First family trip to Hong Kong

J

jurassicdad

New member
Hello my name is Jeff and I am new to this site. I am very lucky to find this because it looks like it is run out of Hong Kong. I hope someone out there will be able to help us with our stressful dilemmas!

Myself, my wife, and our 6 month old daughter will be traveling to Hong Kong after Christmas Day. This will be our first trip together as a family. My wife, whose family is from HK, has been there almost every year of her life. She has taken me once. We are very scared, excited, anxious, nervous, and all of the above about taking our daughter there. We are worried about the long plane flight, the travel from the airport to our hotel, and getting to one place to the other.

Here are some of our questions:
1) Does anyone have any recommendations on if we should bring a stroller, baby carriage that attaches to the stroller, no stroller?
2) How hard is it really to have a stroller walking around in HK?
3) Should we not bring one and just buy a cheap one when we get there and give it away when we leave?
4) Our daughter has acid reflux, so she is on a special formula called Alimentum by Similac. Is that available to buy there? We are planning to bring about 2 dozen quarts.

Again, any suggestions would be great.

Jeff
 
Jeff --

How long will you be staying in HK? If you'll be here for a while (e.g. more than a week), then a stroller would be helpful. Will you be able to use a stroller a lot around HK? It really depends on where you'll be staying. There are parts of HK that are more stroller-friendly and parts that are not. Unfortunately, we live in an area that is generally not, so we are not able to use our stroller and walk around the neighborhood as much as we want. So for us, we use both strollers and baby carriers interchangeably.

I don't think I've ever seen the baby formula you mention in regular groceries/ supermarkets...perhaps other mommies/ daddies in this forum might be able to help.

Good luck with your forthcoming trip!
 
Thank you peace for the quick reply. We are staying there for 11 days. We are staying in TST at a service apartment next to the New World Hotel. We will be primarily around there and maybe go up the Jordan. We might take a trip to the HK side, maybe once or twice. What brands of baby food do you have there? We use one called Earth's Best Organic. Thanks!
 
you should not have any trouble with the stroller at all.

i believe that you can get earth's organic at bumps to babes on HK island, and possibly at citysuper near your service apt.

bring your stroller with you so that you can take it up to the gate at the airport. when you check in, tell them you want to take the strolelr with you to the gate (not sure if this is possible anymore in the usa) but i could do it in canada. not only that, but strollers that are suitable for your baby's age are quite expensive here.

i traveled by myself to canada when my son was 5-6months old. i dreaded it. but it actually turned out ok. it was much easier then than it would be now that he's near 2 years.
 
I think HK is quite pushchair friendly. Since you will be with your wife, you can carry the pushchair if there are steps. TST is quite pushchair friendly. The Star Avenue is quite nice for walking, especially at 8pm every night for light show.

If you are worried, you may consider bringing a babycarrier with you. Places like Mongkok, temple streets, etc probably easier with babycarrier.

Star Ferry is puschair friendly to travel to HK Island. You can go to lower deck. From Star Ferry you can walk to many places.

Don't worry. There are lots of mums in HK who take babies out everyday, without any help, by bus, by tram, by taxi, by MTR or walking. The Peak, Stanley, Tai Tam, Kadoorie Farm, Shatin, Discovery Bay, Disneyland, Ocean Park, local markets, Mongkok, Causeway Bay... No problem!

Bumps to Babe 25227112 (+852) You may call them to check re formula.

Have a Happy Christmas!
 
You could have a look at the website for Park n Shop (a high street supermarket/grocery store). You could register for an on-line account and pre-order a grocery delivery to your serviced apartment for when you arrive.

http://www1.parknshop.com/WebShop/Home.do

You cannot access the full range of Earths Best here in Hong Kong, but as said before Bumps to Babes stock an range of mainly European organic brands.

You should probably bring both your stroller and baby carrier. The weather in Hong Kong is beautiful at he moment - perfect for walking.
 
Just remembered the name of the other organic US branded baby food that Park n Shop sell; Gerber Tender Halves and Healthy Times. Again, it's rather limited, the full product range is not available here in Hong Kong.
 
Thank you again for all the responses. We are looking into all those markets you have mentioned. How hard it it to take a stroller on the MTR? Is it better to just fold the stroller and then carry the baby on the MTR? We are now planning to bring a small, but sturdy stroller and our Baby Bjorn carrier. Do we need to bring the carrier if we ride taxis?

