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By: Harish
For parents traveling to India with Infants….!
After having a baby in USA each of us would be excited to take the baby to India to show it to our near and dear. However I would like to put down some tips so that you all don't face the same hardship we faced during our visit. My first recommendation would be "if possible, avoid the trip" , especially if baby is less then a year or so. Problem #1: Mosquitoes. The first and primary step is to protect the babies from these disease spreaders! (Especially people living in coastal areas beware of malaria!) Infants born here are not immune to mosquito bites and each mosquito-bite leaves a big blister of 2-3cm circle with a reddish inflation and would take atleast 3-5 days to heal. Some infants are allergic to the mosquito bites and a single bite can lead to rashes all over the body and they looks so scary, believe me even our enemy should not suffer. There are plenty of mosquito protecting tips but each has a drawback.
- Mosquito Net - the temperature inside the net warms up and the babies will wakeup atleast a couple of time during the night.
- Mosquito Coil, AllOut - NEVER USE, it is bad for the baby lungs.
- Odomos/blams - NOT to be used on the sensitive skin.
- Electronic Repellents - BEST choice, however electronic mosquito repellent are not available in India hence buy couple of them here in US itself, there are various types and are available as cheap as $4.
Problem #2: Water: Water quality in India is not bad but WORST, using mineral water will also not help since latest reports say there is high content of pesticides in the water. The levels of contamination are beyond the tolerance of adults hence taking a chance for infants is not only bad, but harmful. So, I would strongly recommend carrying a PUR or BRITA water filter (with additional candles) which are know to filter out pesticides, these can be used to filter the mineral water to be given to kids. Also if possible carry a hot water kettle to boil the water from here itself. A simple hot-water kettle in India costs around Rs 2500/- Problem #3: Diarrhea: Heard that this is common to most of the infants travelling to India. Please consult your pediatrician and take more than required medication for this. Plenty of liquids to prevent dehydration for the infant are recommended. Kelodrolyte - a powered form of oral electrolyte can be taken in case of diarrhea / vomits. Problem #4: Cold/Cough: PLEASE CONSULT YOUR PEDIATRICIAN and take necessary medication. Problem #5: Fever: PLEASE CONSULT YOUR PEDIATRICIAN and take necessary medication. Problem #6: Diaper Rashes: Due to the high temperature sweat forms between the skin and the diaper and creates rashes, please carry a good diaper rash protector like Balmex, or Johnson diaper rash cream… Consult your pediatrician for a good recommendation
Some Notes:
- If it is a must then only travel, perform your journey before the baby is 6 months old! Most of the airlines provide bassinets only for infants up to the age of 6 months and if your baby has just turned 6 months you don't have priority for a bassinet and it is very very very difficult to perform the long, tedious journey with the baby on the lap.
- Take more than required infant formula, believe me only one medical store in Bombay deals with this formula (probably old stock) and not available in the whole of South India!
- Take sufficient diapers for your trip. Huggies/Pampers are available in India but they are not the same as available here and are expensive also. The diapers here are absorbent, whereas those available in India are not that comfortable on the kid, the temperature beneath the diaper heats up and once we saw it was red when we used a local one.
- Carry a thermos flask to keep hot-water with you all the time, our babies do not drink if the formula is mixed in cold water.
- Carry some clothes which are thin and fully cover the legs and hands, it is a nice protection from mosquitoes. Alternatively you could stitch them in India using a 'MUL' cloth.
- Talk to your pediatrician and he would administer a shot of 'gamma-goblin', this medication will protect the baby from couple of diseases.
 Some Tips During the Flight:
- If you reserve a bassinet for the baby the airline says they will provide formula! Don't be carried away, they only provide 1 diaper, 1 small tube of diaper rash cream and infant food on request and no formula is provided. Hence carry your own formula in twos. We had a bad experience the flight was about to take off and the flight attendant shoved the diaper bag into the overhead locker in a haste, because of which the formula box opened-up and spilt all over. We had to complete our journey with whatever was left in the box.
- During take off and Landing the air pressure difference (especially during landing it is felt more) makes babies cry due to the pressure felt on the ear drums, one way to release pressure is to suckle something so try to time their feeding just while flight makes it decent or offer them a pacifier (so keep one handy) or they will cry loud to overcome the pressure.
- Some babies don't sleep well during flight they are very fuzzy and keep crying. TALK TO YOUR PEDIATRICIAN and he might recommend them Benadryl syrup (an anti-allergy medication) which will put the baby to sleep for 2-3 hrs.
- You won't get enough hot water to wash the feeding bottles, if possible familiarize the baby to drink from disposable liner kind of feeder in advance so it would be easy on you later.
Finally, looking at the possible problems and their treatment one can be sure to have over-fed the baby with medications/antibiotics, the infant is sure to loose weight and become weak so do you think it is necessary to travel? atleast up until the kid is 2 years? Hope this helps!
NOTE: ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE SUGGESTIONS/ADVISE. PLEASE DO NOT IMPLY ANY, TAKE ANY EXTREME STEP(S) TO CAUSE DANGER TO SELF OR INFANT, CONSULT APPROPRIATE PERSONNEL IN ADVANCE |
