We took our daughter to Goa in October 2003 for 4 months and rented out a house in Anjuna. She was 16 months old upon arrival, she had a dummy, wore nappies day and night and spoke a small amount.
She was too young to have any injections as babies need to be 18 months old, we never took malarial tablets as we have visited Goa many times too, so we just took necessary precautions.
Due to being on a beach for most of the day the dummy was impractical and we told her it had been lost. She never used one again. As for nappies they too were impractical for days and from then on we toilet trained her. Of course there were accidents on the beach, in the sand or at home but she soon learnt. Her speech became excellent due to having both mum and dad there 24/7, plus locals always taking time out to talk to her, other children from europe and the likes. We believe this trip really gave her a head start on her speech and it was evident on coming back to UK and going to school where teachers commented on how advanced she was.
As for the milk we found that the local fresh milk which was sold in bags was not pasteurised so used the longlife in cartons, she never had any problems with it, was never sick once and only ever had the occassional upset stomach as we all do.
At first we were a little cautious and concerned with taking her but to be honest she fitted in a lot quicker and easier than we did. You worry for them for nothing sometimes. Babies are very robust and adapt to their surroundings better than we do.
From Goa we spent 2 months travelling Thailand and Cambodia and again she was fine. Go away and enjoy yourselves with your baby. Just use common sense. And don't listen to scare mongers they only wish they had the nerve to do what you are doing.

Hi Kellymac

Thanks for such a informative and positive post which hopefully will stop the Fretful Mother from worrying about going on holiday.
Glad to see you had no problems but how did you manage on the flight?
Our baby has just started walking and won't sit still for a minute and we realy are dreading 12 hours aboard a monarch sardine tin!

regards
Alistair

Hi to all parents of bored teenagers!
We are 5 mins from Anjuna and Vagator beaches and 5mins from Mapusa!
Drop your kids with us for a skate and take in the sunset on the beach or a yoga class! Purple valley very close!

Plenty of boards for hire if they dont have em with!

http://www.sk8goa.com for any more info!
cheers Nick

If you have a night flight your baby should sleep most of it. On our flight were other babies and children and they encourage walking around now. So we just took it in turns to walk up and down the aisles. She also slept most of the way, we took snacks and things to keep her occupied. In fact the flight went quicker with her than normally.
If you ask for a skycot there will be no seats in front of you so you can spread out more.
How long are you going for???

Kellymac

Only going for three weeks this time.
Daft question what is a sky cot??

A skycot is where the airline give you a seat at the front of the rows and a shelf comes down allowing their cot to be strapped in, so you don't have to have your baby on your lap the whole way. Try to organise this before you go, speak to your agent and get them to book you one. Then when you check in it should already be organised. Not sure if all airlines do it though. Good luck

Sounds good, I wonder whether they do adult sizes ????

I presume that when you spent time in Goa you flew scheduled to Mumbai,
since we are flying on a charter direct on a tiny little plane I wonder whether a skycot will be available, I will check with the airline though.

thanks again for your help

Alistair

Last time I flew Monarch they did have a skycot, but only the 1.

The lack of questions/threads relating to Goa and young children as prompted me to ask whether people take young kids to Goa.

We're off there in the new year with 2 and 4 year olds and would like to know:

1) how do you heat up milk from ur oom, and I assume its sfae to give it to them cold

2) Do u make your kids take malaria pills/solution ?

3) Do tour operators charge full price for them for excursions, or are there discounts available

4) which of the tours would suit young kids

5) any tours that arent particularly child friendly ?

6) anything else that might be worth knowing about travelling to Goa with youngs kids

Thanks

Hi Gooner ... I have merged your enquiry with this existing topic so that in addition to any replies you receive, you might also find some useful info in earlier posts.

David

Thanks, lots of interesting posts, and some sad ones too i think ( leaving kids behind etc etc ). For us, being away together is what holidays are all about and weve taken our kids to the Far East approx 14hrs flight and never had a problem and that was when they were 2 and 6 months.

any answers to my specific questions would be great

Hi

I have been looking for ages for information/tips on holidays in Goa and have really struggled... until I found this place
We are going on holiday to Goa soon (Benaulim, South Goa) for 2 weeks with our 2 children who are both 7 years old

We're really looking forward to it, but also have some slight worries with regards to the children as they are so young.

