Baby Nappies and Formula

Hi,

Pampers are easily found in the supermarkets such as Nakumatt.  I think that they might be imported from the middle east, but are the same product, if a bit more pricey than the UK.

Aptamil (and some others) is also available, but is horrendously costly.  We bought 'Nan', which is a Nestle formula and is somewhat cheaper.  We used boiled tap water to mix the formula - am not too keen on bottled water (in plastic bottles) as some of the chemicals from the plastic leach into the water.

We brought up our granddaughter here, from a baby and found that we needed a significantly larger budget for formula milk and nappies than in the UK.  Feeding her on 'Nan' hasn't done her any harm and we got her toilet trained by about 2 years!

Baby clothes, toys etc also tend to be expensive.  We tended to stock up on clothes and shoes, when we visited the UK, buying several sizes at a time from the likes of Asda.  Strongly suggest that this is really the way to go.  In Kenya 'One Way' does some nice T-shirts etc at fairly reasonable prices.

Regarding malaria;  our granddaughter has never taken anti-malarial drugs and has never had malaria either (in fact that goes for all of us).  You can't really take antimalarials for an extended period of time anyway.  The best thing is to buy a mosquito net for your sons bed, close windows and doors at dusk and make sure that he wears long sleeves if out after dark. 

Nairobi has a relatively low incidence of malaria, due to altitude, anyway.

There are some good paediatricians in Nairobi and a good childrens hospital (St Gertrudes).  The usual childhood vaccines are available.  However, you will have to pay for consultations, vaccinations and any medication.  Doctors here tend to be rather heavy handed with antibiotics, so watch out for that.

Health insurance is strongly recommended, as hospital admissions can be very costly.

Hello,

You can get here Pampers, Huggies and other brands of nappies in all the shops. From Pampers they sell mostly the ones produced in Egypt, but you can also find ones produced in Poland (which i suppose also produces for UK) in one supermarket called Game.
Formulas - unfortunately I have  no information.
Malaria - vaccine is not existing against malaria, neither for adults nor for kids. There is a medicine for prevention (i don't know if it is for adults and/or kids, too), which one can take before going to very high risk areas, but it is not recommended to take for very long. Anyway Nairobi is above 1600m, so the malaria mosquitoes are not here, no risk in Nairobi at all.

Don't worry you will like it here.

Hope it helps,
Barbara


Hi I have a 6 month old son and I will be coming to Nairobi in December this year. I am coming from the UK and wanted to know where can I buy Pampers nappies in Kenya also are they made in the UK or what do most of you other mumsuse for your babies.? Secondly when using formula milk do you get Aptamil and also what kind of water do you use to make the formula?

As for malaria I have been told my son is too young to take any vaccines appropriate for Kenya right now and am worried about malaria.  Any advice? What are the best baby shops to go to as we'll in Kenya to buy things?

Look forward to your responses.

"malaria mosquitoes are not here, no risk in Nairobi at all."

That's not actually correct, Barbara.  There is a risk of contracting malaria in Nairobi, but it is lower that other areas, such as the shores of Lake Victoria, or the coast, which is why I suggested the use of a mosquito net.

As for vaccinations, none are mandatory for Kenya, but the usual childhood vaccinations should not be overlooked.

Hi and welcome to Nairobi.
For the Aptamil formula and good quality diapers you can check www.diapercentralkenya.co.ke