Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Industrial Strength]

Hi,

We just found out recently that my wife is due this summer, and we were wondering if there are any tips, advice that someone might be able to pass along about from their experience in Korea. Neither of us is Korean by the way.

We already have a clinic and doctor here that we hope is pretty good. We are really looking for more info concerning where to buy a baby bed, pram and such. We have been to Emart, Carre Four and the like, but haven't found anything very suitable. For example, it seems difficult to find something other than a stroller for older children, while we are looking for a deeper pram for newborns.

Thanks,
IS

PS. If you need me to be more specific, just let me know.

[fidel]

For a stroller I recommend getting a COMBI. Expensive as hell but if you shop around a bit you'll find them on special. Shop around at the baby stores you find all over Seoul (if that's where you are) you'll find all the clothes, gear you need. Outside major maternity hospitals people are usually handing out flyers for baby stuff like cots etc. Some baby stores from memory include Peter Rabbit, Agabang, Mom & Mom, . Try places like Hyundai department store or Bears town in Bundang. WHile expensive their merchandise is good quality. Samsung plaza in Bundang also has a lots of baby stuff for sale, we got our car seat there.
If you plan on using formula I recommend Ildong, New Class. The milk is sourced from NZ so it's gotta be good for you!

To be honest with you it's not the best country in the world to have a baby and you are better off heading back home. Things are done differently over here and it's definitely not a cheap exercise. If you do stay over here you will need to purchase a car unless you want to put your childs life in the hands of a taxi driver or brave the subways. A car also affords you privacy as Koreans have the tendency to fawn over your baby when out in public. They also have no qualms about touching your baby, something that really made me angry at times.

[peppergirl]

Congratulations!

Many people seem to buy stuff online, I'm sure some other posters (or Korean friends) could help you with the web addresses.

If you look around there should be lots of small baby shops around the area, such as Friendly Baby etc.

Prams don't seem to be so popular here, at least not the sturdy 3-wheelers that they have in Europe... just looking into how we can get a good one from Europe to Korea (baby due in July).

Good luck!

PS There is a baby fair in COEX till tomorrow, don't know if you live far from Seoul? We went today, LOTS and LOTS of people though... just quickly went through it and picked up pamphlets. But they did have some decent (4-wheeled) prams (Evenflo, Bebeconfort etc)
http://www.babyfair.org/eindex.htm

[Industrial Strength]

Thanks for the info peppergirl and fidel.

We aren't far from Seoul and might get up to COEX for the fair tomorrow.
It's good to know that we can get most things here with a bit of extra effort. I guess Seoul is the place to go though for the goods.

We've got a car already, so that's taken care of. No more taxis for us hopefully.

Thanks for the tip on the formula fidel. We were wondering about that too.

Peppergirl, we just came back from Europe and wanted to bring a combi pram with us, but the airline weight restriction was a problem. We only had 20 kilos with KLM.
Many congratulations to you too. My wife is due in August.

If anything else comes to mind, please pass it along.
IS

[chi-chi]

mods you may delete

[tzechuk]

Now it depends on whether you want to spend a lot of money or not.

I bought a lot of brand new stuff from auction at a much lower price.

If you can read hangul, you can go to www.bb.co.kr and look for what you want and compare prices.

I wouldn't bother buying in supermarket or department store - buying online is quick, cheaper and they deliver it and you don't need to get out at all!

Having said that, I am told Costco is very good - I don't personally go to Costco, but worth a try.

Congratulations, anyway.

[tzechuk]

[tzechuk]

[Industrial Strength]

Beautiful girl tzechuk!

Thanks for the advice. We have insurance and are not too worried about the cost. We've discussed it with our doctor here already and it doesn't seem too bad. At home we wouldn't pay anything, but we can't get home this summer due to baby's arrival.

We will definitely check out the website. Delivery sounds like a good option. I'd rather not tackle the Seoul traffic, especially if it is cheaper online. We've got some friends who can help us out with Korean.

BTW, we were at COSTCO a couple days ago, and they didn't have anything worth buying except for maybe diapers.

The baby sling sounds like a good idea for when we go into the city, but a pram would be nice to have where we live. It's a surprisely good place for taking walks and being outside.

Anyone know of any other websites for baby gear?
Thanks again,
IS

[tzechuk]

Thanks:D

Hope all goes well. Feel free to ask questions if you have any

[jaganath69]

[tzechuk]

I think 2-3m?

[Industrial Strength]

Our doctor told us that from beginning to end, with all the tests included and delivery, it would be around 1.5 million. Not too bad. 1.5 million more than we would pay back home, but it doesn't break the bank. The average cost for delivery in the USA is around $4-5,000. A cesarean delivery can easily double that.
IS

BTW, good website for baby cots www.okbaby.co.kr

[Ody]

the cost of having our son in NYC (before insurance) was 21,000.00. that's 6k out of our pocket and up-front for prenatal care, then take 70% (insurance coverage) off the remainder. the total still exceeds our expenses having our daughter in Seoul (highish for here at 3mil won, with insurance) by a mile.

props to tzechuk for such useful advice about buying stuff.

[kelly]

About having the baby without insurance, well before my little guy was born I was worried about the cost and was told that it was going to be about 2-3million. I was totally surprized after he was born to get a bill of 1.2 million, that was from the international clinic in Cha medical center, the service was fantastic and that price included a private room which was alone 290,000 so the delivery really only cost 900,000 and as I said that was without any insurance at all. Along with having a beautiful baby boy, and getting a bill half of what I expected, it turned out to be a real nice Christmas gift