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Packing for a Baby to China August 29, 2008

Posted by pjpajamas in china, family life.
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So now that I’ve traveled to China, again, with my baby, I’m much wiser about what to pack for her. And basically, don’t bother packing lots of things.

Pack: clothes, blankie, favorite toys, bottles (you can easily buy bottles there, but you need them on the way there anyway), just enough diapers for being on the road, and formula (see last blog for reasons why)

What you can buy in China: basically almost everything, besides good formula

- Diapers: just as good and maybe even better. We bought ultra thin ones (I don’t think that option even exists in US, but I’m not sure, I don’t usually buy pampers). It was great, we just changed more often, used a bit of butt paste and my daughter never got a diaper rash, even in the extreme Beijing heat!

- Bottle sterilizer: can be easily purchased for several hundred RMB. These were great. You place the already cleaned bottles in these plastic pots. Put in the required amount of water and press the button and the bottles become sterilized. Convenient for hotel living.

- Baby wipes: comes in big packs and easy for travel packs. And there were types where it was safe for cleaning hands, not just the butts.

- Baby lotion, shampoo, soap: There are so much more baby lotion options. Like milk lotion. I personally like the one that comes with spf 15, bought that for my daughter to be used in US. Lots of baby toiletries for purchase.

- Baby butt paste: I saw a bunch of types, didn’t get to try it out since I had brought my own.

The bottom line: Basically there was so much more that could have just been easily bought there than I realized. The only thing is to definitely bring your own formula. Other foods, like rice formula is readily available as well. Really would have saved me a lot of packing both ways.

Mead Johnson Baby Formula: Exploiting the Chinese? August 29, 2008

Posted by pjpajamas in china.
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Perhaps this title should pertain to ALL BABY FORMULAS in China. I was quite disappointed by what’s on the market over there.

So from the beginning: my 17 month old daughter drinks Mead Johnson Enfamil’s Next Step formula. And they should be darn happy for this too, because she goes through a large can a week. Most babies in US switch to cow’s milk by 1 year of age. That’s what my preceptor/baby’s pediatrician recommends. The main reason why we kept her on formula is because of my mother. She runs a daycare and she really believes that babies who stay on formula until age 2 gets sick less. It’s not really a big deal. But we figure we can afford it and we do travel so much, it would be more convenient with a baby that’s healthy all the time.

My baby’s pediatrician, who was also my preceptor, gets all these formula samples from all sorts of companies of course. He gives them all out as soon as he can. However, the Next Step is the one that he never gives out. He thinks it’s a scam and it’s just concentrated milk. So while I was on his rotation, he gave them all to me. My baby loved it. She loved it more than the first Enfamil. I’ve tasted both, Next Step does taste a lot better.

So we went to China for 3 weeks, I was almost adamant that we would not need to bring any formula. I’ve seen Enfamil brands on the shelves in China – shouldn’t it be the same thing? I’m so happy I listened to my mother in-law. We brought three 32 oz cans and two smaller sample size cans and that was almost not enough!

As we started to run low, we went to the local supermarkets. First we brought Enfagrow for 1 to 2 years of age. She hated it. She would take a sip and not drink the rest. No matter how hungry she was, she would not drink it. It was incredibly sweet. I don’t know what this company is thinking! It was like drinking corn syrup. How can China not have problems with baby diabetes with formula as sweet as this? As sweet as this – it’s also more dehydrating and dangerous for the baby than replenishing.

I can’t put all the blame on Mead Johnson. I also bought other brands while I was there just to compare, all of them were incredibly sweet. It’s obvious the main goal is to hook the babies. It’s disgusting.

Finally I bought a step down from Enfagrow, which is Enfapro for 6 to 12 months. It’s also very sweet and my daughter wouldn’t drink it as well unless I mixed it half with Next Step. This is how we made it through our last week and barely made it back to US with enough formula for my daughter.

While in China, I was getting so desperate, I emailed Mead Johnson just in case I was missing something. Maybe I was buying the wrong one. Maybe this isn’t their formula? It’s a knock-off?