Food: Are there places that cater for the fussy western child eater? ie chips etc! We will encourage them to try things of course, but there is also a real risk of them starving to death!

Mozzies/Malaria: Getting the children to take malaria tablets is going to be difficult, especially if they suffer nausea. Can anyone recommend our best course of action/products to use

Travel: What would be the best, safest way to get around in a group of 4

Places to go and see: We chose Goa for its climate, culture and for the wildlife... We hope to see elephants, hopefully monkeys and dolphins - Could anyone recommend good places/trips to go on?

Hopefully our choice of destination will provide the kids (and us!) with memories that will last a lifetime

Thanks
Chris and Sarah

hi Chris and Sarah and welcome to our great forum. I have "topped" a thread we have on malaria etc. Seems you can get a liquid malaria treatment for children from your gp.
We have a lot of recommendations for trips here ( which I also brought back to the top for others to see)

Thats excellent thanks - Looks like there will be loads for us to see and do!

If anyone else has ever been to Goa with young children and can offer any tips at all I'd be glad to hear them

Chrisandsandra,
You will find all the restaurants will cook food the way you want it.
Chips are always available, so are pizzas etc. Omlettes, eggs bacon, toast, cereals etc are available for breakfast.

We find taking the malaria tablets after eating (as per instructions) means we dont get the minor niggles. Tried them when we got up 1 year before eating and then found we felt off until we had eaten.

The taxis can fit 4 1 in front and 3 in back. Or get 2 tut tus, the children will love these.

Have a great time

Steve

Hi Chris and Sarah,

Stop worrying and just do it!!!!

We posted a similar question a few months ago about taking our 18 month baby to Goa despite having been many times on our own we naturally where concerned as this was to be our babies ist trip abroad.

We traveled to Goa for three weeks in December and can honestly say we did not have any major traumas and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Tips:

Watch the sea (not good for swimming)

Check room for dodgy electrics, showers etc

Food is not a problem at all plenty of Western food available

Be careful of traffic at all times

We have never bothered in the 15 years with malarial tablets and hardly got bitten at all this time (we where paranoid about baby so smothered her in the evening with mozzy stuff which seemed to keep the away and was not bitten once)

The flight is a pain I'm sure that seven year olds will be easier to occupy for ten hours than a 18 month old toddler who has just discovered that she has two legs.

Loads of things to do and see.

Have a good time

Alistair

Oh Dear, sorry to be a dissenting voice and I bow to Alistair's experience but I wouldn't take 7 year olds to Goa!

Reasons?

1. Journey - long and tiresome. Adults can read or snooze. Kids moan!
2. Food. Absolutely fantastic for adults but not really very child friendly.
3. Safety. There are potholes, open drains, dodgy electrics and 101 other perils.
4. Road Safety - I've just read another post from BigKnickerShaz (I think) saying she'd nearly been flattened by a 4x4. So was I! You'll need 360 degree vision when walking on the roads!
5. There aren't many other kids there so they have nobody to play with.
6. Health. Most people have a day of Delhi belly. Not a good experience for kids!
7. Attractions. One of Goa's attractions for me is that there are no attractions for kids!

Having said all that, Goans are brilliant people and they'll go the extra mile for you. I'm sure that despite my reservations they'll make sure you'll enjoy it!
Having read what I've written, I wonder why I keep going back!

Sorry roma - have got to disagree, this will be our 8th time in Goa this year, the grandson came with us when he was 8 and in feb it will be his 4th time, he's 13 now and never had ANY illnesses and loves the food - the lads in the shack keep him occupied.
I wouldn't hesitate in taking kids to Goa.

Many people now come to Goa with children without problems, but I would advise you to take all precautions with your child. Katrina who owns the Mermaid restaurant has a young daughter who has maleria at the moment, It is your choice if you want to take the tablets, but I wouldn't take a chance on my childs health, It only takes one bite.