China Tips

As promised...from the hag (I feel like one today). :) Many of these things we wrote down while in China either kicking ourselves for not bringing or happy we did bring. I will add to this as things come to mind..

Glad we brought:
1. pillowcases for dirty clothes
2. clothesline - the rooms at the White Swan did not have one and the room in Changsha had one but it was so humid we used ours by the window for quick drying. Everyone will be going to different places but inevitably you will need to wash out something
3. detergent
4. echinacea drops - just about every kids had some sort of cold and this was handy to have - right in the formula. You don't need to be a granola cruncher to reap the benefits from echinacea.
5. two sizes of baby clothes - do not assume your little one will fit into the sizes but if they do you are lucky. We had a few families swapping or buying clothes. Tessa fits in some 6 months for example
6. reuseable bag - Eddie Bauer makes a stuffable version that is the size of a travel Kleenex pack. We got one as a gift last Christmas. The best part about China grocery shopping is the charge for plastic bags - one for the environment. You will need a bag if you go for groceries
7. office supplies such as scissors, paperclips, rubberbands - you will use them at some point trust me
8. hooded towel - those babies are slippery and the hotel towels are huge
9. baby carrier - my back muscles were sore from carrying Tessa after one day and so was my butt and I have no idea why. Anyway the carrier was a blessing to have although ours was a bit hot due to the design and most likely why Tessa projectile vomited in the park
10. Ziplocs - say no more
11. Cheerios - these babies were crazy for them
12. Playtex bottles with drop in liners - we went through a box of 50 and scored another box as Eliana would only drink from the Chinese bottle/nipple combo.
13. packages of tissues - multipurpose if you know what I mean. We went through 4 packets and ended up buying more
14. Two baby blankets - the hotels are freezing and then you go outside and sweat.

Needed:
1. Nasal aspirator - this is one thing as a parent I dreaded more than anything so leaving at home was smart - uggh. We bought one and I had a lesson from the doctor. I'm not going to lie I was tearing up at the thought of doing it myself
2. saline spray - to go along with the horrible booger sucker
3. burps cloths - we only brought 3
4. regular bibs - we bought the disposable but they are huge on Tessa and were a pain
5. more reading material for the husband - poor Will finished a 750 page book in like 4 days. I caught him reading the back of the baby shampoo one day. You do have down time so pack appropriately for your bookworms
6. Table toppers - they didn't take up much room but Tessa can barely sit up, let alone grab food
7. Vasaline - needed for the little sores on Tessa's face. Didn't find what you and I think of as vasaline, but did find Vasaline cream.

Not needed:
1. flat iron - what the hell was I thinking?
2. baby bed sheet - I knew we planned to co-sleep so this was a waste of space
3. less baby wash - we had a large bottle that took up a lot of space
4. dishwashing soap - didn't need, just rinsed bowl
5. toys - it was suggested to me not to take too many and I didn't listen - she played with the rings the most.
6. money belts - used them for storage only, never wore them. All hotels we stayed in had safes.

Purchasing baby stuff in China:
We were lucky to have grocery store type places near us or Walmart and Carefour, which were both quite the experiences. Oh how I wish I had a camera in Walmart! Diapers and wipes were very easy to find and easy to read (they are on the metric system though). The babyfood was spotty to find - the best place was WuMart (Changsha - walking distance), Walmart (Changsha - by bus only) or Carefour (Gaungzhou - by bus or taxi). If you plan on feeding soy formula (we were told many babies were lactose intolerent) bring your own can. We went through one we brought and two we bought at Carefour. The cans in China are hard to find and are about half the size of the large can we brought with us. We had a mom who knew Chinese (luckily) and she wrote down the characters for us. It was like the matching game to find the tiny cans at the tippy top of the shelves. Regular formula you shouldn't have an issue.

Baby Bath:
There are no baby bathtubs at The White Swan Hotel, odd as that may seem with the amount of babies that come through there. We bought a blow up one to bring with us but ended up not bringing. The sinks worked well.

Food:
Hotel food was expensive, explore and try some local cuisine if you are brave enough. Rule of thumb we use was if the place looked clean and was full of people. All the menus we encountered had pictures. An appetizer delicacy in one place was pigeon hearts and parts - gross. We were fine, but to each his own. If you are a vegetarian food is easy to find, if you are lucky enough to have the character written down or know how to say vegetarian. The Chinese know how to marinate vegetables - yum!