Mosquito Repellents for babies & toddlers for playgrounds, In Jakarta

"The mosquito kills more people than any other creature in the entire world"- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


So I had two defenses against this "creature",  in Indonesia when my tiny tot played outdoors, and thankfully I stocked plenty before moving to India as I am yet to figure what's available here:

(1) Minyak Telon (My Baby brand): a light oil made of citronella, lemongrass, chamomilae etc., that you rub on the exposed arms and legs. Minyak Telon is primarily to rub on tummy & feet to keep baby's body warm on cold nights or when he has a cold, but it's variant Minyak Telon 'Plus' also helps avoid mosquito & insect bites. It's an oil, but not oily, and yes, it does have a strong smell which we got used to pretty quickly. Once while we were sitting around in a zoo my husband and I became targets ourselves, so we quickly pulled out the bottle from the diaper bag and applied it liberally on our hands and legs ... And voila! None of those horrible insects troubled us anymore!

Pediatricians in Jakarta and Pune: The Good, Bad and the Ugly !

Going to the doctors in Indonesia was always a nice experience and the four days hospitalization for my delivery was like a spa treatment! The nurses, midwives, lactation consultants and even my obgyn were all so damn sweet to me! I don't think I've ever felt so pampered in my entire life! I was on pain killers, my baby slept most of the time and I had professional help 24/7. Oh baby's crying, ting tong! And they could come and attend. Oh he needs a diaper change, ting tong! And there they were. It was awesome.

I'd thought all those doctor visits were over once the baby was born but then I had a look at the vaccination schedule. We had to prick him every two weeks! (or so). It's imperative to have a DARN good pediatrician because healthy or not, children are anyways susceptible to illness. It may be just a rash, but you need someone you trust to tell you that it's nothing. Someone who listens to every word you say without any preconceived notion, who doesn't talk in riddles and lays all card on the table very clearly, whose diagnosis doesn't seem like guesswork and who doesn't over medicate.

Baby Nap Time V/s Mommy Nap Time: Let the battle begin!!

"Lets Go OUT!"

Lately there have been many days that I’ve been alone with my 17 month old son. Husband out of town, nanny sick, plenty reasons. But I’m taking this in my stride, and as ‘practice’for when we get back home. Yes we’re shifting back to India in a months’ time (sob sob!) and I’m a 100% sure the maid I find there for my child won’t be as loving, disciplined & reliable as both the nannies we had here in Jakarta!

So a typical day for my 17 month old boy is waking up at an unearthly hour, going down to the playground, breakfast, bath and back to sleep again at probably 10 am. His morning nap time is when the house is being cleaned, the food is being cooked, lunch is being had and basically all of us tip toe around the house, to keep the noise to humanly impossible low levels, so the baby can sleep well for as long as he wants to.

Brown Watson books (and where to buy English books in Jakarta)

It’s very important for me to have my child be interested in books. And it’s solely my responsibility to make him & keep him interested in books from the very beginning. It doesn’t matter if they’re just cartoons or if I have to read each book 1275 times. Kinokuniya book store (The only book store other than perhaps Periplus that stocks a good deal of English books in Jakarta) is conveniently next to my grocery store and I usually step in for half hour or so before grabbing the grocery shopping cart. (Although I don’t bother browsing books for me, as ebooks from Amazon or even paperbacks back home in India are at least half the price compared to sky high prices in Indonesia!)

It takes a loooong time to select a book, because before I think of what may appeal to my kid, I have to think of what appeals to me first, to have the patience to read it enthusiastically each of those 1275 times! I am very particular about illustrations more than anything. I believe there is no point buying toddlers’ books with illustrations that are “artsy”, or too small, colourless, too vague or too few in number. In the end of the day, a cow needs to look like a cow! And although you can simplify & customize the story, toddlers will connect primarily through the pictures- so there must be a correct correlation between the picture and what I’m narrating! So If I say little Ms. muffet is frightened, it must LOOK like she’s frightened!

I have several puppet books, Barney books, Disney books, book of 1000 words etc. (I can rattle off their contents in my sleep now), but I want to particularly highlight Brown Watson Children’s books. Here are a few we have and have loved:

Where to shop for baby clothes in Jakarta

What makes shopping for kids so much fun is not only the adorable stuff available,but also no bothering about the size (unlike shopping for my clothes, which I hate!), in case you're unsure, pick a size larger, if not now, he'll wear it a few months from now! Jakarta is several times more expensive than Bombay and although the malls are nasty and drool worthy, the price tags are sure make your eyes roll! 

