Am I crazy for considering this?

[Angel Ariel]

DH and I are expecting our first baby in mid-July 2012!! Originally (as my signature shows), we were planning on an extended-family trip to WDW in 2013 but we received some other news in our family this week that is making that trip quite unlikely for the extended family we were planning for.

In light of that new news, we were thinking about changing our trip to this October, so DC would be about 2.5-3 months old. The main reason we're considering this is because DH and I would love to go to the F&W festival and MNSSHP, and since I am currently not working (and considering my due date, not likely to land a full time teaching gig for fall 2012) we think we could actually make that trip happen. Once I start teaching again (hopefully full time in fall 2013), we wouldn't be able to take a vacation in Sept/October at all because I wouldn't be able to take the time off. Ideally my parents would be coming with us on this trip as well (if not DH's parents also).

I do plan to breastfeed, so I know I would have to plan to have pumped milk ready for when I did some tasting at the F&W festival and I would definitely make all the plans for that to happen (and I may have some more questions here if we go!). But as for the trip in general...am I crazy for even thinking about taking a child that young to WDW?

 

[SweetMissy]

I personally think it's much more easier and doable when you breastfeed, lol! Not sure about the whole pumping and storing thing at the disney but nursing itself will make the trip easier. My 1st was bottle fed and knowing what a hassle that is, I wouldn't even bother going to disney, lol. My son will be 4 months old for our trip next month and even with our daughter, it was/is so easy to just pop the kid on the ****, lol. I work part time and pump at work, so I could see how that would make things a little more difficult on vacation. I'm sure someone here can give advice on that. There's a breastfeeding thread on here you can search for too....I'm sure you can get help there too. Congrats and good luck!

 

[Angel Ariel]

Oh I would plan on breastfeeding for most of the trip - I'm sorry if I didn't make that clear! Any pumped milk that I brought or pumped there would be just for whatever day I sampled the alcoholic offerings at the F&W festival and in the event that DH and I spent an evening on our own (not likely, but possible). After the small amt of research I did tonight, I would probably look into taking some refrigerated milk (never frozen) down with us and if I brought the pump, it would be mainly intended as a backup - in case something happened with the milk we brought down, or it was necessary for some reason.

I've read a lot on the forums here about how easy it is to take an infant to WDW. Even 1 month ago I wouldn't have thought about taking a 2-3 month old to WDW (DC was going to be about 9 months by our originally planned trip time). I'm just afraid of overlooking something when thinking it all through!

 

[Cant wait for Disney]

no i dont think it's crazy at all! I'm planning on taking our newest addition in the fall when they will be about 4 months and we took DS when he was 10 months and it was awesome. He was nursing and it was easy to find quiet spots to do it in and he wasnt walking so he loved just sitting in the stroller or being in the carrier. I think the same would be for your 2-3 month old. They will still be sleeping so much you can just wear them and let them snooze! You wont have to worry about solid food or nap times at the hotel or bedtimes even (well i didnt when ds was that small anyway!). I think it's a great age to go!

 

[deuceswild10]

I don't think you're crazy! I actually think this would be a pretty good age to go.

My kids were sleeping through the night then, and taking around 3 naps a day, so that would be a bonus. Plus, at that age, most likely, sleeping in the stroller won't be an issue.

My kids breastfed 5 times a day at that age, every three hours. But, it wouldn't be much trouble at all to find a bench and feed the baby, so I wouldn't worry about that.

As far as pumping, I *hated* pumping, so I would easily forgo the wine so that I didn't have to pump. But, only you can know how you'll feel about it when the time comes.

As far as a night out, my kids were in bed at 6pm, so I could nurse for the final time for the day, and then head out for date night!

Congrats to you and your DH!!

 

[AshleeH]

I would rather go with a newborn than an older baby any day of the week! A newborn is stationary, but after a few months, the baby will want down to crawl or walk and won't understand why he/she can't get their way in certain situations.

 

[annachevalier]

I think it is definately doable! Taking a newborn would be easy peasy!!! ENJOY! Plus it's perfect weather time!

