Travel to India with Children Checklist

Travelling to India with Children can be an experience in itself.
We travel a lot and my wife and me had travelled with our children.

1. Indian roads can be quite an experience to a westerner. Drive with extra care.
2. Use only bottled water, which is bought from a good shop. Spurious is also being sold on the roadside. Good brands for water in bottles is Kinley, Aquafina, Bisleri. Others are not recommended. No need of water purifying tabs. No ice at all. If you are having anything cold anywhere, then ensure that there is no ice used in your drink.
4. Do not eat salad in any of the restaurants, its raw and washed in ordinary tap water, which is not at all safe for a westerner.
5. Carry 5 of re-hydration sachets, in case you have bad tummy. Which is very easy to have for a westerner.
6. Also, carry wonder pill called 'PudinHara', it works magic, in case of bad tummy or loosies. Its the best. I have tried it with my westerner friends and they love this wonder pill. carry your other medicines as well, you will not get your brands in India.
7. If you can carry a mosquito repellent then its really good. Otherwise, on your arrival you can buy Odomos mosquito repellent sold in India, best in India (I think).
8. Carry temple socks, you would not like to walk around bare footed on the sticky floors which have never been washed in some of the monuments.
9. Bring your own baby seat. No matter will say, if it is available in India, then someone should arrange in advance, I am sure you do not wish to invest your time in shop hunting for baby seats, these are NOT common in India. But its NOT mandatory in India. Its your own discretion.
10. Just do not eat 'chuttenies' (ask your husband about it, he will tell you) especially in southern India, raw salad; anything which is not cooked.
11. Do not dress up with short clothes, keep yourself decently covered. Now, its not that bad in India, earlier you just could not afford to wear any dress of the West. Now, one can see Indian girls wearing scanty clothes from the west.
12. Bring your own stuff like tampoons, sanitary napkins, baby diapers, etc.
13. No pre-cut fruit. Whatever you buy, wash it in running water very well and then give it a final wash with bottled water, otherwise, you are going to buy trouble very easily. Any water other than bottled one, is a big dangerous thing for western tummy.
14. Do not check your mail in cyber cafes (good ones may be used), avoid if possible, they can steal your passwords easily and then misuse it. Do not do any online transactions from cyber cafes.
15. carry brim hats. Wear cotton clothes of light colours. Carry plenty of sun lotion, which is of high power.
16. India has 220 volts of AC electricity. Carry chargers accordingly.
17. India has the cheapest cell phone network. Bring your own cell phone and you can buy a sim card in India, which is pre-paid card.
18. Carry hand sanitiser bottles (Purell etc.), give small ones to each child. Its a must.
19. You must bring a baby harness to carry your baby on your chest or back. It will make things very easy for you. Its worth bringing that and not baby seat.
20. Waist pouches to carry your passports and money. Pickpocketing is quite possible easily in India, while travelling or visiting monuments.
21. Easy shoes to walk around, while you are walking around on the floors of monuments.
22. carry a small umbrella for yourself, if you can not bear with the Sun, it will be quite harsh for a westerner.
23. Do not ever leave any valuables even in the best of the hotels, i.e. passport, credit cards, money, cameras, etc.

Most of the points have been covered by other contributors. If you still have anything in your mind, do not hesitate to write to me directly I have no selfish motive in attending you here, its shear spirit of a traveller, as I travel a lot in India and I know what is needed in India. So, do write and I will give you all the update about travel in India.

REMEMBER: You are coming to see India in its pristine state. It is not what New York or London look like. Here there is not much discipline on Indian roads, there is plenty of smell, people are very warm,