They forward my email to a rep in China and this is the response I get – “Mead Johnson products which supplied at China market are made in China with import raw materials and under very strictly control and meet both China relative standard and Mead Johnson standard.”

I was very disappointed. I don’t understand why they can’t supply a product in China that’s the same as what they supply in US. I’m assuming that US has better standards, why can’t they meet that in China? I was so excited with the idea that I had picked a global brand, just to find that it’s completely different in China. Really can’t rely on just a brand name I guess.

I’m also very disappointed in all these formulas that are just way too sweet. Juvenile obesity and diabetes is a growing problem in China, and these companies are not helping. I’m glad drinking formula is not as commonplace in China for this reason, but it is a trend that is growing. The common thinking in China is that formula is getting better and better. But as a future doctor, if someone asked me, I would still recommend breast-feeding for sure, especially in China. And don’t trust Mead Johnson just because it’s label is on a can in China.

Back from Beijing, more posts to come August 17, 2008

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I’m back from Beijing and very very jetlagged. There was a week in Beijing where I couldn’t post any blogs because wordpress.com is blocked over there. The first two weeks – I was able to post, because that hotel I was staying at routed their internet through Hong Kong – or so I heard, not like I understand these things.

Either way, definitely have more stuff to write about in terms of Olympics, opening ceremony, traveling back to US with a 16 month old baby, etc.

One Beijing Taxi Driver August 7, 2008

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Today we decided to take the new bullet train from Beijing to TianJin, max speed 350 km/hr, total transit time 30 minutes. It’s been open for 6 days. It was a pretty awesome trip, had a great meal eating famous TianJin BaoZi (meat dumplings?). However, the best part about today so far was when we got back and got into our taxi and met our taxi driver; Yang Shifu (master).

This taxi driver was the most talkative driver we’ve met so far.  He asked me where we were from. He thought at first we were people that lived and worked in Beijing.  But I guess after a while, he changed his mind. He said the more the thought about it, the more it seemed like we weren’t natives. I said I was from Taiwan and that everyone else with me is from JiangSu. 

Me being from Taiwan – really got this guy talking.  He is actually heading to Taiwan soon for a vacation with his wife next month. He’s going for about a week. He talked about how he’s been to Macau, Hong Kong, and Tibet, but not yet Taiwan. “Since Taiwan is part of China,” he says, ”I have to go see it.”

We’re all pretty amazed. How does this taxi driver get to travel so much? First thing we asked though – was how was Tibet? We’re all interested in going, but worried about getting altitude sickness. So he goes on to say – well he was in the military in the 70s, so he keeps himself in great shape and had no problems. It’s about a 2 day train travel to Tibet, and maybe a couple of people did get sick, but not in a need to be hospitalized kind of sick.

Once he mentioned the military, air force to be precise in GangSu Province, he had to direct his attention to me. He talked about how he really wanted to attack Taiwan back in those days. “But now, there is no need,” he says, “I can go to Taiwan and see how it is for myself.” He said he wanted to meet the taxi drivers there, see how sanitary Taiwan is, and see if there is anything he can learn from them.

Since this driver was so talkative and friendly, we asked him about great places to eat in Beijing. This is where he told us that he wouldn’t know because he’s Muslim and he only eats at restaurants that he trusts. But he did mention quite a few great Muslim restaurants we can visit.

So we had to redirect the conversation back to his lifestyle – you can just tell this is one guy that knows how to enjoy life. His wife is a “Model-Worker” – I believe a big deal in Beijing. She’s in sales. His son is 23 and works for Bank of China. Him, he makes about 5-6000 RMB per month just being a taxi driver in Beijing. That’s after paying his company for the car, gas, and other expenses.

We asked him about where he lives, and he said he loves his house and it’s huge. (About 1100 square feet it sounds like, maybe small to most people in US, but not to this guy). He said he got to (zhan au yun guan) or “basked in the glory of Olympics”. He was part of the communities that were torn down for Olympics construction. He used to live in a traditional Chinese styled villa (si he yuan). The government tore it down and gave people like him reassignment to brand new homes.  He states he loves it. He was so proud of it, he had to point it out when we drove by.

