Moving to Beijing from USA with new baby

My daughter is moving to Beijing with her first baby when she is 2 months old. Any advice would be appreciated. What precautions should be taken? what is the situation with buying safe formula, mothers out alone with their babies, choosing a pediatrician?

I would start by saying that we would never move to Beijing due to the pollution. If we didn't have kids, maybe, but not with kids.


You should have a serious think about air quality. The air pollution in Beijing is way worse than HK. It's quite terrible. Having lived in the LA and NYC areas, I know what is perceived as bad by Americans. But LA or NYC are nothing compared to HK (I have never come home with a sore throat from air pollution in LA or NYC), and Beijing makes HK look pristine. My friend (who lives in Beijing) has been stuck on the ramp at Beijing airport several times because the pollution cut visibility down below acceptable limits. He said there are times you can't see the wingtips from inside the plane due to smog.


Your baby will be at risk of developing respiratory problems. Perhaps permanent. We think living in HK on the south side of the island is about the limit of what we want to subject our little ones to. The air is not so bad on this side but there are still days when we would rather our daughters stayed inside.


At the very least buy some good air purifiers for the home.


Also:

- Look carefully at food origin. The whole "organic" good thing we take for granted in North America and Europe doesn't really exist in China. Try to buy fish and vegetables from Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines etc. Meat from USA, Australia, the Netherlands.

- I would avoid tap water for baby. Bottled is the way to go for everything from formula to porridge to boiling pasta.


I know this was probably not what you wanted to hear but there you go.

I just moved from HK to Beijing in August 2007.

At the time my babies were 20 and 6 months old.


It was a GREAT move.


In just over four months there have been about 5-10 really bad polluted days, the other days have been amazing with blue skies and fresh winds (now it is winter the winds are a bit too cold!) Yes the polluted days were AWFUL, but the good days were much better than a good day in HK. A lot of this has to do with how much effort has gone into reducing the pollution before the olympics, the hope is it will continue after as well.


In fact, we just had four friends from HK visiting the past 4 days and they were amazed at how fresh the air was and how blue the skies.


Beijing is incredibly safe.


The medical care at Beijing United Family are excellent, we are very happy with the pediatric care there. There is also International SOS. The key aspect is being sure she has good health insurance so this is all covered.


There are LOADS of things to do with kids - all the malls seem to have playrooms that you can pay to use. There are many city parks, each with kids play sections. People generally tend to LOVE babies and really help you a lot (much more than HK) with holding doors, helping carry the pram or even the baby sometimes!!


Beijing is PRO Breastfeeding! If you are working and are breastfeeding you are allowed breaks to breast feed and can go home early to breast feed!! In terms of baby food, I make all my own, but have a few jars of organic earths best for emergencies and travel - this is expensive here as it is imported (we got ours in HK, but it is cheaper in USA). We have never used formula, but from what I have seen I would bring from overseas if not breast feeding.


In addition, the office hours in general are much less than HK, and there is a strong sense of the importance of family and family time - so the fathers tend to get home earlier as well :)


I get FRESH BEAUTIFUL Organic vegetables delivered to my door every week from farms which we can visit outside of Beijing. They also deliver to the major 5 star hotels and better restaurants. I also get organic milk and yogurt delivered weekly too - again you can go visit the farm to see the cows, etc...


For water, we installed a reverse osmosis water filter under our sink. We use this for drinking, cooking and washing vegetables and for rinsing the breast pump before we steralise it (use this water in the steraliser too).


We have two IQ Air filters in our flat - the issue is not just the external pollution, but since many buildings are new the internal chemical smells are an issue.


There are some things you can't buy here (just like anywhere) so we stock up on some things when we travel - but we did that in HK too. Beijing is a lot more international now than it was just four years ago.


There are also a couple Beijing specific forums and yahoo groups. Feel free for you or your daughter to send me a private message and I will give you my email so we can communicate directly.

Funny how views can vary so immensely.



"A lot of this has to do with how much effort has gone into reducing the pollution before the olympics, the hope is it will continue after as well."


You have a very good point. The Olympics are a very good thing for Beijing in this regard.




If you are moving anywhere in China and your move is paid by your company, I would recommend stocking up on things that are much cheaper in the US. Go to your local Costco/Priceclub and get things like:

- Diapers. The US ones are always the most "advanced" model. Our US Pampers fit better and absorb more than the local ones, which are from the previous generation.

- Dreft detergent (for baby) in those huge jugs.

- Baby food.

- Formula. Just like crj though, we have never used this except during a couple of production shortfalls.

- Vitamins and suchlike.

-



"Beijing is incredibly safe."


I have noticed this in HK too. Compared to places I have lived in the US, I feel much more safe. Sure, there are some (reputedly) dodgy areas, but I never have a problem walking around late at night or anything like that.


It's great for kids that way. They can just run out to the playground in the apartment complex and meet some of the other 100 kids who live here. Even the 4 year olds go to neighbors' houses and ring the bell all by themselves. A far cry from the endless driving in the US.

As for the shopping list above:


Diapers are actually okay here now - huggies and pampers.


Napisan for cloth nappies cannot be found, but other detergents are okay unless you have very specific skin allergies (then you might want to use baking soda and vinegar anyway)


Vitamins for the whole family


Medicines - pharmacies in HK are great, they are useless here in many regards - so stock up on all the basics for adults and babies - Tums, Pepto, Parecetamol, Diaper Rash Cream, etc... just come full supplied.


Toiletries are expensive here too - so bring a good supply of razors, face creams, moisturisers, make up whatever... shampoos and soaps are okay here.


Hylands Teething Tablets (in USA) for baby

Basic baby meds provided by your pediatrician before you travel - both for the flight and the first few weeks.


:)

A word about Internet connections in Beijing: They are monitored (at least by bots) and regularly censored. My friend sometimes loses sites like Wikipedia for days on end.


Apart from the ideological implications, it is pretty annoying. You can always use an anonymizer service but still.

hahaah - yes soooo true! Wikipedia I can't get to, and a few other sites... but you get around it and find yourself on sites that are easier (or just faster) to access.


But overall, no regrets about our move to Beijing, and I am sure once settled in your daughter and her family will enjoy it too.

crj, glad to know that you are enjoying beijing. How's your daughter?