[miri]

We returned from China one week ago with our 17-month old daughter, Carissa. We are so happy to have her in our lives but exhausted from our long trip and lack of sleep as Carissa adjusts to her new sleep schedule. We traveled with our 6-year-old daughter and we are so glad that she had the opportunity to experience the adoption with us. For those of you who haven't traveled yet, here's some things we wish people had told us:
1) Figure out the exact weight and number of bags you can take. We had conflicting info between the airlines, our agency, and others on the message boards. We ended up with 6 bags (2 for each member traveling) but we could only pack 22 lbs in each. I'm still not sure if this is correct because everyone else did not have as many bags. We also had a lot of carry-on bags- the result was a real hassle in the airport! Remember that carry-on means you have to somehow get on the plane with it, and if you have a bad back you still have to help your husband because he has only so many arms. Also when you get off the plane if you have 6 bags that were checked it is not easy collecting all those bags to get to your next destination. All I can say is that we seemed to do it the hard way! On the way back we managed to keep Carissa in the stroller up to the gate, though we had to carry her a long ways because the stroller had been checked as luggage. Get a good baby carrier even if your daughter is older like ours...it could save your back and free up your arms!
2) Pack enough underwear and T-shirts for at least a week. We were told to pack light- 3-4 shirts-but you will get spilled on and spit-up on and laundry is not cheap . In Changsha it cost $26 for 4 days worth of clothes. Once you get to the White Swan you can buy T-shirts and inexpensive clothes for babies and children. Also, I would bring something besides jeans and shorts (which is how I was advised) You will like to have at least one nice (casual nice) outfit.
3) Pack plastic dishes, silverware, and napkins. Sometimes it's easier to eat carryout in the room and they never include dishes.
4) If you have a young child traveling, consider the instant mac & cheese and other bowls that only need hot water. Our daughter got tired of granola bars and we ran out pretty quickly, and as she doesn't fill up like adults can at the breakfast buffets, she is plenty hungry during the day. You can buy candy and other junk food in China, but will have a hard time finding any nutritional fast food like peanut butter crackers.
5) Don't fill up your suitcase with toilet paper and tissues- though a pack of the nice soft tissues is helpful since all of us were sick and the tissues at the hotel -we went through boxes and boxes- are like sawdust paper. You can bring wipes with you when traveling to those areas with "squatty potties", lucky for us we never had to use them. My daughter would have had a hard time with that.
6) Bring a portable DVD if traveling with children- we borrowed one and it was a lifesaver for those times when our baby was sick and needed all of our attention. The hotel in Changsha did not have any English TV, though I heard there was HBO at the White Swan (still not helpful with kids)
7) Make sure your disposable liners match your bottles- try out at home first! We bought Playtex liners and bottles but apparently they were not the right fit. Disposable liners can be very helpful for long busrides, definitely for the plane, not to mention it is a pain having to boil water to wash your bottle after every use. Turns out with us we only had one bottle she liked...also go with the fast flow for babies one and up.
8) Tell family and friends that you will do the best you can to update your blog but if you do not have a laptop it will be expensive and inconvenient. Our hotel had a business center but the connection was extremely slow. We had to alternate between checking e-mails and writing blogs. We did find an Internet cafe At the White
Swan where if you bought coffee you could use the internet for free if no one was using it for up to an hour. We lucked out once. It would be easier if you did not have other children with you. Also, we could never find the time to get to the business center until after the baby went to sleep since our other daughter wanted attention too.....and some times we were just too tired to get to it. So warn people that it can be a very tiring trip especially if the baby gets sick and tell them you need their support.
9) Bring cold medicine...we didn't take this seriously. We brought the anti-diahrreal and baby pepto and infant, children's, and adult motrin....but both of us had horrible colds and the baby had a bad cough and congestion like all the others in her orphanage. We managed to borrow baby triaminic cough and decongestant which helped. Also needed bacitracin for her nose which was all red and raw from wiping it. Also, Pedialyte is great for when she;s congested but needs fluids. You can find adult cough drops at the 7-11 in Guangzhou which helped. And don't forget the baby benadryl- this can help calm them down on a long plane ride.
10) If traveling with another child, do not overpack her fun backpack. We packed too many coloring books which of course she didnt get through all of them- had an extremely heavy backpack...don't pack hardback books. Try a variety of activities. You can get extra stickers and other things in China..
Good luck to everyone. I better go as my baby needs me! 17 months is very much a baby who loves attention! Miriam

[miri]

Oh. here;s our blog if anyone's interested: http//:carissafranklin@blogspot.com
Miriam

[Happy2Bhere]

Congratulations & thanks for the information!
We will hopefully be traveling 12/07 with our daughter- she'll be 4, and hopefully will get a referral of a 18-36 month old.
How's your daughter adjusting to the new language, environment? As a hopeful adoptive mom- to adopt close to your daughters age- I would love to hear how it goes!
You did say you were glad you took your 6 year old, right? Our daughter will be 4- it will be a challenge, but I can't imagine not including her. She talks about going in the plane to China to get her sister everyday!
CONGRATS AGAIN!
Melissa

[oleson1]

I tried your link and couldn't get on. Could you post it again?

[KarenInCa]

Welcome home! From what I understand, it's 44 lbs per person, so it makes sense that they would make it 22 lbs per bag for you guys since each had 2 bags. However, the conflicting info we received on this was that it IS 44 lbs per person, but our airline advised us that their limit is 55 lbs per person, and then while we were in China on the domestic (Chinese airline) flights, they allowed it to be 55 lbs per person because we started internationally. Strange. Perhaps it depends on the airline you use to travel internationally TO/FROM China.
My advise about underware, is pack enough to throw it away as you use it. Nothing worse than having to wash underware while traveling, Oh wait...there is something worse: It's worse to have to pack it back in to the suitcase...unwashed.
Along with cold medicine, I also suggest something for athletes foot, jock itch, and sanitary pads. Good precautions for possible discomfort while in a foreign country.
We're planning out our next adoption to be when our daughter is 5 yrs old (now 20 months), so I'm glad you gave tips about traveling with a child.

[chinagirl2006]

http://www.carissafranklin.blogspot.com/

[miri]

We are very glad we took our daughter! She was able to bond with her sister while in China and felt like she was part of the whole process. Since our daughter had been an only child for 6.5 years, it is quite an adjustment to get used to sharing the attention but she is doing well. If traveling with another young child, just be prepared with convenient foods and activities that are easy to pack and will keep her attention. You may even want to pack some surprises for her to open once you get in China. Good luck! Miriam

[looneytunes32]

Thanks for all the tips Miriam! Congratulations on having your daughter home!

[morsedonna]

Your daughter is beautiful, thanks for sharing with us that have not BTDT.

[KarenInCa]

Took me a while to get your home page to load, so I wanted to repost it for others to see your travels. Hope you don't mind.
She's a cutie...so petite.

http://carissafranklin.blogspot.com/

[twoinblue]

Miriam-- Congratulations! Your daughters are beautiful!

[miri]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. KareninCa, just looked at your blog and saw the photos of your beautiful daughter. I'm impressed that you are continuing with your blog since you've come home!