How Available Are Baby Foods

[daleyboy]

Coming witht the wife to Thailand in July and we will be bringing with us our newborn baby. By the time we get there he will be 2 months old, so what i need to know are baby foods readily available and all the stuff that goes with bottle feeding. Things like steriliser tablets, newborn baby powdered milk.

Never had to worry about things like this before so whnever i walked round lotus or Jusco i never even noticed things to do with babies.

Also how readily available are car seats? or do i need to bring my own over with me? any idea on costs?

I am also assuming that disposable nappies are easily bought everywhere?

I tell you this is going to have to be like a military operation in its planning. Before i used to pack the night before i left fot the airport and worry about everything else when i got to Thailand. <deleted> is this whats its like to get old and responsible?

Edited January 8, 2006 by udon

[qualtrough]

You will have no trouble finding baby supplies in Bangkok, and probably the larger cities as well. Tons of diferent disposable diapers are available, as well as infant formulas. Car seats are available, but tend to be pricy. If I were you I would buy a nice one where you are and bring it with you. It doesn't count against your luggage allowance either.

[daleyboy]

Cool thanks for the reply thats just what i needed to know.

[dereklev]

Cool thanks for the reply thats just what i needed to know.

All the supermarkets have a good selection of baby supplies.

I live out in the sticks and even the local minimart has a good stock should we run low between trips to Korat.

Your baby will need vaccinations at 3 months so make sure you know before you leave home which ones are needed. They vaccinate against many tropical diseases that may not be needed in your home country.

Good luck with the new baby, he/she will change your life in ways you never imagined possible! !

[cathyy]

Not so fast, buster. Very young babies don't always tolerate a change in formula well at all. How long will you be in Thailand? If it's short, only a few weeks, bring your own formula. If it will be for longer, bring enough formula to try to switch him over gradually if he gets diarrhea from the change in water and formula. Diarrhea in a baby that young is life-threatening if it goes on for more than a couple of days. If he only gets loose stools, but not really frequent, it's not so bad. You might have to try several different formulas if the one you use is not available. Hint: I know Nestle sells formula in Thailand; maybe if you try getting a formula by Nestle in your home country? Or ask here about brands available in Thailand, and get the baby on the same formula from the very start?

[Tippaporn]

Don't have any advice or info to pass along but just wanted to say, "Congratulations" (didn't know whether to pick blue or pink??).

It's moving day anytime you go anywhere once you have a lil' rugrat. Enjoy!

Edited January 7, 2006 by Tippaporn

[udon]

Bring or buy locally, a pram with the biggest (3) wheels you can get., to negotiate the appalling footpaths here.

Congrats and good luck.

[leisurely]

Agree with everything said so far, however, no one has mentioned the idea that the mother breast feeds the baby. No sterilising or mixing necessary, milk available on tap (as it were) and a great degree of maternal to child immunity passed on through the milk. This would not negate the need for immunisations.

think about it, I saw a woman breast feeding the other day. The most natural thing in the world, quick, cheap and convenient.

[think_too_mut]

A whole wall of different powder milk and another one with disposable nappies in supermarkets.

Baby food - most of rural Thais have never heard of it, probably due to abundance of fresh produce all year round. It's available, Nestle and other brands. Since the mother had not been aware of it I can't really say if the variety is large or not. Looked good and colorful to me.

My baby never liked it (would rather eat just cooked hand-mashed carrots or anything), rejected it altogether at 6 months of age in favour of street vendors' food (with no chillies).

Car seat: expensive, if rented from a non-profit organization they are 100B per day. Bring one with you if you already have it.

Vaccine: if a regular vaccine time is coming up, know which one it is and hospitals in BKK or anywhere can administer it.

[Neeranam]

You can get a vaccine at any hospital or clinic, I think.

I never got any sterilizing stuff. Boiling water does it.

Get the baby on sticky rice as soon as possible after being breast fed.

I'd forget the car-seat - a baby is safer in it's mother's arms(as long as she isn't driving!)IMHO.

Daleyboy, get used to it mate, it doesn't get any easier. Forget a life of your own.

[think_too_mut]

I'd forget the car-seat - a baby is safer in it's mother's arms(as long as she isn't driving!)IMHO.

That's ok while there is no emergency. If a situation requires an instant reaction, one will instinctivelly protect him/herself and forget the baby. That split second is when the car seat saves the baby while the mother is busy shielding herself.

[sierra01]

You can get a vaccine at any hospital or clinic, I think.

I never got any sterilizing stuff. Boiling water does it.

Get the baby on sticky rice as soon as possible after being breast fed.

I'd forget the car-seat - a baby is safer in it's mother's arms(as long as she isn't driving!)IMHO.

