
fgs

"The point of dragging a 0ne-year -old to Brazil is for him to be with his parents for a change, he spends 10 hours a day with his nanny normally."PARP triple timesgodthhhhhhhhhho not a thread for m
to see my kid i travel to south america

work life balance?

PcCod - back to patrolling the cells!

They are going on a perfectly respectable holiday to a 4 start resort hotel, and have been freaked out by scare-mongering relatives. It is perfectly normal for parents, working or not, to take kids on holidays abroad, to hot places, even. Of course the child is too young to appreciate the cultural experience, of course they want to take their child on hol. What on earth is there to parp yourself on unless every thread m,akes you fel you want to have a go at mothers who WOH??

Justaphase: your relatives are being ridiculous. Your child may take a while to adjust to the heat, but we took DS to hot hot hot Mauritius when he was 8 months (living with non-affluent 'natives' - dp's family - not in an air-conditioned hotel) and it was fine, fine, fine!

Have a lovely holiday!
And welcome to MN.

I was wanting to say what Blu just said but I'm quite new and a bit scared of pccod...

I know loads of WOH parents (including me) who look forward to hols because they get to spend 2 weeks with los. Doesn't mean they want (or can afford) to do it 24/7 all year round. Isn't that a no brainer? Then when you do get a chance to go away - go where you want. Can we not accept a bit of difference?

brother & sil took nephew (aged 1) to Dubai and have been to Thailand several times with him (he is now nearly three and loves flying)and had no problems at all.

relatives are just concerned but are not doing you any favours by giving you the worst case scenarios. Take him and enjoy a lovely family holiday and don't listen to the scare tactics

Don't be scared Doggie - Cod isn't frightening or horrid..and I'm sure your bite is worse than your bark - just bare your teeth and growl!

Thanks Blu just finding my growl I think

PCcod - we took dd1 to South Africa when she was 15 months old. We both work full time so it was great to have time with her. 3 weeks. Yes, we could have spent 3 weeks with her at home or gone to Spain, but we wanted to see South Africa. We had a fantastic holiday. When we came back the nursery commented on what it had done for her. No, she't can't remember the Aparthaid museum (but we have a photo of her in Mandela's house which I'm sure she'll be proud of in years to come), but having 3 weeks with relaxed and happy parents was great for her. Maybe we would have enjoyed an easier destination to visit, but we've never been ones to go and packages and it wouldn't have been such a good holiday for us if we have. I think 2 weeks in Brazil will be brilliant.

I'm scared of you too, so I'm off to hide behind the sofa now !

I am Brazilian. My husband and I brought our oldest daughther from the USA (where she was born) to Brazil when she was 16 months old, she didn't give us any problems on the flight because she slept the whole time, we had to wake her up when we landed.
You shouldn't have any problem with water or bugs, especially in touristic place. Don't worry about malaria, dengue, hepatitis, or poisonous critters since you are not going deep into the Rain Forest (far, far away from Bahia). However you may get an upset stomach if you eat a lot of the traditional regional food, some of them are quite hot, but I believe a 4-star resort will offer bland versions of it.

November is a good time to go there because it won't be too hot.

Have a nice trip!

< cod nees to work harder to be scatier>

scarier!

My Brother's been to Brazil several times now and has loved it (bless him he bought me back a pair of Havaianas!). I think he has been to where you are going to, I will ask him for you. He has been vaccinated for all sorts of diseases like Hep A etc but this is mainly because he has been to other countries where this is necessary, not just because its Brazil.

He would say that the food choices are not good if you're vegetarian. If you are a meat eater then the choice is excellent. He would also say that there is much evidence of poverty, do not leave your common sense at home and take sensible precautions re valuables (i.e leave them in the hotel safe).

www.foreignoffice.gov.uk is a useful website to read up on re Brazil and other travel destiantions.

Just wanted to post this for the benefit of anyone wondering how it went.

We came back yesterday and it was fantastic. We had a brilliant time.

Ds absolutely loved being in the sun, running around on the beach and playing in the warm water. He was inceadibly well behaved on the flights and over there. He started walking as well, I think it must be all the attention that he got from us.

Mosquitoes were much more interested in me than in him for some reason.

The worst thing that happened was a mild rash which we sorted outr with a cream from the local pharmacy.

So if anyone out there ius asking themselves the same question - GO FOR IT!