hi all,
Ours is a family of 3 and we are landing in toronto in may. We have a daughter who is 22 months.

1)I have already have a baby book with her birth details issued by the hospital and the pediatrician has signed and stamped her vaccination schedule page (all vaccinations have been promptly given). Besides this do I have to obtain a separate vaccination certificate?

2)Many posts mention about getting presciptions from here. Is there some sort of format for this? Do i have to ask the doc to mention the sickness (here docs mostly write the medicines not the sickness)?

3)How do i go about getting my daughter car seatbelt trained?? i believe it is very important in canada. (we dont have a car now).

4)Any tips on travelling with child during the flight? (we are taking Lufthansa)

Thanks in advance.

Vaccinations from the indian doctor is enough. Actually the indian doc's give what is required and more than in Canada. Just get it stamped by your doctor in india.
Medicines have to be bought through prescriptions only (excepting the Over the counter for minor stuff like cough and fever). Prescription medicines are costly.
No need for the child to be car seat trained. The child will learn on its own. You can request a taxi with an infant seat at the airport. Most drivers will take the child in without infant seat (though it is illegal). Once you are settled here you can buy a infant seat with a pram and which you can take in the bus, taxi or train. You will need 2 people to sometimes carry it through the stairs. You can request a by stander if needed.
Taking the child on a flight is no big deal. Inform your travel agent that you need a bassinet (he will know when you booked for the child but confirm with him again). Try to feed or make the baby sleep during take off / landing. Note that during take off/ landing the child will have to sit on your lap and will have a child seat belt , belted to your seat belt.
The airplane staff can only warm up the bottle for you so take sufficient water/ bottles for the entire trip. in our case we took 8 feeding bottles filled with water and 2flasks of boiled water. it is not hygenic/ possible to clean/ sterlise the bottles during the trip as most places donot have the facility. When we used Air France, most of the air hostess were very rude and offered no help but warming up the bottles. Maybe lufthansa has better facilities.
TK
Sidenote : Please donot bring any pictures which show your child or any child in birthday dress. It can create problems during landing customs process. Also is your child Diaper Trained? You need to keep the child in Diapers when outside your home and never undress your child outside except in the baby's room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

TK has already given most of the answers and just to add to the tips on traveling with child.
Children tend to get restless especially in long haul flights. So carry lots colours & comic books to keep the child occupied.
They often get ear pain due to pressure difference mainly noticed when landing. So have some hard candies in hand and give it towards landing time. While chewing them it will reduce the ear pain.

Best of luck on your journey.

thanx a lot tamilkuravan and jonny2006. that was very useful info. my daughter never used bottles (doc's advice), so i thought i will take some food like idli, dosa, some curd rice atleast for the first half of the trip. As for diapers, she is almost toilet trained and i hope to have her completely trained before we leave. As for ur sidenote, i really would have not have thought about it coz in India ppl will not even throw a second look at such an instance.

My husband and I are now madly preparing for the trip and we have a hundred questions. I found this site really useful and appreciate the fact that people took time off to prepare lists on what can/cannot be brought to Canada. Yesterday I mentioned all the stuff I read here and at the end of it he asked me " So what is cheap in Canada?" !!

Another question. My daughter will be 2 in a couple of months. In India we have play schools for children from that age. Are there similar schools for children in Canada? At what age do they start KG school?

Hi TK,
I don't have Vaccination record with me and currently I am in USA.I have an option to get Vaccination record from US doctor by paying $160 per person while doing medical but just wondering if I can get Vaccination record from India and just do medical here.

Regards

Ram

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Desi Lion

Ram.
I assume that the vaccination is for your child.
Vaccination is required in Canada only for the purpose of admission into school/ day care and for nothing else. For the general health of the baby , you need to get the baby vaccinated , irrespective where you are and at the correct time for the wellness of the baby.
You can of course innoculate the baby in India. You will need to get the doctor's seal and letter that he innocolutaed the baby with thespecific vaccination for it to be valid in Canada. A doctor in Canada, will recogonise that and enter it into the vaccination card at Canada and put his seal. He will take the original innoculation details of the baby in India / elsewhere as proof.
In case you are migrating to Ontario, you have 3 months to wait for free medicals to take place. If you wait for 3 months , then the doctor will put all the FREE vaccinations available in Ontario for the baby , irrespective of the age , provided that the vaccination can be given at the present age.
also BCG vaccination is required for the baby in India but it not required/ exist in Canada. So you might want to give BCG injection to the baby while in India.
Also if a baby goes to India, you need to innoculate it against Hepatitis-A. This is not FREE in ontario. So you need to give this injection as soon as you land in India from USA/Canada.
And Ram, there is no need for any vaccination records for adults!
Hope this helps you.
TK

-----------------------------------------------------------------
I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

TK : I have vaccination details for baby but not for me and receptionist at one doctor's office told me its required for adult as well.
Thank you for vaccination information.I will ask about BCG during my visit to India.

Ram

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Desi Lion