[kids4us]

Can anyone provide any recommendations on whether you took or are planning on taking a car seat for the airplane travel and an umbrella stroller or backpack carrier for the child(ren) while you were in Kaz?

We are planning on adopting two girls, somewhere between the ages of 6 months - 3 years. We are uncertain how old they will be until we get there due to the blind referral process.

We are planning on getting them both their own seat on the airplane. I hear that you should pack as little as possible but we want to make sure we take along everything we need for the girls.

[Delmom]

Stroller: We bought a stroller ($20) in Almaty in anticipation of the the 7 hour layover in Germany. It also helped to be able to wheel a teething baby back and forth around the hotel room in Almaty. During the visits to the orphanage they had strollers for families to use.

Carrier: I also brought a carrier from home. I used this waiting in "line" at the airport in Almaty. (Any one who has stood in the Almaty "lines" will totally understand why I used quotation marks.)

Carseat: Our son was 8 months and he slept most of the return trip in the bassinet provided by the airline. I think if you do adopt a toddler the extra seat would be nice, but I couldn't imagine carrying carseats through the airport.

You didn't mention what region you are traveling to? We went to Petropavlovsk and there really wasn't anything we couldn't find there except for peanut butter, grape jelly and american ketchup. There were many baby stores. It is actually better to buy things there, then you know you are getting what your child(ren) are used to. For example, our son would not take our American pacifiers and we bought extra cans of formula there to help with the transition at home.

In Almaty there are nicer malls than we have here in Delaware. Again no peanut butter, but they did have heinz ketchup. Almaty is a BIG city. (Think Chicago)

Aside from paying for luggage weight overages, there are MANY times you will be carrying your own bags. We had to carry our own luggage on to the plane that would take us to Petropavlosk. (The plane is out on the runway waiting, no door-to-door service) We loaded the luggage up steep narrow stairs. Our luggage was then bungee corded in the space behind the seats. Then for us there was a stop in another region. We then had to switch planes and move everything again.

You mentioned you are going "blind". Once you find out the region, ask your agency to let you talk to another family that has recently been there. That's what we did and we lightened our luggage quite a bit after talking to them.

Hope all this helps!

[kids4us]

Thanks for all of the insight. It is truly helpful. We anticipate getting an invitation to travel around mid-June. From what I understand, one our dossier clears the MOE and is assigned a facilitator, we will have a better idea what region we are traveling to based on the facilitator our dossier is assigned to. We anticipate knowing something within the next 2-3 weeks.

We will definitely reach out to other families once we get that bit of good news.

It is refreshing to know that there are places to buy things in Kaz. From food, bottles and clothes to the strollers and other essentials. Since we have no idea what ages the girls will be or size for that matter, we did not want to pack a lot of stuff that we could potentially not use.

I have also heard to pack light. Thanks for reinforcing this point.

Thanks again for all of your help.

[pjlanghals]

I completely agree with what Delmom said. Buy a small stroller if needed. Bring along a front/back carrier. Skip the carseat completely.

We adopted three children in 2001 on two separate trips. They were 9 m, 23 m, and 33 m old at the time. We adopted the younger two at the same time. My husband put her in a backpack type carrier. I put the baby in a front carrier. It worked out great!

Good luck and have a wonderful trip!!
Pat

[kids4us]

Pat,

Did you find that the 33 month old needed a car seat for the return travel? Did you child just sit in the airline seat w/out a car seat? I found that some airlines do not provide car seats, just bassinets.

I am so glad you shared you adopted 3 children. Wow, what a neat experience. We go back and forth between adopting 1 vs. 2 children as first time parents. We have always felt led to adopt two children but are concerned about the level of care and attention that both children will need.

We are approved to adopt up to 3 children. Do you feel it is manageable or do you have any advise you would like to share?

[pjlanghals]

I traveled home alone with our 33 m old son. My husband returned home right after court to get back to the other kids. Anyway, I didn't use a car seat on the airplane. He was actually small enough (barely!) to sleep in the bassinet. During take off and landing, I just held on to him. When our family met us at the airport, we had a carseat for him in the van for the ride home. My son had to walk in the airport. It was hard on him. He threw major tantrums on the way home. I wish I had a stroller for him to help. It was interesting, though, once we landed in Chicago, he was great!!! It was like he knew we were home (almost!).

We adopted 2 children in Jan 2001 and then returned to adopt our 33 m old son in Dec 2001. We also had a bio son at home. He was 3.5 yrs when the first two came home. We now have 6 children - 3 bio and 3 adopted. The oldest is 7.5 yrs and the youngest is 10 m.

The hardest transition for me personally was when we adopted the first two children. I had to learn to parent and care for three children, instead of just one. The rountines we had for one child didn't work for a family with 3 kids. It was a HUGE adjustment on my part. I truly had to force myself to take the kids out of the house and learn to manage all three of them in public. It took some time. I learned! Now I can take all 6 out without too many problems.

After adjusting to three children, we have added new children to the family without any major issues. Its not much harder to parent and care for 6 children than it is for 3. For some reason, 3 children was a magic number for me! I've heard the same thing about adjusting to 3 children from other parents. That's the number when the children out-number the parents!

Anyway, if you really feel led to adopt more children, then it surely will happen. Have faith!

Best wishes!
Pat