Instead I'm trying to get my packing done. Lists have been made. Items bought. Things sorted. Some things will come at my baby showers but I'm probably about 90% there already.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Packing Mayhem
First off... still no Travel Approval. Not happy about that. Those of you who know me know I don't deal well with this lack of control. Yeah... go ahead and laugh. I'm aware my life is about to become one big "lack of control". I'm just really freaking out over not having plane tickets. I'm watching the prices go up by the day. I just want some finality there.
Instead I'm trying to get my packing done. Lists have been made. Items bought. Things sorted. Some things will come at my baby showers but I'm probably about 90% there already.
Mia's clothes. Well, this is harder. I want to take everything. I can't wait to see her in these cute little hair bows and all the adorable stuff I've collected over the years. But I have it narrowed down. As you can see, the common theme is hot pink. It's mommy's favorite color. And if I coordinate it all, then I can mix and match if the size is off. Or if there are massive spit ups. Which I know will happen. Of course, one of her first outfits has to have a penguin on it. That's a gimme, right?
I know Cheerios are like the holy grail of China adoption. But I'm wondering if she's too young for them? She'll be 7 1/2 months old when we meet. According to the paperwork I have now, she doesn't have any teeth. She might have by then though. I do have a couple of the melt in your mouth puff things for her. What do y'all think? Cheerios or not?
Instead I'm trying to get my packing done. Lists have been made. Items bought. Things sorted. Some things will come at my baby showers but I'm probably about 90% there already.
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25 comments:
I would not bring them, my guess is that you could get them at the buffet at your hotel if you really wanted to give them to her. I remember our guides admonishing us for giving the babies cheerios, saying their stomachs were not ready for it.
What about the puffs? The ones that dissolve in their mouths?
I would bring the puffs. If she has teeth she'll love them.
Ruby
Our little guy from Ethiopia was the same age at adoption and even though he had two teeth he couldn't eat anything solid. He even gaged on rice! So I say leave the Cheerios till later.
Can't wait tom follow your China travels!! Comein TA!!!
Lorie
Mama to Xavier 2.5
Adopted at 7.5mos
Sorry forth typos. I have a love/hate relationship with my iPad. : )
Lorie
Our daughter Grace turned 8 months the day after she was placed in our arms. She only 2 bottom teeth, I would say forget the cheerios and bring good baby food as it is hard to find in China. The plum baby food in the squeezable tubes are great. Mia will need all the good nutrients and vitamins you can give her. I brought some baby food but wished I had brought more. I didn't want to give her table food just yet and wanted her to get lots of nutrients. Just a suggestion.
Maisie was 14 months and wasn't able to eat cheerios or anything other than a bottle for that matter but I would go with the puffs as they'll melt in Mia's mouth.
I would leave the Cheerios and bring the puffs and some good baby food. :)
I am thinking the puffs.. she might be tooo little for the cheerios...
I am getting super excited....
Have a great week..
Hugz.
Ariana was 13 months and had only had formula with rice cereal. She had no idea what to do with a Cheerio and I was sorry I had wasted so much packing space. One of my travel mates gave us some Puffs and she loved them! They are NOT available in China but Cheerios-type cereal is so take the puffs! Funny, I just posted about puffs today.
Be sure to bring Pedialyte. Ariana wouldn't take anything but that and apple juice for nearly 48 hours.
We had just days between TA and leaving (stress!) We used Linda Wang at Brica International and she found great flights much lower than anything I could find online or with the the adoption specialty travel agencies.
I would have to agree with the others. I'd leave them at home. Tessa was 8 months old when we got her, she would have NOTHING to do with any kind of food coming toward her mouth except a bottle, so I didn't even try until we got home. You figure, they've been there, and lived on what they fed them for that amount of time, they can make it another few weeks, besides, from her little ahem, chubbiness, I don't think they have been starving her. If by chance you try to give her food, and she'll let you, you can find everything over there.
I brought cheerios & ended up giving them to another mom who was very happy to have them. Vera couldn't do anything beyond the bottle - and we were happy with that. By the end of our time in Guangzhou, she was eating mashed potatoes on a spoon. Her first solid food. Very exciting that was. Cheerios were better received once we got home. Hope that helps. xo
Skip the O's and even the pedialyte. Keep her diet the same as she's used to and she should do just fine. If you need it, you can get it at Walmart in Nanchang. Narrow down the hair stuff to one or two outfits because it's going to be HOT and if you are carrying her, it will be hotter. When you are in the hotel taking pictures, stick the pretties on, but really go for comfort over cuteness, for both of you. I know it's hard, but you'll be glad you did. It's pretty dirty in Nanchang, too, so you don't want anything to get ruined and if you have it laundered in China, it's going to be washed and dried hot and will most likely shrink.
I didn't do laundry in China because I didn't want my clothes to shrink. I don't have many clothes for myself to begin with so I didn't want them ruined. This made for a lot of laundry upon returning home, but better that then ending up with nothing that fits because it shrunk.
