Hi,
This will be our 3rd trip to Bonaire and our 1st with our new son James who is 5 months old. Grandma will also be coming along so we can dive. Any suggestions on how to pack for James?

Check with your Dr. about sunscreen for him. They say don't use it before 6 months but my doctor decided a sunburnt infant versus some sunscreen a little early was an easy choice. We just got the most child friendly sunscreen we could find and tried to minimize sun exposure as well.

We have Pampers on island but our formula selection is limited so if you use it, bring your own brand. The water from the tap is safe to us for formula.

Thank you! Do you also have Gerber baby food? He is currently eating Gerber 1st stage. Its funny, the couple of times we've been to Bonaire I was stressed about having all our equipment, now its baby stuff. We're also thinking about buying a high chair/booster seat when we get there. Could we get something like that at the Warehouse? Thanks so much for your help. We are so excited about coming there this weekend.

I would not trust the stores to come up with any certain brand or flavor of baby food. My kids are much older now but I went from 3 months on with one of them on Bonaire. Sometimes selection was very limited. They also have some Dutch brands which were good. They usually had rice or wheat cereal but not oatmeal.

Warehouse would not have a child seat. You could probably try the Tung Fung Store (we call it the eastern store) or the store right beside it (I don't know the name) or Bonaire Super Store.

And don't bring the big stroller if you can avoid it. Bonaire is not built for strollers. I found the umbrella strollers with a sun shade worked the best. I even used it for straping them in for feeding time. Plus the umbrella strollers are so light that one person can lift them baby and all to handle stairs or rough patches.

And the umbrella stroller can be carried on the plane, so you can have it while waiting at the gate and during connections. The big strollers have to be checked all the way through.

Thanks so much for your suggestions. Thats the kind of information I needed. We are so excited to get there. Thanks again.

I was just at Cultimara picking up some milk and found only Stage 2 and 3 of Gerbers plus a Dutch brand of baby food.

hats, hats, and more hats for the little one. We also traveled with a sunshade, one that folds up easily, they have them at Babies R Us. Traveled with a blow up float with a shade and just left it at the resort. Same with toys, bought them in Coz or Cayman and just left them. We brought boxed cereals like the lst stage oatmeal, etc. At 5 months old, I didn't worry about a highchair when we traveled. Used his car seat on the floor or his stroller. Less is more especially with all the dive stuff. Where are you staying? We'll be at Plaza in 2 weeks, bringing my sister for babysitting while we dive. Have a great trip!!

Thanks Barbara, We're staying at Sand Dollar. We're bringing my mom for a babysitter. We are excited about getting back into the water. How old is your baby? This is our first 'big' trip with James. I think everything is going to work out great!

Tammy and Barbara,

have fun , bring a proper mosquito net to cover the bed !!!
Last April my 16 month old daughter could have used one
( but then again that was on Curacoa )
sjosss

O , and don't forget to bring special baby/childrens ORS.
You don't have to need it but , .....

sjosss

was wondering about the mosquito netting....since our unit is airconditioned throughout, I am hopeful that the mosquitoes won't be a problem. We could have used a net for us when staying at Buddy's years ago, we tried to keep the bedroom door closed but the sneaky little mosquitoes are stealthy....

I plan to carry a script for antibiotics since children's meds are usually refridgerated. I usually get names of pediatricians before we leave, look in archives on Rodale's webpage from Doc V, he has great advice.

Tammy, our son is 2 1/2 yrs. old, has been traveling by air since he was 6 months old....actually our first flight with him was going to be 9/11/01 and as we were boarding our plane, we were turned back. You know the rest of the story. What a sad and terrible day.

Enjoy traveling with the little one.

Bring the mosquito net--it'll be more practical & useful than hope.

You can bring whatever you want (stroller, carseat, playpen, etc) into Mango's--we'll accommodate all of you however it's most comfortable for you, even if it's while you're floating around the pool.

Looking forward to visiting Mango's again. We stayed at Sand Dollar last September (2002) for our honeymoon. Mangos was just opened and we enjoyed the meals and drinks. We'll be in late Sunday afternoon, we'll see you then.

Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas. Bonaire here we come!!! Does anyone have any special requests from the States?

Where can you buy a mosquito net for kids beds and adult beds??

Grace