By: 40-Year-Old Virgin

40-Year-Old Virgin — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:06:07 +0000

We recently took our 2-year-old to Thailand and found the air travel was very manageable. We brought plenty of toys, Play Doh being among the faves, onto the flights and worked on keeping him distracted and yawning at landing times.
Having said that, our biggest fear was that our son would pick up a stomach bug, and, sure enough, he did. We spent the final two days of our trip in the hospital we’d checked him into. We were very lucky that the hospital we were near had superb care, better than I would expect in either America or Japan, though it was a little expensive.
More important, we were very worried, since we had no way of knowing how serious it was. Turns out, it was a simple bacterial infection that worked its way out of his system within 24 hours, but we had no way of knowing that and were of course concerned that he may have to stay in the hospital for an extended period. Worse, our return flight was booked for 6:30am the morning after he was released from the hospital. The doctor gave his OK for him to fly, but his fever momentarily returned and we were within minutes of deciding to book the next available flight out, which was 4 days later. Luckily, his fever went back down and stayed down and he was in good shape for the flight.
Also, taking care of our 2-year-old ended up being a little more taxing than we’d hoped, even while in a tropical paradise. It seems obvious, but somehow we’d convinced ourselves that being at the beach or beside the pool would make things easier, and it does, only not by very much. Indeed, in some ways, you’re less free to let your child play on his own, since he’s near water and certainly can’t be allowed to wander even a bit, as he could be at home in some familiar places like the park or friends’ houses.

By: majimeaussie

majimeaussie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:08:57 +0000

Sorry 5 month old not 5 yo.

By: majimeaussie

majimeaussie — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:01:35 +0000

In April I went back to Oz with a 5 yo and is was pretty easy. Going back for Christmas when he is a bit over a year old and walking is more of a worry.

By: Blue

Blue — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:50:41 +0000

For those of you who missed the first two episodes to this series, you can find them here:
http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/first-time-gaijin-dad-1/
http://www.stippy.com/japan-life/first-time-gaijin-dad-2/

Comments on: Daddy-san (part 3): Travelling with your Baby

By: 40-Year-Old Virgin

By: majimeaussie

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By: Blue