 

[mjkacmom]

I would've been fine with #1, #3, and #4. However, it would've been a nightmare with #2 (cried constantly his first year, such a fussy baby, reflux), and #5 (had colic at that time, and screamed from midnight - 4 am daily).

 

[Angel Ariel]

I would've been fine with #1, #3, and #4. However, it would've been a nightmare with #2 (cried constantly his first year, such a fussy baby, reflux), and #5 (had colic at that time, and screamed from midnight - 4 am daily).

That's one of my biggest concerns...planning the trip before the birth and not knowing what kind of baby we'll have (easy, crying, etc)...not to mention having no idea how DH and I are going to adjust since it's our first.

Is it feasible to wait until after the birth to plan? We'd stay at Shades of Green...and I would think they wouldn't get too full given that it's an off season time. Would we even be able to get dining reservations if we waited til September to book? I don't think we'd bother with a character meal or anything at this point, but we do love some of the more popular restaurants (like Le cellier). Between my parents and us we would probably want one sit down meal/day for us (and we'd probably be there for 5 days).

in '07 I planned a trip for DH and I in December, and that we planned about 2 months out as DH was returning from a deployment and we needed to be sure of dates before booking...but I feel like mid December (we were there the 13-19) is a slower time than October. Or is it about the same?

 

[ilovebassets]

I would've been fine with #1, #3, and #4. However, it would've been a nightmare with #2 (cried constantly his first year, such a fussy baby, reflux), and #5 (had colic at that time, and screamed from midnight - 4 am daily).

As much as I don't want to be the debbie downer here, I've got to agree with this. Until the baby is born, you just don't know. Many children that age are still having colic issues and/or are still up 3-4 times a night and only sleeping 1-2 hours at a time. I know you also plan to breastfeeed and hopefully that will work well for you, too, but many a first time mom who swore up and down that they would breastfeed on demand for a full year and never use formula don't find it quite as easy as they thought they would.

Maybe you will have an easy baby that is sleeping through the night then and maybe breastfeeding will be a piece of cake for you. But in my opinion, those are pretty big expectations for any mom and newborn, let alone a first time mom who has yet to sucessfully breastfeed before. Are you driving or flying? If you're driving, you can always just wait and see how things go after the baby comes.

I'm not against taking babies to the world. We went with our five month old and had a great time. But at 2.5-3 months, it honestly would have been awful for us.

 

[Angel Ariel]

We could drive, but we would definitely prefer to fly as it would be a very long drive to get there. We'd also be driving by ourselves (DH and I) as I can pretty much guarantee my parents would fly down regardless.

As I said earlier - I don't want to overlook anything, so I appreciate views from all sides. I absolutely know that I have no clue what it'll be like and won't until the baby is born. I've also had very close friends have an extremely difficult time breastfeeding, so I understand that POV as well. I don't really have any expectations for how this is all going to go...I know enough to know that I'm flying completely blind

Honestly, I would be more comfortable waiting to officially book everything until after the baby is born and we have an idea of how everything is going - I just want to make sure it'll be possible to book then, kwim? DH and I have done Disneyland on a week's notice before, but never WDW with less than 2 months.

 

[labst60]

We took our first to WDW (2.5 hour flight - met my DH down there so I flew alone with her) the day she turned 3 months.

By then - I **NEEDED** a vacation!

It was an awesome trip - traveling with a newborn breastfed baby is so easy- and it will really be your last chance in a long time to do something like that - because once they become mobile and get their own opinions - that's when life *really* starts to change!

As far as pumping for FW festival - completely doable - but honestly, I highly doubt you'll want to when the time comes. So far, I've logged in about 5 years breastfeeding and have only done that on **very** rare occassion. It's just such a pain in the butt to have more than a glass of wine with a baby.

For one - you have to pump in advance - then someone (who is probably tired from too much wine) has to feed the baby the bottle AND you have to pump again to dump (when you'd rather be sleeping or just breastfeeding the baby and getting back to sleep!) It's just way to much of a hassle and the drinks are usually just *not* worth the extra effort when you are sleep-deprived as it is. So... one - two drinks (over the night, not in an hour!) has always been my limit and I've never had trouble bf after that.

