Congratulations on your trip—Mongolia is a wonderful place to visit.


If you are traveling with a baby, I’d suggest sticking close to Ulaanbaatar, which is the capital. There are two major hospitals there—the Second State Hospital, which is a general hospital, and the Mother and Child Hospital, which is a children’s hospital. These are respectable hospitals. However, be prepared to fly to Beijing for proper medical care if anything serious should happen to your child’s health.


Along the same lines, make sure to bring your own antibiotics, diaper rash medication, and hydration salts. It is imperative to have hydration salts on hand—traveler’s diarrhea is rampant. Consult with your doctor about other medications you may need to bring.


As for food—you can purchase groceries in a large store called Ikh Delgur in the capital, but I cannot remember specific types of baby food or formula. I would keep in mind, though, that Mongolia receives much of its imports from China; in light of recent news events, I would suggest bringing your own formula.


A final thought: from my experience, the most amazing part of Mongolia is in the countryside. The experience of staying in a Mongolian family’s Ger, hiking the mountains, and riding a Mongolian horse across the incredible landscape cultivated my fondest memories. If you can find a way to leave your child with family in Amsterdam and take advantage of rural Mongolia to the fullest, I would suggest doing that, instead.

I would not take a 1-yr old baby to Mongolia. Outside of the city, you would be many hours drive (jeep/train) from stores to get food and water, vehicles and homes may not be heated, there is often no running water. If you must take the baby, go in July or August, stay in UlaanBaatar, and always have enough food and water for the three of you. Don’t count on finding any familiar baby food/formula/medecines in the city. Being in the countryside in Mongolia in the winter is like being dropped on the moon, but colder. It is no place for a baby. A Mongolian vacation is for the pysically fit who want to be outdoors and do pysical things. Don’t forget that it can be extremely cold. It’s not the same as being cold in a European country, because there, you can always go in. In Mongolia, ‘in’ may be a tent, or an unheated old Russian Jeep. I would take a child to deepest Africa before taking a child to Mongolia.

I was in Mongolia 8 years ago so things may have changed a bit since then. We went horse riding and all food was provided for us. It is highly unlikely that you will find European brands there. I would be hesitant to take a baby or even a young child. If you are in a remote area it will be difficult to get to medical care and the roads are not very good. You need to be prepared to deal with basic emergencies – we had a doctor accompanying our group. It is a beautiful country and part of the appeal is the remoteness once you leave Ulaanbataar. In summer the days are very hot. You would need protective clothing (long sleeves, hat & good sunscreen) if you are going to be exposed to sun. The nights are chilly so you also need to be prepared for that if you are camping. Like someone else suggest – if you have family or friends that can look after your baby it will give you a lot more freedom and less stress to get the most out of your trip.

I would suggest being near Ulaanbaatar. Don’t worry, its also possible to feel the nature and experience ger also not going very far! For example, we stayed in very good gers (and ok standard toilets in separate building, if I remember right, they had also heaters for water and excellent shower) just 1,5h drive from capital. I’m a mother for my 1year old boy, and that’s a place in Mongolia where I would go, spend some days walking around, going to locals, watching yaks etc. Just try to get the best vehicle ever to go there, preferably trusted driver, who would go as slow as possible to avoid jumping on bumpy roads. at that camping place it was also possible to horse ride for short time, so you can experience also this one by one. And one more thing, I really doubt if they ever use baby car seats.
The few asphalt roads in the country are ok, so consider going only where they are, and will be fine.
Everything about food is said by others, take your own formula or bottled food.
And don’t get scared too much, even if you see just a little bit of this wonderful country, its worth going :)