If Mia isn't on solid food, I wouldn't start until you get home. I wanted to give my daughter vitamins and all sorts of things, but I know how my stomach feels with I'm nervous and tired and going through emotional upheaval so I stuck with what was familiar to her as much as possible and she did very well. I figured, she's lived for 7 years in China on her diet and is healthy enough to keep it up for the next two weeks until we got home.
She eats so well, green veggies and all, that I don't feel vitamins are even necessary. She's at a good weight for her height and has a lot of energy. I know she is building muscle tone so I cook a lot more with meat then I usually do for myself.
It was easy to put aside my desire to control and change things and all of that once I put her needs first. I was so happy to find that putting her needs first came so easily and that I wanted to do it. After living alone for such a long time, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do that readily and it was very easy.
Whatever you end up bringing, just be as mobile as possible. I felt such a desire to "set up house" in the hotel in Nanchang and only realized later that this was nesting behaviour. It took me all day to pack to leave for Guangzhou. Needless to say I didn't make the same mistake in the next hotel.
I do recommend getting a small, collapsable shelf at Walmart in Nanchang because you'll want a sort of pantry in the hotel. The hotels don't have a lot of room. I brought two 32 ounce plastic pitchers with lids to keep the boiled water in, too, and these were great!
You will have an easier time feeding your daughter on the go because you only need to whip up a bottle. I envy you that. It was a little harder with an older child.
I would not do the cheerios and go with the melting puffs instead-all my boys LOVED them, even after they had teeth and could have done cheerios. The puffs come in all kinds of great flavors, too
I wouldn't even bother- Aiden was 6 1/2 months old with no teeth and couldn't even do the puffs. I ended up giving them away. I didn't even try baby food with him until we got home. Hope you get TA soon!!
Puffs are the way to go! Also there are yogurt puffs that are fab. The first night, D ONLY ate puffs. For us, a neccessity!
Keep smilin!
We always called puffs "baby crack" because they'll do just about anything to get them!
Ditch the cherrios and keep the puffs. Everyone will be happy :)
She's so young, you could probably keep her solely on formula during the trip and she'd be fine. Then you could introduce the puffs once you get settled in at home.
I'm doing my own packing post soon. My house looks like a bomb exploded. And no, I do not have dates either. I've been shopping lately, which tells you how very much I'm slipping down The Crazy Hole. Because we all know how much I just *LOVE* shopping (not).
Oh, and I got your package today! It actually came last week (I think), but we were out of town over the weekend and a neighbor collected it from our doorstep to be kind. She brought it by today. LOVE it and can't wait to post pictures. (If that's okay.)
The only advice I can give you is my perspective as a nanny...
Keep her on the same diet that she is on now, even the same milk, then once you get back home slowly get her used to U.S. formula.
If she's not on solids yet then I wouldn't recommend cheerios. I'm not sure what weaning recommendations are in the States but here in the UK you start with baby rice and then slowly add more foods(but only single flavours) one day add carrot to her diet, then butternut squash, apple...so if she gets a reaction you know what foods to avoid.
Saying that maybe you could bring some Gerber baby food(like carrots) in case you feel she's up for some more than just milk.
Do they sell the squeezy pouches over there?
I schlepped a whole bag of the damned things to beijing, then guangzhou, only to leave them in the room for the white swan staff. At 10 months T had never been given solid food, and didn't know how to eat, although she did have teeth. We stuck with formula til we returned home.
Think of if this way: Bag of cheerios could equal 4 or 5 cute hot pink outfits.
Happy Packing
Ditch the cheerios. Puffs are much better for the little ones. Our baby was days away from turning one, and it was obvious she'd never had anything like a puff in her mouth. She didn't know how to pick one up, but she learned pretty fast. The Gerber puffs were a lifesaver, not only for us, but for our travelmates. We shared! I'd take 3 containers of those if you can squeeze them in.
I saw the famous stacking cups! Those provided lots of entertainment for our Emma. She didn't care for soft toys, but the stacking cups were a hit.
Oh, I remember buying some baby food in Guangzhou, but it had weird flavors in it, like fish. :) It was available, though.
You will find that you can get congee everywhere you go, if you need something a bit more solid for her. Our Emma mostly wanted formula in China, though.
I would take Cheerios but just a small baggie of them. Hannah didn't have any teeth either but I was able to break Cheerios into 5...yes 5 pieces each and she enjoyed playing with them in her mouth as they melted. Yogurt drops (yellow bag, can't think of the company off hand) were also a huge hit!
By the way...re: the stacking cups...Vera still loves them. Do not travel without. xo
Our daughter was 9 months when we got to her.....no cherrios would have worked.....puffs were a life saver! A life saver on flights, outings, hotel and all! We also brought prunes.....another great help.
Have a great trip! I will be looking forward to following your trip!
God bless
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