So, I wouldn't stress out too much of the logistics of that. It is completely doable - but I bet when the time comes, you'll be happy to walk around, eat, enjoy your baby and one glass of your favorite adult beverage!

ETA; Just read all the above responses and my advice is still GO and don't worry about anything! Right now, you don't know what your baby is like - but by 3 months, you really will have gotten into a groove. Even if you are having trouble bf (and that happened to me w/ 2 of my girls), you will be well-established by 3 months! Go and have a great time - it's such a fun time go out and enjoy it- I promise you won't be sorry!

 

[SmallWorld71]

I would've been fine with #1, #3, and #4. However, it would've been a nightmare with #2 (cried constantly his first year, such a fussy baby, reflux), and #5 (had colic at that time, and screamed from midnight - 4 am daily).

As this poster points out, you really won't know until baby is born.

DS12 was an EASY baby. Took a trip to FL with him at 2 months old; piece of cake.
DD8 on the other hand, was a colicky baby and screamed for the better part of the first 4 months of her life! I can still feel the stress from that!Once that was all over, she became easy to travel with.
DS16 (my step-son) was a projectile vomiter and would randomly spew across the room in his infancy. Don't think guests would have appreciated that.

Also, while I do applaud your saying that you will breastfeed and do hope that you are successful, there are no guarantees with that either. I was able to successfully breastfeed DS and DD each to about a year and I will agree that it made traveling much easier. But, DS16's mom tried to breastfeed him but couldn't because of his vomiting and had to use special formula. It's not that she couldn't physically do it, she nursed her daughter until age 2, but because of the babies medical needs.

So, you will PROBABLY be good to go. But, do be aware that there are no guarantees.

 

[chekhovgirl]

It's hard to say since you haven't gone through it yet and you don't know the personality of your baby. Can you wait to book? We took our son to Sesame Place at around that same age- in July!- and it was fine. He slept most of the time. I felt a bit bad for him because he was really just confined to the stroller, but that's because it was so hot/sunny and he was so young. He's also our second child.

As for the breastfeeding issue- I hope I'm not flamed for this because I think other seasoned bfing moms will agree- unless you have a huge intake of alcohol I really wouldn't worry about pumping. Too much of a hassle. Good luck with everything. The first six weeks or so of bfing can be really rough, but once you get through that it is usually pretty easy!

 

[BNM]

I have never brought an infant to wdw but I do have a lot of experience traveling with breastfed infants...brought first DS to the lake by myself when he was 3 mo old to see my grandparents. He was a difficult baby with respect to sleeping but I would nurse him and back to sleep he would go. Both my kids have been on beach vacations as infants. I never bothered with pump and dump. The milk is secreted on demand, it's not stored in your breasts like a gas pump. So you should be ok to have a drink right after feeding the baby. That will give you a couple hours to metabolize the alcohol. Unless you're noticeably drunk AS you are breast feeding it should not be a problem. If you are worried they sell alcohol test strips for breastmilk at drugstores.

I prefer that age for trave, actually. They sleep a lot, love noisy restaurants (soothing), and are very portable. You can do whatever you want, they have no particular agenda.....

 

[msmama]

I know you are most likely planning the perfect birth - all Moms do, but what if that doesnt happen? I ended up with an "urgent" c-section, many complications, and really, wasnt healed for a long time. I got the official all clear to return to normal from the doc at10 weeks post partum but there is NO WAY I could have done DW at that time.

Add a rough baby' too, and it probably wouldn't be a fun trip.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I know you are most likely planning the perfect birth - all Moms do, but what if that doesnt happen? I ended up with an "urgent" c-section, many complications, and really, wasnt healed for a long time. I got the official all clear to return to normal from the doc at10 weeks post partum but there is NO WAY I could have done DW at that time.

Add a rough baby' too, and it probably wouldn't be a fun trip.

Actually, I'm not planning on the perfect birth. I have absolutely no clue what birth will be like or how well it go (or not go), and I know that. As I stated earlier in the thread, I know that I am completely flying blind. While I know I used the wording "plan" earlier in the thread, I'm not actually really planning or counting on anything. There are some things, like breastfeeding, that I know I want to do, but I also know that I can't count on any of it being easy and that it may be extremely difficult and may not even be possible.

