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I’ve been hanging out around the China Adoption Forums lately, and found myself answering someone’s questions about packing for the trip.
It’s fairly useful information — well, the questions are useful. My answers are, uh, well, hopefully useful too.
Originally Posted by ElectricGypsy
1. How many suitcases did you end up bringing?
We went COO (carry-on only), and bought a suitcase to take home with us. Actually, the first time, since my mother was along, we had one checked bag on the way out.
But I’d definitely recommend buying what you need there and carrying it home.
Think of everything you buy now — all of it’s made in China, just about. Now, picture it with an exchange rate working in your favor and no markups for middlemen and shipping.Shop yourself silly!Quote:
2. What were absolute NECESSITIES and what were things that you might not have thought of before the trip that you swore you would make SURE to bring next time?I honestly can’t think of much. It’s nice to have a few medicines around with labels you can read, but really — even aspirin and Contac is easily found in drugstores in the cities. (Both times I went, it was to Chongqing — well, our kids come from towns outside the city, but we stay *in* the city, right near all the Western-style department stores and groceries.)
Duct tape’s nice, plastic bags for dirty laundry are nice.Quote:
4. What are some things that you would maybe recommend to get in regard to medications from your doctor before we go?Ask your doctor. Infant Motrin is good, so are decongestants. Most would recommend antibiotics, I think, but those are so often overprescribed (they cure bacterial infections, but not the viruses that cause the nose and throat nasties you see most often).
We just came back from China two weeks ago and I have an older child who can’t swallow pills. When she became ill and I ran out of chewable Motrin, we went to a pharmacy and later to a drug store. Chewable tablets were non-existent, but both stores carried the drops and liquid both for infants.
If you are taking older children with you or are adopting an older child, you might want to bring chewable tablets, but if you are adopting a baby and worried about packing too many things, liquid Motrin and Tylenol were both easily found.