He boasted in a prideful kind of way about how the money he makes just goes to enjoying life, his house is paid off and he figures he doesn’t want to go to his grave regretting about this he never got to enjoy.

I loved this guy, I think we all enjoyed our time with him. It was a long trip back to our hotel, but I don’t believe anybody noticed the time. It was a refreshing point of view to meet someone like him after so many negative articles from the western media. We even told him that too. We said all we ever hear about is how there is no religious freedom, minorities are repressed (he’s part of a minority group that is traditionally Muslim), and how Beijing locals like him can’t possibly enjoy Olympics with his house taken away from him etc, etc. We said all this, and he was quick to refute all that. He said he loves how the government treats him and his family. He’s obviously an open Muslim all his life and he got to serve in the Air Force. He was so proud of being Chinese and living in Beijing. He boasted that Beijing was the best city in China and in the world. He talked about how plenty of his foreign customers says Beijing is even better than Paris, France.

Yang ShiFu – thank you for being such a joyful taxi driver. It really made our day. We all came back to the hotel hot and tired, but with a smile on our faces. He gave us a wonderful, refreshing view of Beijing people.

My Baby Went to Nanjing August 1, 2008

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It’s been a pretty amazing trip so far to get here; Beijing. Every step of the way has been filled with questions like; “should we go? should we not go?”. There are so many “what-ifs”. “What if my baby got sick? What if I went into labor. Etc.”

Of course all the way up until actually traveling, I was feeling great. I was pushing for going all the way, to Beijing, to Nanjing to visit family and friends, to ShangHai to eat soupy dumplings, back to Beijing, etc. However the last few days before departure, I could tell I was getting to a point in my pregnancy where it was slowing me down. I tire much more easily. Relaxin is kicking in and my bones ache at night. Lovely.

No matter what – my in-laws were definitely still going to go to Nanjing, you have to visit the elderly and pay your respects. The question was – who will go with them? I’ve pretty much decided I should just stay in Beijing and be good to my body. My husband of course, decided to stay with me. Then there’s the question of my baby – does she stay or go with them?

I was under the impression that there was no chance they would be brave enough to travel with a 16 month old baby without us. To fly over there on a small plane to one of the hottest cities in China. They were pretty much leaning towards the same direction. Then they called their family in Nanjing to tell them the plans. And the family members in Nanjing were the ones that reacted with “how can you leave the baby with them, he (my husband) has to take care of me (being pregnant), and they will be too tired if you don’t bring the baby.”

With just that, my in-laws changed their minds and now felt it was their duty to bring my daughter with them. So we made back up plans and back up plans. If anything happened, they would either fly right back, or we would fly to them. If that is, my baby missed us too much.

I’m very supportive of trips like these, I’ve always wanted to encourage my in-laws to travel with my baby more. This would be their first major trip. This way in the future, they can bring my children back with them to China more frequently. So I’m all excited for them, and my husband and I were ready to drive with them to the airport to send them off.

It turns out there wasn’t enough room in the hotel car for all of us to fit in the car, because they prepared a carseat for my baby. So we had to say goodbye at the hotel entrance – that, I was not prepared for. I missed my baby right away. As soon as the car drove off, we both cried. Everyday, we’ve been waiting for the call to tell us to come fly to Nanjing to help them. But our baby has been just a trooper – everybody adores her. My husband’s big aunt even asked if she could keep her for a year, then she said 6 months.

It’s great to hear all the stories about how much everybody loves our daughter. How she’s so full of energy and smiles at everybody. She doesn’t want anybody to carry her, such an independent personality. It’s great because she’s gone as our representatives and nobody blames us for not coming.

So I’ve been counting down the days until she comes back. It’s only less than a week, but every night I’ve dreamed about her. The way she says “mama”. Everyday I talk to her on the phone until she pushes it away. Tomorrow I pick her up at the train station. I can’t wait!