Tokyo, Japan with 10 Month Old

When you travel abroad, to a foreign country, you also need to make sure vaccinations are on par, and meets protocols. Also, this is "Flu Season."
Here in Hawaii where I live, the Flu has already hit.
Be careful of a 10 month old getting sick, especially in a foreign country... you want to make sure your medical coverage is fine, and in babies this young, their immune system is not even fully developed. It takes 2 years for a child's immune system to fully develop. So I would take this into consideration.

We once traveled to France during this time of year... it was very cold and I got very very sick, and got asthma attacks. It was miserable. Luckily, my Hubby found a Doctor for me, who was opened on a SUNDAY of all days. My Hubby speaks French, so he could assure me that the Doctor was "good." If not, if my Hubby was not bilingual, we would have been up a creek. And then we had to search around for a pharmacy to fill my prescription. It took half a day just to find one. Not fun. It really put a damper on our trip. I nearly ended up in the hospital.

Ditto what Julia M. said.

5 days is such a short time... and in light of the expense, unless you have the funds, it's a lot of money just for airfare for just 5 days, for you, baby and your Mom.

Take care,
Susan

Hi J.:
Well, I have to assume,by the lack of responses,that either no one has traveled to Japan with their baby,or they all think you've lost it,and they don't want to tell you. lol. All kidding aside....Your talking alot of hours in the air and a Drastic time change. The trip you speak of is rough for grown adults.It takes a few days just to recoup from the jet lag,and adjust to the time change. Your baby will probably begin adjusting,about the same time your ready to return. The way I see it is,unless you have an emergency in the family,and have no one to care for your son,your not doing him any favors by taking him out of his comfortable enviroment,and dragging him across the world. He certainly will not be comfortable,or have the freedom to move around. He's far to young to ever have a memory of the trip,so its not like hes going to (miss out on the sights)I've always felt it unfair, to expect a small child to cope and be on his best behavior,when put in a difficult,or impossible situation.I'm talking about taking them to a nice eatery,and expecting them to have the patience and manners of an adult.Parents will complain,that their child embarassed them,by being loud or dropping food. Parents make the mistake of setting their expectations to high. All this does is create frustration and disapointment for them and the child,builds up fears that,no matter how hard they try to please,or live up to those expectations they will never be quite good enough.If you really were looking forward to this trip,I'd go.However, I wouldn't put him through such a trip.I would leave with A family member whom I trusted,and Enjoy your free time away.I wish you and your darlin son the best. J.

Hi J.-
About 15 years ago, when I was single and without kids, I lived in Japan for about a year and LOVED it! The people were amazing!!!! (i could go on....)
I lived about 4 hours North of Tokyo, but did go to the city a few times.
My experience back then was that it was a very busy city with a lot of people!!!
I think you have gotten some good advice. If you can stay longer than 5 days it might be a could idea and you wouldn't feel so rushed and/or jet lagged.
I would recommend using a sling, baby bjorn,hipster, or backpack for the baby if you are planning on being out and about touring, I'm not so sure if I would want to deal with the stoller with all those people and the crowded sidewalks and trains.
In terms of traveling with infants vs. toddlers, I think there are pros and cons to both. Infants are definately much more portable-you just need to pack more stuff.
I am looking forward to introducing my husband and boys to Japan, the country I so fell in love with, but for them, they will have to wait a few more years.(they are 14 months and 4yr).(I personally would not make that trip with a toddler).
Whatever you decide-Good luck!
L.

Hi J.! I'm always up for an adventure - if I could afford it, I would go! When we had our first child, we took her all over the place. It helped that I worked for the airlines. Now that we have baby #2, (and I no longer work for the airlines) we just don't have the time or money for travel like we used to. I did find that the younger my daughter was, the easier it was to fly with her. Once children are mobile, they don't like to be confined as much. If your son has handled the overseas traveling before, go for it. If you feel like you would not have a great time or that his sleep schedule would really be compromised, then obviously it would be best not to go. I know your son won't remember the trip, but I really think the more we expose our children to life, the better equipped they are to handle it. Good luck in whatever you decide! I would love to have your dilemma :)

Hi J....
We didnt go to Japan, We went to Italy... looooong flight, he was 9 months at a time, just started crawling, very mobile.. we decided to take the red-eye, but for some reason that didnt work for us... he was too excited and out of 15 hours on the plane, slept for only 5, 6 hours.... we went for 3 weeks, and that was great, because it took him about 5-7 days to get used to the day-night switch and not wake up at 2 am every night... so i do think that one week will not be enough, just because by the time he gets used to it to enjoy it, you'll have to go back... However, when we did get back, it took 2 days to get him back to his own schedule.. so that was good... make sure to pack a loooot of stuff (food, diapers, snacks and clothing) into your diaper bag... They lost our luggage for a week, so we had to buy everything... he was on baby food/nursed, so thank god i had the boob... he didnt want italian baby food, refused anything but the boob... we had no clothes, had to buy diapers and onesees, and we only had a bjorn to carry him, the stroller was also lost.... anyway, we didnt have a great experience (he did get sick once he got there, too much crawling)... but we went back a year later, and you live and you learn, and it was much better... since then, we've been to Hawaii, Mexico, different states, no problem... going again this upcomming summer... i just think whatever could go wrong with that particular trip, did... but just pack a lot, bring a lot of snacks... babies are very portable... and they adopt to change much easier.. i know that now, he's almost 3... and i'm having another, so i think with this one, we wont be as paranoid and as crazy and much more easy going...
anyway, i think you should go, just be prepared, take a lot with you (he had his own suitcase, probably bigger then mine).. and make sure to bring lots of cheerios... and if you can stay longer, do...