Infant Products available by Country old

BORNEO
CAMBODIA
INDONESIA
MALAYSIA
THAILAND
VIETNAM

In each country we visit I keep a log of the infant/toddler products that are easily available. In every case these are products that can be bought in the smaller high street stores in a town/city, rather than from larger out-of-town supermarkets.

Please note that nappy bags/sacks are NOT available in any smaller stores across SE Asia. The only bags we found were in an expat shop in Kuala Lumpur, but they were very expensive. Stock up on nappy bags before you leave and ration them for the use of smelly nappies. If you use an average of two bags per day it’s feasible to carry enough bags for your entire trip.

BORNEO, MALAYSIA:

Milk powder:
Milk powder can be bought in tins, boxes or bags and are easily available across all of the towns we visited in Borneo. There is plenty to choose from but be aware that many of the brands come in different flavours (honey, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla are amongst some of the varieties), and it’s not always clear on first glance.

I tried the following:

• Dugro – 350g @ RM14 (circa USD 3.4)
• Dutch lady – 500g @ RM13 (circa USD 3.2)
• Fernleaf – 550g @ RM12.75 (circa USD 3.1)

Not only was Fernleaf the best value, I also found it to be the better brand as it has reduced sugar content. Many of the other local brands tasted extremely sweet compared to UK products.

Nappies:
I found the nappies in Borneo to be of poor quality. They come in different pack sizes from a small travel 4 pack up to a large pack of 60. There are numerous brands to choose from but I chose to use the following:

• Drypers – 34 nappies @ RM17 (circa USD 4.1)
• Huggies – 20 nappies @ RM 16 (circa USD 3.9)

Both of the above brands had poor absorbancy and had to be changed regularly to avoid nappy rash.  Drypers had terrible sticky pads that once opened could not be re-afixed.

Baby wipes:
Surprisingly there is no choice of baby wipes. I found one brand that came in two sizes – standard or pocket:

• Annaku alcohol free baby wipes – 30 per packet (pocket-size) @ RM2 (circa USD 0.2)

Medical supplies:
We found plenty if stores stocking baby medical supplies. Although not familiar products we found many reputable companies producing similar solutions to ones in the UK. We bought a Panadol based solution for ‘The boys’ teething which worked as effectively as Calpol:

• (GSK) Panadol suspension for aged 1-6 (60ml) @ RM7 – (circa USD 1.7)

CAMBODIA:

General:
We followed the main tourist routes in Cambodia, therefore standard baby products such as nappies, milk powder and baby wipes were available, although the choice was not as vast as other countries in Asia. Based on the fact that the majority of babies in Cambodia, apart from those from very wealthy families, wear nappies, I suspect it would be very hard to buy supplies in the smaller towns. I would advise you to stock up when you can.

A bit of advice on costs:
In the larger stores (we went to Lucky supermarket in Phnom Penh) all items are priced and tend to be cheaper than the smaller shops. Be wary when buying products in independents, as often the items are not priced and the store workers will try and charge you what they think they can get away with. In Siem Reap, one store was trying to charge us USD4.50 for a packet of baby wipes, when they should have cost USD1.20! Use the prices below as a guide.

Milk Powder:
We only tried one baby powder, as it was the same brand that we had used previously in Thailand:

• Dumex, Dupro milk powder 6 month – 24 month formula 800g @ USD9.00 – USD10.00
• Dumex, Dupro milk powder 6 month – 24 month formula 500g @ USD 5.00

Nappies/Diapers:
Familiar brands include Mamy Poko, Pampers and Huggies along with local brands and some very expensive Japanese imports. We were happy to see Pampers again but were very disappointed with the quality of the Cambodian variant. They are not the same quality as the UK or other Asian Pampers and are very thin, not very absorbent, with a plastic feel to them. On realising how different the same brand can be in a different country we opted to try Huggies again and found them the best option in terms of comfort and budget. Mamy Poko is seen as the premium brand here and is priced to reflect this (see below).

• Mamy Poko pull up boy/girl pants – 52 pack @ USD 21.00
• Mamy Poko pull up boy/girl pants – 20 pack @ USD 10.00
• Pampers – 30 pack @ USD 7.00
• Huggies – 28 pack @ USD 6.00

Baby Wipes:
There are many brands to choose from and most brands come in both standard and small packs:

• Mamy Poko wipes standard size – 80 wipes @ USD 1.2
• Baby one Khan out standard size – 80 wipes @ USD 1.25

INDONESIA:

Milk Powder:
As with Borneo there are plenty of milk brands to choose from. The chemists tend to sell milk supplements in tins, but these are considerably more expensive than the brands that you can buy in the supermarkets or local stores.

Both my baby and I were happy with the first brand I tried and we were able to buy this across all of Java and Bali, regardless of the size of the town.

• SGM– 600g @ Rp42,000 (circa USD 3.2)

SGM comes is boxed and can be bought in different sizes and to suit different age ranges. I bought the formula to suit babies aged 6-18 months. As per the varieties in Malaysia, they do come in various flavours; so don’t make the mistake of picking up a chocolate flavour milk powder.

Nappies/Diapers:
I was extremely pleased to find Pampers available across Java and Bali. Similarly to the Western market these come in packs ranging from 8 nappies, up to 60. I found the mid sized pack suited us best as it easily fitted into our rucksack. They’re more expensive than the local brands but are identical to those found in the UK. They’re soft, highly absorbent and easy to reseal.

• Pampers – 16 nappies @ Rp38,000 (circa USD 3.00)

Baby wipes:
There’s a huge number of brands to choose from each with their own range of products, such as chamomile, fresh, alcohol free, mild etc.

They come in two sizes, standard (as per the Western wipes) and pocket-sized.
I used the following and found them all to be adequate:

• Huggies baby wipes – 30 per packet (standard size) @ Rp12,000 (circa USD 1)
• Mamy Poko wipes – 30 x per packet (standard size) @ Rp 9,900 (circa USD 0.8)

Medical supplies:
The chemists stock a wide range of medical supplies suitable for your baby, but these tend to be local branded products. Beware when purchasing as many chemists in tourist locations will try and sell you the most expensive product when a similar product is available at less than half the price.

MALAYSIA:

Milk Powder:
Identical brands available as per Borneo. Again I chose to use Fernleaf.

• Fernleaf – 550g @ RM12.75 (circa USD 3.1)

Nappies/Diapers:
Identical brands available as per Borneo.

• Drypers – 34 nappies @ RM17 (circa USD 4.1)
• Huggies – 20 nappies @ RM 16 (circa USD 3.9)

Baby Wipes:
A much larger range of wipes were available in mainland Malaysia.  I used the following with no problems:

• BB Star wipe (Aloe vera) – 30 per packet (standard size x 2 packets) @ RM8 (circa USD 1.95)

Medical supplies:
The range of products available in mainland Malaysia was far greater than that of Borneo. I found brands such as Bonjela (teething gel) available in most high street chemists.

I also bought a product similar to Savlon (antiseptic cream for cuts and grazes):

• Burnol plus – antiseptic cream @ RM7 (circa USD 2.00)

Sun cream:

• Nivea kids and Banana boat kids suncream is widely available @ RM40 – RM45 (circa USD 10-11)