Jeff
 
Strollers on the MTR - a topic I am painfully familiar with!
In a nutshell: Possible, but has its challenges. BBjorn a much better option. Basically, if you are travelling with someone else and can carry the stroller occassionally, you'll be OK. You can take it on the train, no problem - that's the easy part. After getting off, you'll need to look for a wide turnstile (unless you lift it) marked with a disabled sign. Not always easy to find.
Many stations have elevators; some do not. See this link for details: http://www.mtr.com.hk/eng/train/disabled.html
If you decide to use the escalator, just be prepared to be faced with stairs up to the street.
Hope this helps. I've just had the most frustrating week of my life being 30 weeks preggers with a 13 month in a buggy on public transport.
Don't get me started on buses!
 
Definatly bring a stroller. HK is not stroller freindly inthe way north america is, but still a very usable and necessary piece of equipment. be prepared to have to carry the stroller up and down stairs sometimes, take it on escalaers (something I did all the time in HK but would never ever do in Canada). I never had problems taking the stroller on the MTR, but I was always with someone.
On our first trip to Hk with a baby (3 months old) I didn't bring the stroller, only the baby bjorn, thinking it would be too crowded for my big full sized graco stroller. needless to say we ended up buying a really cheap little stroller, which was terrible, because I didn't notice when we bought it that the wheels didn't swivel. Never buy a stroller with wheels that don't swivel, especially somewhere like Hk where sudden turn are common. We have now bought a small light weight stroller to use when travelling, it took me awhile to find one because I wanted one that had an umbrella, reclined and had a basket, and not that expensive.

The problem with the bjorn is that when out for many hours, as you inevitabley end up doing when on vacation, it was not that great for when the baby slept. I much prefered the stoller for that. I have an ellaroo mei tai carrier, and it is a lot more comfortable and I can wear the baby a lot longer with that than the bjorn. If you baby is in the high teens of weight, or heavier, you probably won't be able to carry him for that long.

Taxi's are another story. I would wear the baby in the carrier, even though I know logically that is was unsafe, but I didn't know what else to do. Mostly I prayed everytime in a taxi that we wouldn't be in a crash. I am still really uncomfortable with that issue. I would never even dream of going 1 block in Canada without the children bucked into the car seats, but what can you do in Hk? If you child is in the infant cariier car seat, then that is easier but if in the full sized seat????????????????Not at all possible.
 
Kashismum and Capital, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your responses. They totally help us out a lot. Capital, do you hae any suggestion for the airplane ride? I have a co-worker who traveled to France a few times. He says that its a terrible experience, but you just have to deal with it. Is that the general consensus?
 
We flew to Hong Kong when our daughter was 7 months old. I was very nervous for the flight but she slept pretty much from take off to landing with just a few uneventful wakes to eat. She did have her own seat though which helped.
 
loupou,

Thanks for sharing your recommendation. It's very useful. I have added it to my favorites.
 
The flight probably won't be that bad. The younger the baby the easier it is. If your child is under a certain weight. (not sure the limit) you can ask for a bassinette that snaps onto the bulkhead, if you have bulk head seats. I am doing a trip to Hk with an 11 month old and a 3 year old in February, I expect that to be a terrible expereince. What I am really worried about is the time change. That is a killer. I have to admit, for me I am so concerned about the lack of sleep and dealing with 2 little ones who will only want mommy and not daddy, that I am not even looking forward to the trip. So if anyone has any advise on dealing with jet lag I'd love to hear it.
 
Keep in mind that the gates/turnstiles to get to the KCR/MTR are about 20 inches wide. A lot of US strollers won't fit between them. Some grocery store turnstiles are even smaller, but you can avoid those.
Our 7 month old has been flying since 3 months and is Gold Medallion with Delta and flights have been a breeze. However, he has no problem with the pressure changes. Some babies seem to be really bothered by the pressure and it will be worse if they have some sort of inner ear problem. Have a bottle handy in case takeoffs and landings are an issue.
Also, Korean Air is really overboard with the seat belt warning and every time they put that warning on the baby has to come out of the bassinet which is a major headache.
 
Hi

I managed to sling ds through my 10 days trip in erHK about 18 months ago before my boy turned 2. And it was easy to go everywhere without the stroller as some places are very crowded.

Just breastfeed the bb during take off and landing, my son has been travelling since he was 3 months and never encounted any problem with pressure changes too. He is so accustomed to taking the flight that he can entertain him and packed his own toys for the flight.

In fact, we are outstationed in Japan now and will be heading back to Vancouver in a few days time.
 
Hi there,

i am thinking of planning a trip there again in Mar 07.

Can advise on the weather?
is it going to be very warm with lotsa rain?
 
march is usually still on the coolish side with little rain. check out the HK observatory website for more info. on past weather.
 
Hi Carang.

Thanks.

This oct i went and thought that it will be cooling. End up it is rather warm. So disappointing. I like cool weather...hee
 
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