hi

i took my daughter when she was 6 mths old to turkey and had no problems at all, i bought the obvious shade for the buggy got a pram fan from mothercare world that attaches to the pram and keeps baby cool it was £10 not sure if its slightly more now, i also bought cartons of ready made milk as i didnt want hassle and worry of making up bottles and disposable bottles all from boots, you dont need to do this as it does cost more, any bottled water from turkey should be fine, make them up in the morning keep them in the fridge, i just wanted a easy relaxed lazy time and found the ready made ones a god send, i also bought sun block for babies, we had a great holiday, so you should be fine, ive seen tiny babies in turkey before,i found nappies dearer there so i took them with me and baby food, good luck

Hiya

I took my daughter over when she was 10 weeks and no problems at all. Boots do a sunblock for babies under 6 months would suggest you try that even though you will be keeping her in the shade.

Assume she will soon be going on to solids - You can get plenty of jars/powdered foods in the big supermarkets - Dont buy them in the chemists you will pay a fortune.

Im not sure about the bottled water as i was feeding her myself - but would of thought any bottled water would have done? But i have seen Nestle bottled water loads of places - Think its quite popular in Turkey

Rather than take a sterliser over with you - Mothercare do travel sterlisers - Basically a sterile poly bag with a couple of tablets in it - and you just add water and of course the bottles.

There is another User Elaine - and she is Gumbet-ite and is well travelled with her wee one - Im sure she will answer any specific Gumbet Qs you have

Happy holidays

Leigh-Anne

Yo Vix

We took our son to Turkey twice last year - aged 10 weeks the first time and seven months the second.

My wife was still breastfeeding on the first trip, but we took our own milk powder over for the second trip and made up feeds using boiled bottled water - a bit of a pain as we didn't have self catering facilities. It's generally best if you can keep your baby on whatever feed they are used to.

I agree with the advice about the travel steriliser and sun block.

One thing you need to think seriously about is mossie repelent. You really don't want a badly bitten baby, but adult repelent isn't suitable - again Boots have infant-friendly wipes, and there are a couple of citrus based
products that I can't remember the name of directly - I'll try and find a link.

When you get to your resort ask if anyone can reccomend a good local tailor or dress maker! When we were in Dalyan last year one of the hotel staff took our baby buggy to the local tailor and he made a mosquito net that was really useful when we went for a stroll and a meal in the evenings - it cost a fiver and he ran it up in a couple of hours.

Apart from that the biggest problem you'll have will be local people wandering off with your child. It really happens - they're a lot less paranoid about that kind of thing than we are, and it's a healthy thing imho.

Richard

Thanks for the replies everybody....much appreciated!! For those of you who used bottled water to make up your bottles, did you just use the usual Turkish make of bottled water or did you use Nestle or Evian? I've been told that you have to use a water low in sodium or it can make your baby ill, this is what was worrying me.....

Thanks again!

Hi Vix,

Yes I think Nestle is the bottled water which has the lowest sodium content, hence why its recommended for making babies bottles. But there's not really much between most bottled waters anyway, just looking for the one which has sodium the further down the list of "ingredients" as this one will have the lowest sodium.

I can also recommend something for keeping away the mozzies, its a little ladybird that emits somekind of noise which keeps them away. Jo Jo Maman Bebe do it and it costs £9.99, this link will hopefully take you to it if you cut and paste it into your browser.

http://www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk/CGIBIN/PRIAMLNK.CGI?CNO=1&MP=ITM^GIN200&CODE=ST01920&SPCAT=IB&CAT=KS51&TYPE=P&SHOP=

I used to be the moderator of a "travel with baby" forum so if there is anything else I could help with please just ask.

Regards,

Catherine x

We had one of the buzzy ladybirds - it broke after two days. Nice idea though.

(wife of RichC here)

We took our little boy to Turkey at 11 weeks and 6 months and coped fine. The first time we went to the middle of nowhere so had to take almost everything with us.

Nestle water was available everywhere - even the remote village we stayed in. The other main essentials I took were disposable steriliser bags (Mothercare £8.99 for seven), disposable bibs (Tesco - £4.99 for 20), Mozzie Patches - http://www.mozziepatch.com (truly excellent citronella product which worked a treat for us - better than the ladybird buzzy thing which broke after two days), Boots Natural Mosquito repellent (suitable from three months) and Sunnies Wipes (better than the whale fat type of suncream).

When we were out there last September the locals were also kind enough to get the tailor to run some elastic around some netting and make a mosquito net for our pushchair. We went to Dalyan then and the shops were well stocked with nappies, wipes, formula etc. I'd imagine that Gumbet would be even better stocked.