Daleyboy, get used to it mate, it doesn't get any easier. Forget a life of your own.

How about thinking again on your car seat statement Neeranam? Even in a quite slow impact your cute and cuddly 6kg baby instantly becomes far far heavier, maybe you could still hold the baby, maybe not. Anything more than a slow impact and you have no chance of holding him/her, it WILL be ripped from your arms and smashed into the seat back/dashboard/window screen, and receive appalling injuries or death. Think very carefully about making idiotic comments like that again please.

[Nickerelastic]

daleyboy a car seat is a vital piece of baby stuff.

Forgive me I don't know how old your babe will be when you next visit Thailand. Bring a liquidiser with you. No need to buy canned/bottled baby food.

[Old Croc]

I'm surprised you're seeking advice from the members of TV DaleyBoy. Quoted below is your first post on another Thailand forum. Can't get reasonable advice from your new mates?

"Thought i would say hello, i am sure a few of you know me from Tv, and since being suspended by cdnvic thought i would move my ass over here. Fed up with the bullshite that is going on over the other side so i hope it is a bit more chilled here"

[daleyboy]

Thanks for the advice from everyone. Looks like we will be bringing a car seat with us then. As far as breat feeding goes the wife doesnt want to breast feed so i am not going to push her into it. I am glad to know the immunisations are readily available in Bkk i am hoping that we have timed it right so he has his first lot of immunisations before we go then when we get back a month later he will have his boosters.

You used the right colour tipper it is going to be a boy, which means i dont need to grow up now for another 20 years xboxes, playstations, motorbikes, radio controlled toys.

Cathy you might be right about bringing my own formula, the trip will be for a month so how much do you think we will need?

Udon, got a nice big 3 wheeler already, made by jeep with independant suspension and blow up tyres, so i reckon that will cope ok.

Old croc, your right that was my first post and yes i was pretty annoyed at being suspended, but as you know discussion of moderation issuses is against the rules, needless to say things are sorted out now. Ohh and by the way that is just about as much as i expected from you, and i have had some decent onfo from my "mates" and thankfully your not one of them.

If you dont have anything constuctivre to say then dont say anything at all to drag this thread off topic.

Thanks again everyone for the great advice, and thanks for the congratulations we are starting to get really excited about the impending delivery of our little boy. The wife wanted to call him Chilli, but after a bit of discussion we have decided on Joe.

Keep the advice coming it is all appreciated, this is going to be a completely new experience for me and i feel i need to plan this holiday as a military operation so that is why i am asking for advice now

Edited January 8, 2006 by daleyboy

[Old Croc]

Old croc, your right that was my first post and yes i was pretty annoyed at being suspended, but as you know discussion of moderation issuses is against the rules, needless to say things are sorted out now. Ohh and by the way that is just about as much as i expected from you, and i have had some decent onfo from my "mates" and thankfully your not one of them.

If you dont have anything constuctivre to say then dont say anything at all to drag this thread off topic.

Thank you for explaining your feelings in a mature way.

[chonabot]

Congrats Daleyboy !, the only advice that I can give, after travelling with a 2 month baby ( my son 8 years ago ) is prepare for a very very stressful journey. I was advised not to take our son on an aeroplane journey of over 10 hours and subject him to such a huge climate change etc.

He was actually OK once we landed but the flight was an experience I will not forget. No-one has mentioned it so I though , speaking from experience, I would give you the heads-up.

Babies are tough little buggers but they do not cope well with turbulence and cabin pressures play havoc with their sleeping patterns. If I had the time again I would have waited until he was a year or two older, but this is life and we just get on with it !

The baby has to go into a Sky cot , but if the fasten seat belt sign comes on you have to pull the poor mite out ( waking him up ) and attach him to your own seat belt with another seat belt ( for safety's sake ) as you can imagine , this will disrupt the sleep pattern and will result in a grumpy little sod!

Another tip is do not let all and sundry pat the baby once you get into Bannork , they will come from miles to see him and will think nothing of trying to get him to teeth or eat various items ( seriously ! )

The car seat is a necessity and will have to be checked in as luggage , also consider a push chair as such items are not eay to find in the sticks!

Good luck mate and congrats again !

Chon

[Neeranam]

I travelled with my daughter when she was months old and also yesterday and now she is 3. It was much easier when she was a baby!

You can buy medicine for babies which contain alcohol. It worked a treat.

Alternatively stick a small drop of whisky in the milk.

[think_too_mut]

Babies are tough little buggers but they do not cope well with turbulence and cabin pressures play havoc with their sleeping patterns.

I was told that cabin pressure won't do any harm to small babies as they haven't developed that sense yet.