So the kiddie shops in swanky malls may be for the ultra-fashionable-skinny-stilletoed-Richie-Rich-mommys, but for me they reserve a special visit every few months during Sale only. 

I honestly think a tee or pair of shorts should cost less than 50,000 rupiah / Rs 250/ $5 as a baby’s entire wardrobe changes literally every few months. Also what's more important than buying expensive clothes is not fussing over food stains or mud stains and simply letting a child be a child! 

So if you want cute + reasonably priced stuff for your tiny tot, here are few places where you could give a try:

(i) The swanky malls (Grand Indonesia, Plaza Indonesia, Pacific Place, Senayan City etc) *During Sale* I once picked up 5 pretty neat Baby Gap tees for under $5 each (like in the above pic)! So always keep a watch for the Sale sign. The good news is that it happens often and during festivals (Ramadan, Christmas) they go on for more than a month each.

(ii) ITC & Ambassador malls, Kuningan: here I've found the following categories of shops catering to kids:

• Baby shops: selling everything baby related : toiletries, slings, clothes, strollers, high chairs, pacifiers, socks, blankets etc. These serve the purpose of my kids night wear. I've always picked up full sleeved tees & jammies in nice pastel shades from here for probably 16,000 rupiah / Rs 90/ $2 for each item. Here I have also bought his high chair, my Medela Breast Pump (parts too), toilet top for potty training etc.

• Factory outlets: selling some known brands for cheap: here I buy my kids outdoor shorts. Limited colors, but the greys and blues for 40,000 rupiah/ Rs 200/ $4 team well with most tees and are perfect for playgrounds. Sometimes I pick up a tee or two too.

• Speciality shops for swimming gear: a fancy pair of swimming trunks in Mothercare would perhaps cost 250,000 rupiah/ Rs 1,400/ $30 for a mere 6 month use, but you can pick a cheap pair here.

• Shoes shops: buying shoes for my kid is a nightmare, cuz there's always something that goes wrong. I make sure he comes along when I shop, but either he ends up losing a shoe, or turns out the shoe easily comes off when he runs, or he simply outgrows a pair before we realise it. So I stick to shoes that cost under 100,000 rupiah/ Rs 500/ $10 which you can find here.

• Fancy dress shop: Your child's invited to a fancy dress bday party? avoid Mothercare/ELC! Theres one shop here we found after a lot of searching but ended up NOT buying the Cowboy outfit intended, as my son refused to try it on!

• Football Jerseys: When our 1 yo was invited to his pals birthday party with the Jersey dress code, the smallest Arsenal jersey we found was a 2 yo size, looked pretty smart once we tucked it in!

Cool Mothercare shoes for $35/ Rs 1,500

Note: I'm not against Mothercare! I love that I can buy Zoggs swimming training tube, organic flouride free toothpaste or Baby Blanket sun block, i.e.; things I find nowhere else! I just think its not worth spending the monies on clothes :)

(iii) Factory Outlets. Most big brands are actually produced in Vietnam or Sri Lanka or Indonesia. So "FOs" are big business here! Bandung, a cosy weekend-gateway-kind-of-small-city is 2-3 hours away from Jakarta and has a string of these on Dago street. So if you're interested, you can pop by for a day or two, and submerge yourself in shopping (and food!). 

My husband is yet to find a decent tee that lasts more than a single wash (most likely fakes instead of export runovers) and shopping for me is restricted to shorts but for baby it's perfect! I've picked the most adorable, good quality & tees, shorts and jackets! And if you don't wanna make a trip, you could pop by Blossom's branch (one of the better FOs) right here at SCBD in Jakarta itself. 

And like I've mentioned in point (ii), there are a few small FOs in ITC / Ambassador mall too.

Well of course , if you don't worry about budget or wanna splurge on a party dress or two, the swanky malls (with at least a floor dedicated to baby gear) will definitely make your dreams come true.

Read More: Nannies in Jakarta (& How we couldn't have survived without one!) 

Until later! Stay in touch!

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Slummin' the sling!

The 'sling' is one baby item that's both economical & absolutely necessary. Not that I've been a regular user, but whenever I've needed it, it has been a god sent!

Economical cuz I'm not talking about the elaborately wired ones with five different buckles and belts and where the baby just hangs over his crotch facing the world. I had one that was gifted to me, but I would take forever to get all the buckles in place and by the time it was all set ,baby would want to get off ! What I'm talking about is the simple single piece that goes around the neck, under one arm & diagnally over the chest ,so your babys semi-facing you and semi facing the task you're doing, with a round metallic ring on which you can adjust the length. Its akin to carrying your baby , while keeping your hands free.