Corinne

The Mozziepatch looks fantastic, what we did also was put Citronella oil in a small spray bottle and diluted it with some water and sprayed it all over our little fella and over his cot at night.

I sprinkle undiluted oil round our bed too on holiday as I get badly bitten.

When Cameron was 9 weeks old and we went to Gran Canaria, I had just stopped breastfeeding so we took a caseful (almost) of ready made SMA cartons and some steri bottles, these are ready to use disposable bottles that made life so much easier, a little luxury for when you go on holiday. I can't speak highly enough of them! Okay they take up a lot of room in your case but given that most people bring half of Turkey back with them, then you will have this space to use up. Saves worrying about water and sterilising etc. Oh and you get a break from making up bottles!

Catherine x

thats exactly what i did scottishmam they were brilliant ,didnt have to worry about water or making up bottles i cant recommend enough either, worth every extra penny

Yeah definitely a little treat, spending ages making up bottles can be sooooooo monotonous and you should be able to be free of this on hols I reckon

Tesco did a big bag of 12 steribottles, I think it was about £3.70!!! So well worth not having to sterilise and funnily enough my little guy drank his milk so much better out of them than his normal avent bottles. As long as you click them properly as instructed they don't leak. Unlike my avent bottles which leaked all the bloody time!

Hiya Vix,

You've been given loads of great advice already about taking your little one to Turkey.
I've been taking my daughter to Gumbet since she was 12 weeks old, so if you have any specific queries about where you can find stuff in Gumbet, just let me know.

Happy holidays,

Elaine

Thanks so much for your replies everyone!! I feel a lot better about things now!! I'd got myself in a bit of a flap about feeding her etc but feel loads better now...much appreciated!!

Elaine, I presume that Nestle or Evian water will be available in most of the shops? Poppy won't be on solids then so really only have to worry about making her bottles up...Can't think of anything else I need to know but if I do, you'll be the first to know!

Many thanks!

Hi Vix,

Yep Nestle and Evian water are both available in the mini markets, if you're going self catering you'd be best to go to the Gima or Migros supermarkets on the outskirts of Gumbet and get everything you need there - you can get 5 litre bottles of water cheaply there. Prima nappies are exactly the same as Pampers if you use those, and baby wipes are very cheap in the Gima. I didn't take any kind of steriliser with me (I believe in travelling as light as possible). I took some Superdrug sterilising tablets, and bought a new basin at the Gima first day I got there. I used that only for sterilising my daughters bottles, filled it with bottled water, put the sterilising tablets in, and the 6 rinsed bottles I'd used during the day. Left the bottles sterilising overnight, rinsed them out in the morning, made up the bottles, and popped them in the fridge til i needed them. If I was going to need a bottle when we were away from the apartment, I put it in a cool bag with a couple of small ice packs, then asked at a restaurant for a cup of hot water to warm it up.

I'd advise you to take your own formula, you can get all the normal brands in Turkey but they are double the price of what you pay here.

If you forget anything for your baby, don't worry, there are 2 baby shops (like little Mothercares) at the Oasis Centre, on the outskirts of Gumbet.

Elaine

Thanks so much for that Elaine..you've totally put my mind at rest now, can get on with looking forward to my holiday!!!

hi also you know how sucking a boiled sweet on take off and landing helps to stop your ears popping , if your munchkin has a soother give her that to suck, if not a bottle of milk juice or water will help her ears

Hi there. My family are due to visit Gumbet in June 05. My 8 month old son loves his baby walker and I feel we will need one on this holiday. It gives you that bit of security when there that little bit mobile. 2 Questions:

Have you ever seen anyone take their own on holiday or better still is anyone aware of any hire shops in Gumbet which have one. Even if we have to buy one when we are there it will be wothwhile.
Any ideas guys?

Well, my daughters are now 21 and 18 and don't have the feeding problem ... but have to say found this thread fascinating Seriously where else would you get such practical advice that will put your mind at rest before going on holiday. Great stuff everyone and in another 16 years or so we will have another new member to the Forums !

Wilson

Hi Samber,

I'm just back from Gumbet (and very sad to be home again) - I haven't seen anyone with a baby walker - do you mean for your hotel? If you can flat pack your own I think that would be the best idea. There is a shop in the centre of Gumbet where you can buy and hire lots of baby things (pushchairs, cots, parasols, mozzie nets etc) I was in there but didn't see a baby walker.

Have a fabulous holiday,

Elaine

Thanks Elaine,

In the meantime i have located the rent shop in gumbet and have pre booked a baby walker for the apartments.

many thanks