Traveling with Bio Child?

We were advised not to bring our other child.Depending on where you are adopting the living conditions can be less than what you or your child are used too.The food can be much different and what if your child gets sick. Many people have taken there children and it worked out fine. The one-to-one bonding time for my husband and I and our new child was wonderful, we did not need to divide our time between children. A much older child would be somewhat different, they would remember the experience and understand what is going on. Check with your agency and then talk with others that have went before you,

I really think it depends on a lot of factors. Where are you going? What is the expected amount of time you will be there? How adaptable is your daughter to new routines, food, bathing, products etc? How do you all feel about long flights? The biggest question might be how well prepared are you and your husband to jump in, roll with the punches and deal with stressful situations? When you are travelling for international adoption one of the biggest things is that you are away from your support system at home during an emotional roller coaster ride. Would it help or hinder to have your daughter along with you?

I think it really depends on the country you will be traveling to, where and how long you will be staying, and your child's temperment. My bio son traveled with us to Guatemala twice and it was a great experience. He was 5 at the time so a little older.

We have not chosen a country yet, and are actually just in the beginning stages. She does very well with routine changes surprisingly. Neither my husband not I have a typical 9-5 job, so change has been her only constant. Also, since we are just beginning, she will be older by the time said traveling will occur. I do think the one on one time would be beneficial though. I'm torn, but I suppose we have a while to figure it out. And by then she might just rather stay with her grandparents anyway.

Hi, since you are just starting out I wouldn't make a decision, either way until much further down the road. One thing that I will mention (my own personal opinion, of course) is that if you are adopting a child from an orphanage you want to begin a strict routine right away. Routine is all that child will know and it makes them comfortable and allows them to figure out what is coming up next. If your daily routine is going to include your daughter, include her from the beginning. Sometimes, a routine is the only familiar thing to a newly adopted child. Let them have that until they feel comfortable with other things, such as being with Mommy and Daddy, before any more abrupt changes. During our stay abroad we went out for walks at specific times of day - just like we would at home with our dogs. It may seem silly but it seemed to work.