Nannies in Jakarta

 When I was pregnant, there were impeding plans to move to Jakarta (from Bombay) for a few years. We came down for a ten days spouse familiarisation trip and what I saw all around me was the super-sized nanny culture that flourished here. In malls for instance, it was typical to see a lavishly dressed (sexy, skinny, stilettos, you name it) woman pushing a stroller containing a dozen shopping bags , and a tiny little girl dressed in a nanny ("baby-suster") uniform (pink for girl babies' green/blue for boy babies!) carrying a baby or child in her baby sling ("gandong") If there are two babies/ children , there are two nannies too.

Although "fancy" & "glamorous" in theory , it put my mind at ease. Raising a baby in a new country where we knew no one, didn't seem like a big deal. Once my baby was a month old, we started looking for a "suster"

How to get one: first let me describe the experience we had trying the "baby suster agency".The first such nanny we met arrived with her escort. At 9 pm. WITH her bags and baggage. And the first thing she did was freshen up and change!

 our 3 month old boy with his first nanny in our trip to Bali:

Let's go thru this once again.

• We had thought it was just a preliminary meeting... Umm which it apparently wasn't.

• We couldn't understand a word of what they said. Neither did our trusted friend google translate. 

• It was 9 pm remember? do we send a lady back at this hour? Esp since they literally took 4 hours to get here in the first place? And that she was already nice and comfy in her night suit?

• Then they asked us to pay 150,000 rupiah ($15) for her "transportation".

Our jaws dropped straight to the floor. Maybe even poked thru' the floor to the apartment below.

But the truth is I was terribly sick (I was DYING) so we thought, huh, let this weird-woman-who-is-cosy-in-her-nightsuit stay for a few days till I get better. Whats the worse that could happen? Well nothing bad really happened, but we didn't like her at all. We kept her for 4 days till my antibiotics kicked in and then sent her packing. & you thought transportation was only a one way charge didn't you? Fooled ya! We had to pay another 150,000 rupiah ($15) along with her 4 day salary.

So THAT obviously didnt work. What worked was good old fashioned "send the word out that ure looking to hire a baby-suster" through the maid / nanny network within the apartment complex and voila! Within a few days the perfect nanny shall show up! Of course by then we were , umm , er, desperate and we dropped our very important criteria of "English speaking skills"! Realized it's way easier to learn the local language by ourselves, which I did in no time! (I HAVE seen English speaking maids and nannies, so if there's no rush you may still keep looking !)

How to choose one: you gotta interview a few first. What we looked for was someone disciplined, loving and energetic. You may get a sense right away, but the best way to do it is having a week or two of "trial period". They give you a photocopy of their KTP (ID card) which is also given to the apartments security team. The first nanny we had for the first six months was an absolute live wire! We liked her cheerful animated face the minute she walked in that door. She had to later go back to her hometown and so she helped us get our current nanny as replacement.

Do they burn a hole through your pocket? Nope! For a monthly salary of 1.5-2 million rupiah ($150-200) you can get an excellent full time nanny to work 6 days a week. You provide her a place to stay (apartments usually have a maid room and toilet) and food. And you can get them uniforms if you'd like to be all prim n propah :)

Job Description: she is trained and or experienced in EVERYTHING related to baby. Preparing his food, feeding him, taking him to the playground, taking him to play school or school, daily massage, putting him to sleep,  bathing him, changing diapers, brushing his teeth, cutting his nails, playing with him. She can do everything baby related under the sun, so it's your call on WHAT exactly you want from your nanny.

The Big advantages: For me, the biggest task in the first year was putting him to sleep ,cuz we had to walk around holding him for 30-45 mins every time, even for his daytime naps. The two biggest tasks now are feeding him and keeping him outdoors for as long as possible! Yup, he's extremely outdoorsy and wants to be in the playground/ friends house/ neighbours  lobby etc for at least 3 hours a day. And I'm a lazy bum. And cuz nannys have their own nanny friends , incidentally the kids become friends too. So basically our one year old has an uber social life with a ton of friends & play groups while we, his parents have only each other!

So I'm NOT a fancy stiletto-ed and definitely not a skinny mommy strolling in a fancy mall, but I haven't YET lost my marbles, the house doesn't ALWAYS look like a pig sty, my kid looks freshly scrubbed (er, MOSTLY!) and I have the CUTEST, most ADORABLE mixed-raced toddlers walking in my house every now and then to play!

Until later! Stay in touch!

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Travelling with baby : ear plugs

Flying when the baby's only a few months old is relative quieter ... Cuz soon as you put the baby in an moving aircraft or moving car they snooze. So no ear aches, no screaming sessions, no wanting to walk all over the place. The challenge begins later !