Hi,
My husband is working in Laos and I am considering joining him on one of his trips. However, we have two young kids. 10 months and a 3 year old. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has travelled with such young children around asia. I'm most concerned about health issues but am also wondering about car travel. I'm used to using car seats and imagine this is not going to happen there. At 10months pretty much everything goes in the mouth.
Is this a ridiculous idea?
My husband and I have done a fair bit of travel ourselves, but kids add a whole new dimension.
osmium
1
somsai
Do you have to travel or can you just stay one place in Laos. If so it makes things much easier. Hire a nanny for $60 a month. The number of places you can put the 10 month old down and let him/her crawl around are very limited, mostly needs to be held. No kid seats or high chairs. The kid seats in the car isn’t such a big deal. Seat belt the 3 yr old and yourself. The traffic is slow. Just got back a couple months ago with a 12 month and a 4 yr old, they pretty much stayed in one place for the duration. The one trip down to the beach in Thailand on busses and planes was ok but some work.
2
Hacky
10 months old will be challenging due to lack of crawling (Somsai) and playing space. 10 months old's car seat will be your lap in a bus, Songthaew & Tuk Tuk.
I recommend getting a biggest room you can find for the space. Hiring nanny is a great idea...I've friend who was in Luang Prabang with 2 kids and a nanny.
3
phakphon
One of the nice things about Laos with a baby is that every restaurant comes with built in babysitters.
Every time we went out with our baby (born in BKK, was about 5 months old when we left in March) he was whisked away from us by the waitstaff who passed him around and played with him while we ate. Many times he'd disappear for a bit only to be brought back with a new hat, a new toy, whatever.
We traveled to Phonsavan, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang with him. In each case, we brought the car seat for the flights (and just drove our car to VV). In each case, we tried to get vans with working seatbelts to strap the seat in, but most of the time failed.
in Tuk-tuks, he was just on our laps.
At 5 months, we didn't have the problem of a mobile child. However, there are plenty of clean floors in Laos, just don't let your child crawl around a trash heap and he/she should be fine.
If the 'trip' you are thinking of joining him on is to Vientiane or LP, I would say you will be fine. If it is to eastern Saravan, I would probably give it a pass.
4
mrnioky
Nif keds 7 r 9 fal toth sonn? kwen tl frist
norns fa pidi newai. sroot nawt plenkt fr mankled newai.
keds porkled? mif fawn tonther.
Nic
7
mrnicky
Greetings
I have seen a few people traveling with children of all ages and they don't seem to have had any problems.
Obviously the car seat would be a good idea but I am not sure which bus would fit it.
If you are concerned about transport, the mini buses are normally modern and suitable for a car seat.
Nic
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