A colleague of mine (3 children) received the same advice from their doctor.

So, according to 2 different doctors, the cabin pressure itself should not be a concern.

[chonabot]

I'm just relaying my own experience , all babies are different , surely forewarned is forearmed.

The main bugbear is the fact you have to wake your baby up and remove them from the skycot when turbulence is encountered, any 2 month old baby will not appreciate this regardless of whatever your Doctor may advise.

Edited January 8, 2006 by chonabot

[meom]

Try to get front row seats in the airplane with nobody sitting in front of you.

Usually they got a bit more legroom and more easy to move about with the baby.

[Tippaporn]

I travelled with my daughter when she was months old and also yesterday and now she is 3. It was much easier when she was a baby!

You can buy medicine for babies which contain alcohol. It worked a treat.

Alternatively stick a small drop of whisky in the milk.

Good point, Neeranam. As long as the baby is kept in a drunken stupor then no amount of cabin pressure, turbulence or changing in and out of the skycot will rouse him from his delirious sleep.

Just kidding here, seriously. It's just that this is the first time I had ever heard of adding alcohol to a baby's formula and, though I don't know for sure it's true purpose and can make only an educated guess, it did strike me as funny.

And, seriously again, what is the purpose of adding alcohol? Sedative?

Edited January 8, 2006 by Tippaporn

[daleyboy]

So it seems no matter what age the child is, they are going to be a pain in the arse on the plane Ohh well i only have another 16 years and 4 months of grief to come before i can kick the bugger out

[Tippaporn]

Don't set yourself up quite yet for a bad experience, Daleboy. Every kid is different so there's always a chance that you won't have any problems at all.

I had two kids and they were night and day. From the day my daughter was born she never stopped crying for what seemed like an eternity. My son never made a peep until he started teething.

[meadish_sweetball]

Just live with the hassle on the plane. I wouldnt give an infant alcohol - you owe it to their developing brains. They'll discover it soon enough on their own anyway.

[daleyboy]

Don't set yourself up quite yet for a bad experience, Daleboy. Every kid is different so there's always a chance that you won't have any problems at all.

I had two kids and they were night and day. From the day my daughter was born she never stopped crying for what seemed like an eternity. My son never made a peep until he started teething.

Well lets just hope he was like me. My mum said for the first 4 months she would have to wake ME up for feeding as i never woke up crying for food.

And as far as someone mentioning alcohol goes, dont really think that is a very good idea. I think a couple of crushed up valium would work better dont worry i am only joking

I guess i will just have to wait and see what our new bundle of joy brings us.

Edited January 8, 2006 by daleyboy

[qualtrough]

One more thing. When flying here try to fly on an Asian carrier. The difference in service and the way the staff treats children is amazing. Let me give you just one example. We flew on NW once with our firstborn when she was about 1 year old. We had to purchase a special ticket for a baby. When the first meal was served on the plane there was no food for the baby. When I asked the flight attendent she asked me if I had requested it when I had purchased the ticket! What else is a baby traveling on a baby tickety going to eat other than baby food? The flight attendant came back about 20 minutes later with a couple of Gerber bottles. I then had to ask her if she could heat them up. Compare and contrast with Thai (and Singapore Airlines and Cathy Pacific). Called our house and asked if we had any special needs, etc. Children receive a special meal box with delicious food, and the attendents ask you if you want the meal with yours or earlier. Children also receive a toy package as well. On our flight to Singapore on Thai the staff then asked if they could hold our baby and she was passed around by male and female flight attendents who love children. To sum up, Asian airlines know how to deal with children and the staff seems to love them, whereas NW (and others) couldn't seem to care less and most of the staff seem to find them an annoyance. Guess what airline I no longer fly on?

[daleyboy]

Well we have already booked the flights Qual. We are flying British airways, so we might not get the same service. Never flown with BA so dont know what there cabin crew are like, but if they are anything like the customer service and the booking system then we should be well looked after.

The customer services of Ba have been excellent in helping us with the booking, then i had problems with my internet connection and they put me through to their web support. They told me all about how to book once the baby comes, they have already reserved our bulk head seats with i think they are called bassinet cot. I must admit i have never been treated this well by any of the other airlines i have flown with, even when i used to fly business class.

[udon]

The wife wanted to call him Chilli,

That translates to "Prik"..... you're winding us up......

[Rigger]

It is a good idea to make sure that babies are awake during take off and landing and give them a bottle of milk or water to drink at the same time it will stop pressure building up in there ears and Has worked for us. Most doctors’ recommend waiting until they are 6 months old before flying but we have flown with my son at 4 months and didn’t have a problem. But then again my kids are well behaved like myself and don,t forget some toys to play with