Travelling with a baby in SE Asia

We will travel to Malaysia next December with an 8 month old baby.
Possibly we'll do some travelling in the region, maybe to Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar, or perhaps we'll just stay in Malaysia.

I guess the baby will need vaccinations, will it ? What about health
issues more in general, such as for instance dirty food & intestinal
upsets ? How well can babies cope with long plane trips (12 hours) and
climatic variations (from winter in Germany to the tropical heat and
humidity of SE Asia) ? And by the way, how do you carry babies around
with you while in a holiday ? Any other issues to consider ?
--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Austria, Budapest and
Portugal

Alfred
We will travel to Malaysia next December with an 8 month old baby.
Possibly we'll do some travelling in the region, maybe to Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar, or perhaps we'll just stay in Malaysia.

Mmmm....you're quite optimistic!

I guess the baby will need vaccinations, will it ?

In the UK, the HIB etc are all done by the end of month 4...no further jabs
required until MMR at one; I don't know what the German way of doing things is.

What about health
issues more in general, such as for instance dirty food & intestinal
upsets ?

Up until generally a year or so, babies usually feed on milk, mothers or
otherwise! Your other half would be well advised to breastfeed at least some of
the time, as this sorts out a lot of infections on it's own. Sterilising fluid
you will obviously bring

How well can babies cope with long plane trips (12 hours)

depends...if your other half can breastfeed them, you can usually keep them
quiet. Make *sure* that you get a bassinet for the baby to sleep in...there are
often shortages. A proven tip is to go to the first/business class checkin and
say " the lady/man over there said we could check in here" and bypass the queues
that way. Get there early so you get the bassinet...or things get difficult

and
climatic variations (from winter in Germany to the tropical heat and
humidity of SE Asia) ?

Hmm...feed them water as well as milk. Don't rush about the first few days

And by the way, how do you carry babies around
with you while in a holiday ? Any other issues to consider ?

At that age, a Baby Bjorn carrier should still be OK.

With regards to everything else, I would advise that generally it's better to
take a baby away on a trip like this when they are 3-6 months old; they are
lighter, don't crawl around (or get frustrated when they can't), and can usually
be fed on mothers milk exclusively, which makes life *so* much easier.

I'm also a tad worried about all the malarial areas you are visiting, eg
Vietnam. I'm no doctor, but the baby would seem to be unlikely to be able to
take anti-malarial drugs, and the consequences of an infection could be fatal.
See a serious specialist to see what they say, or better, go elsewhere in SE Asia...

Rupert

We will travel to Malaysia next December with an 8 month old baby.
Possibly we'll do some travelling in the region, maybe to Vietnam,
Cambodia, Myanmar, or perhaps we'll just stay in Malaysia.

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DON'T. BG