We are in india only and for young and adult we use only canned water. There is not other go.

Wow! Too many questions... I understand your concern, but there are kids who live in india - hale and healthy :) Which part of india are you from? Have you lived/visited chennai before? How about your kids - in this 3 years have they come to chennai or is this their first visit? You know why i am asking this? You get everything in chennai - whatever you get in other countries - us or europe. Name a product - you'll get it in nuts and spices, naidu hall, maya plaza etc. You just have to pay the equivalent rupees instead of dollars/euro/pounds. First of all be prepared to face the fact that "the kids will fall sick". They are too young to have developed immunity to chennai weather and pollution. But they will be alright. Don't worry much. There are air conditioners for summer and warm cloths for winter. Don't expose your kids too much to the surroundings especially in the initial few days or weeks. Then slowly take them out and they'll gain immunity. Food - if its home cooked food, it should be fine. You get all gerber products here if that is your concern. Milk - i guess you can get the pasturized milk here also (i havent checked that yet!). But just boil the milk and store it in fridge and you can microwave it for the same 30 secs whenever you want to feed your children. Water - as anjali has said you can go for canned water. You can install honey drops, aqua guard etc. If you are even more worried, just boil the drinking water and give it to your children. Vaccines - Check out a good pediatrician in your area. There is a vaccine schedule in chennaimoms home page itself if you want to consult about it with your pediatrician in US. I gave my child a vaccine in 2 yrs and after that its only in 5 yrs. So you need not worry about the vaccines for 2 more yrs! And who told you about this strong polio vaccines and all? I don't believe it. For your information, if you go to good doctors/hospitals (like apollo, SMF etc), they will give you imported vaccines if you are that concerned. The cost of these vaccines will meet the dollars you spend there though. Just show the pediatrician your vaccine card and tell them that you want imported ones and they'll take care. Come to India with a positive thought and you'll be fine. Feel free to ask anything and I would be happy to answer (if I know the answer!).

Hi Barmee, I came to india from us with 2 months old baby last December. The transition for kids to the new place will be slow but ultimately they will get used to it. Few tips that would help you... While you are coming, pack few things for the kids that you've been using there - even the soap, medicines (like mylicon) etc. You will get everything here, but it'll take some time for you to know the shops and buy them. After you come back, check for few things and then buy (for eg, i check for 100% cotton materials for babies as we do get cotton-mixed dresses for babies here). Similarly i give aavin milk (3% fat) for my kids. You can check for the other options like arokya etc to match with the whole milk you get there. If you are not satified, try suppliments like junior horlicks, pediasure etc. Hope it helps.

Hi Barmee, I understand you are the real "Desi Mom" Hey! No offence here ok! Welcome to India. Welcome to Chennai! BTW, Chennai is the Health Capital of India, just incase you need that tag line. Dont worry so much Barmee. The paediatric dept. of Chennai boasts world renowned child care consultants. You must also know that the Medical Tourism in the Southern States of India is flourishing. Thanks to the Open Policies by the Govt, as also the you get the best of health care here. Barmee, if you give you kid our Chennai water, immunity will go up. Dont worry so much. Its just a few months and everything will fall into place. I hope coming to India is not a compulsion for you, that too you having a toddler at home. Obama is back right! Indians are quite concerned whether they will be sent back. Dont worry! you are getting back to the sanctum sanctorum. Just think that way. Its better to love here than a place, where uncertainity persists. Barmee, as the NewAge mom has rightly said, come here, enjoy and get accustomed. If you need a Vaccine Chart (thanks to this blessing of the internet) yo! its here in these pages, you need a Paed, yo! again you cud find it with the click of a button. Anjali has rightly said that we all use a water can. The question we get in our minds is : CAN water? I guess thats INDIA. Nothing to fret, Nothing to be scared of! Welcome here! Kutty

dear anjali, newagemom, bhraman, kutty: I cannot thank you enough for your support and tips..i will definitely keep in mind when i move there.. i'm not moving out of complusion to india, its me and my hubby who is making plans to move to india mainly becos i don't want my kids to suffer from changing places when grown up especially the edcuation part, we want a lay a strong foundation in a fixed place for my kids to get use to it and know things better...b/w india and usa we thought education wise india is better ...also when a kid survives in india..in future it will get use to any place to adapt itself , be it education, be it people or culture or weather. So i have strongly detemined to join my kids in indian education from their lkg itself not disturbing them in the middle of their education.. friends: btw, canned water means u mean the bottled water right..like bislari and aquafina...pl. confirm that, becos in india i don't know what canned water means.. for newagemom: I'm from tamilnadu, tamil speaking girl, only visited chennai few times especially when i came to india and return to usa for airport uses..did few shoppings there...with kids when they were 1.5 years old came and they became sick in the airport and had avery hard time in the flight and after coming to usa also till they got well ....really don't know how chennai will be for living..becos not experienced atall... but will get use to it...i hope..if my kids are healthy and comfortable..i'm too...that's all...thanks a lot and lot for all your information and support.. regards barmee

Don't worry children falling sick will happen wherever in the world they are. As Bavani said expose them slowly as I definitely agree, global warming has its impact in Chennai in terms of increasing temperature with population. Carry few important things that ur children are used to and slowly make them understand that they will not get the same milk product here. Aavin milk is the best milk to the best of my knowledge. You can start with blue packet and slowly move to higher fat milk if you feel so.You don't have to use m/w in chennai as you have gas facility and the temp also would help food to cook faster. So make it fresh and adopt what your mom used to do for you.

Paedodontists are available there. Don't have to worry. Name any specialist they are there. No worries.

In terms of polio oral vaccine, developed countries have injectable vaccine and developing countries have oral vaccine. You can schedule visit to a doctor next day u reach chennai and clarify all your doubts.

They will get immunity as days progresses. Come home happily and with great contention of coming back to the land of your own. This will discard all your worries. all the very best

What are these questions... be aware that u are not the first and only family moving from US. There are so many other kids who were born and brought up in US and went back to India. And they are healthy.

Ofcourse there will be some minor problems during the initial transition days... but ur doubts are out of the range!

My son of age 5 's urine is always surrounded by ants. Is he diabetic? Bcoz my father and grandparents are diabetic. I'm not. Please help me.

If your son is otherwise fine, Urine surrounded by ants is no indication that someone is diabetic , this is quite a common feature, but because diabetes runs in families so whenever you visit your paediatrician next do discuss your family history with him so that he/she  can keep a watch.

Greetings Doctor,

Hi Natalia,

No 2 kids are same so u cannot compare him with your daughter, From what you have written, doesn’t looks like there is a problem, some kids start speaking late, so if his understanding of things and hearing is all right,don’t worry, just continue talking to him, reading to him and otherwise stimulating him and just relax and enjoy your babies!