China Packing Info

A blog I recently found www.waitingforlaurenelizabeth.blogspot.com had an interesting post I tried to copy and paste (didn't work) so I'm re-typing here. These parents (LID 2-17-06) traveled Jan 9 - 22, 2009 to get their baby. Anyhow here is their advice of what to pack.

Items we took and didn't use:

• Small funnel for transfering the powdered formula from the travel dispenser to the bottle... worked fine without the funnel.
• Cherrios ... Lauren didn't want anything to do with them.
• Disposable wash clothes ... no need since we used hotel washcloth while in the room and diaper wipes when out and about.
• Disposable diaper changing pads... just used the real thing from our diaper bag.
• Toothbrush and toothpaste for Lauren... there was no way we were approaching that trauma on top of everything else.
• Disposable razor for me ...time to shave ... ha, what was I thinking.
• Jewelry ... you can just use what you wera over there... this is no fashion show.
• Travel shopping bag ... every shop owner we encountered gave us a bag. Even Carefour (the Walmart equivalent in Guangzhou) has cheap re-usable grocery bags to buy at the registers.
• Travel toilet paper ... the two times that there wasn't toilet paper, I left the darn travel roll outside with Joe in the diaper bag so I never got to use it anyway.
• Stuffed bunny rabbit toy for Lauren...she wouldn't even give it a second look.
• Instant soup, granola bars and beef jerky...there is plenty to eat in Guanzhou.
• Since Lauren wasn't sick, we didn't even touch the well stocked bag of over the counter meds or antibiotic we brought for her.

Items we took that couldn't live without:

• Scented diaper disposable bags for the poopie diapers.
• Plastic baby spoons in a cool travel container...Lauren used them at every meal.
• Gerber baby prunes... got the plumbing working right away.
• Travel formula dispenser.
• Playtex drop-in bottles...they were SOOO convenient and work like a charm.
• Diaper pins for cinching Lauren's waistbands on her pants...otherwise several outfits we brought would not have worked for her.
• Tights for her to wear with dresses and pants that rode up... kept the local clothing police away... God forbid a babies leg show in China! ;)
• Long johns if traveling to Beijing in the winter!
• Thermos for keeping hot water for baby bottles ... used this daily.
• Staking cups ... Lauren loved them (tip...get the ones with little holes in the bottom so it can "rain" in the bathtub)
• Shoe box sized rubbermaid container for cleaning the bottles, nipples, sippy cups and plastic spoons every day in the room.
• Dish liquid and plastic tongs for doing the dishes.
• Travel packets of Tide detergent for cleaning clothes with stains you can't trust to the laundry. Lauren had sticky lollipop stains all over her coat a couple of times and Tide came to the rescue.
• Laptop computer and headset for making phone calls on Skype...this was my only connection to friends and family and I don't think I would have made it without this stuff.

How many id we take?

• Playtex drop-in liners - 200. We used about 125 including the 40 or 50 we gave to another family who ran out. We used them for formula, water and juice bottles.
• Diapers - 20 Huggies Over-nights. We bought Pampers in China and they worked out fine for day-time use. We used the Huggies over-nights each night and save about 6 for the flights home. We bought two packages of Pampers in China and brought about 10 home.
• Diaper wipes - 2 refill packs of Pampers Sensitive Skin wipes. By the time we got home we used every one of them, but we used them a lot as multi-purpose wipes when we ate out.
• Spending money - $4,500. We used about $2,500 on souveniers, Chinese outfits and shoes for Lauren, pearls, gifts, meals that weren't included and a couple of minor adoption expenses that popped up along the way.