As I also stated earlier in this thread, I want to - and am going to - wait until after the birth to book this trip. Specifically because of all of the unknowns. If the baby or I turn out to not be in a place to handle WDW, I would never book the trip.

I do apologize if this comes across as defensive - I truly don't mean it to be. I just want to clarify that just because I'm asking questions about going and how to plan for it should we be in a position to go, that doesn't mean I'm expecting the entire pregnancy and birth process to be picture perfect. Obviously I hope the birth and such will all go well, as I would think every mother does, but I do understand that there is only so much I can control and that there are very real likelihoods that some thing(s) may not go as I hope.

I was just hoping this thread would provide (and it has, so thank you!) insight from others who have BTDT about what things I should think about/consider should this trip happen since I won't have a lot of time to plan the trip. I am definitely bookmarking this thread so that if we do plan the trip, I can revisit all of the excellent pumping/colic/test strip advice before we leave. If anyone else has any advice about WDW with an infant, I would definitely appreciate it.

 

[Lolie]

I have a 5.5 month old and just booked our first vacation for when she'll be 8.5 months old. I've been dying for a vacation since before I got pregnant. Only this week do I feel ready to travel with her in a few months, but not even quite yet. Since I've just been through the 2.5-5 month stage, I'll give you my personal RECENT first-hand opinions.

Months 2.5-5 were the worst months I've been through. She's on breastmilk only, but I was so desperate for sleep at 2.5 months that I started pumping to give bottles for 5 of her 6 meals (still nursing once/day) in order to get her full enough to sleep through the night. If I wasn't giving her big 5-6oz bottles 5x/day and just let her nurse, she would "snack" and then would eat every 2-3 hours all night too. Pumping is a PITA!! Takes longer to pump than nurse, you have to have all the equipment, you have to CLEAN the equipment, you have to store the milk (OH, storing the milk would be so much effort)! If you think your baby could be breastfed exclusively, don't plan to pump just so you can drink wine. It's not worth the effort. At around the 5 month mark she suddenly started getting full off nursing, and now I only pump occasionally to work on my supply.

My baby is a spit-upper. I go through about 10 burp cloths per day - tons of stinky laundry. She is constantly soaked, I am constantly soaked, and when I carry her around it, without fail, splats on the floor. The stinky sour burp cloths, the projectile vomit, the wet feeling on myself - ugh! Can't wait for her to outgrow it soon.

Don't pump & dump! Check out LLL about alcohol and breastfeeding. As long as you aren't feeling the effects, you can nurse. When alcohol is out of your bloodstream, it is out of your milk. You don't have to do anything to get alcohol out of your bloodstream, it just takes time. Same with milk. So if you nurse the baby, then have a glass of wine or 2, there's no way that by 3 hours later the alcohol would be in your milk. I actually even think LLL doesn't even worry about wine at all unless you get buzzed off it. But if you do get drunk, just don't pump (because that would be pointless and wasteful), wait until you're sober and it's out of your system.

Best of luck, I think it would be fun if your baby doesn't spit up and if your baby will let you sleep more than 2 hour increments. And pump & dump is so last decade!

 

[AZMermaid]

I would've been fine with #1, #3, and #4. However, it would've been a nightmare with #2 (cried constantly his first year, such a fussy baby, reflux), and #5 (had colic at that time, and screamed from midnight - 4 am daily).

I totally agree with this. My son had colic and it was hell. I honestly think we would have been kicked out of a hotel if we had stayed in one during those months. He screamed like someone was pulling off his arms from 3-14 weeks and there was not a thing we could do about it. I am pregnant with #2 and I am so worried and I totally don't get how people can say newborns are a piece of cake. Hopefully, I'll get it one day!

But a lot of people go with 3 month olds and say it is easy. As long as you don't book or can get a refund when the baby is 6 weeks-ish, I think you could plan on going. My son was difficult from day 2 and by 4 weeks, we knew it was colic. Fussiness gets better around 6 weeks, so that is why I would wait until then to make firm plans.