taking very young children

[a jay]

what is the youngest age anyone has ever taken their child or gone with someone who has a very young baby. If anyone out their has done this please let me know what is was like. Just come back and thinking of going with friends who are due to have a baby they were thinking of going when the baby was 4 or 6 months. I said it might be better at 8 but never been with a baby this young so im after some info. There were plenty of young babies on our flight this year and although it looked like hard work it lokked doable especislly if there are enough hands to help with seat sharing. Any help would be great.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Took Joshua when he was 10 months old, whilst he was fine and we have some great memories really he was a bit too young. He didn't settle on the flight at all due to the pressure I suppose on his little ears.

Took our own stroller with sun shade & parasol so the heat wasn't really a problem and took packets of baby food too.

Kind of a contradiction because we did have a good time, but 4-6 months that is very young for such a long flight.

 

[Elise79]

We took Chloe at 9months.

We were really pleased with taking her at that age. The week out there was a great help to her development. We also 'knew' her well enough that coping with the flight and time difference were no problem.

She did have a skycot on the flight but only just fit in it. She as happy to nap in my arms too.

She was eating more solid food which made life easier. We bought some baby food out there but also bought her some childrens meals in the parks and sometimes she shared with us.

Chloe was almost walking but was very happy to sit in the stroller and people watch!

We had a great time and would do it again in a heartbeat. I am glad that we didn't take her any younger as I think it would have been harder work.

 

[babystar]

Our DD was about 8 months when we first took her and I would not hesitate in doing it again or even a younger age.

The flight was fine, we got a sky cot but Niamh was far more interested in playing with the tvs and the goodys that I had packed.

The baby care centers in the parks are brilliant. They are airconditioned and have areas to feed your baby in private with soft rocking chairs (these private areas are women only). There is another room with high chairs to feed kids and also clean spacious baby changing areas.

The colours and atmosphere are fantastic for a young baby! And children tend to cope with the heat so much better than adults (or so my health visitor told me)

It is a fab age for the parents also because after a little while longer children dont give you chance to sit and have a coffee people watching for as long as you want!!

 

[orangetiggs]

we are taking our twins next year and they will be 8/9 months old, I dont see a problem with taking them at a young age, my parents flew with me from very young and we took my sister at 11 months old

There were 6 infants on our flight yesterday and they were all fine, the worst kids were the older ones say 8/9 year olds!

 

[wifey]

We took our DS just before he turned one year old in the November of 2000 he loved it ( he had been walking from 8 months old!! ) He was no bother on the plane as we took a few toys from his stock at home and some basic baby books, colouring books and crayons and biscuits and of course formula and a couple of jars of food for the flight and a favourite blanket and the nappy bag (well stocked up) and his own buggy because he was used to it and it was adjustable for getting around the parks. He cut his first 4 teeth that week but we still had fun and he got to celebrate his birthday in WDW He loved meeting the characters never whined or fussed , he loved toddling about the parks and got out of the buggy from time to time to see what was going on but we did try to go at his pace too. He did get to sit on my hip and watch the parade as folks kept stepping in front of the buggy We all loved to see the Osborne Lights at the MVMCP and he was in awe of the parades and the fireworks until he fell asleep luckily his buggy reclined so we continued to enjoy the parks if he needed a nap. Kids under the age of three are free so they don't need park tickets and we only paid a minimum fee for him on the flights as he sat on my lap strapped in of course with a special seat belt which linked through mine. |Meal times were a little tricky but we coped DH ate his food first then DS sat on his knees while I ate what I could from my meal it was tricky as DS wanted to try the food but it was far too hot for him to eat We too have some great photos and I love to look back at them from time to time and appreciate how much he's grown and still loves going to WDW and having fun.
He's way more outgoing in WDW than he ever is at home even at the age of two when we were able to take him again he danced and sang while waiting to enter the parks and entertained the other guests in the queues it was funny and he got some smiles from everyone on that trip and some big hugs from Chip and Dale. He's a lucky boy and had 5 holidays there so far and loved each and every one of them and we know he's probably going to want more from the other parks in the future but it's been fun and we have so many great memories and photos from past years to keep us going back this time just once more for his last "kid" visit. He'll be an adult price for everything in future
Go and enjoy the days with the kids because they don't stay little for long and try to get the most fun and great memories from your visits. There's no better place to have a family vacation for us and many others like us so just savour every moment of happiness and I hope your plans come together to make a truly magical holiday.

 

[expatcat]

We took our daughter when she was 3 months old (our older was 3 years). It was wonderful, the CMs couldn't do enough for us and were very helpful, everyone made a fuss of the baby!

I think we were confident about doing it as we had taken our older child to Australia when he was 3 months old - if you can do 22 hours on a plane you can certainly do 9! You can tell I like to make the most of my maternity leave!

We stayed at POR and had the QSDP which made getting meals for us easy. The baby care stations in all the parks are great for feeding and changing nappies. You have to accept that one of you will miss certain things like parades, rides etc. if these coincide with feeding/changing the baby but I still got to see and do loads.

We liked it so much we are going back next summer when they will be 1 and 5!

 

[wifey]

That's a great thing about the child swap you don't have to miss out just tell the CM in the queue that you want to do it one of you gets to ride first while the other one waits with the child/children. Once the first person has got back they can take over looking after the child/children and the other person can ride it's great You can get into the single rider line and it takes less time to queue too. No missing out if you really want to ride and you still have someone watching the little ones.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We took Little 'un for his first trip at 3 months to Florida.
I have kept a record of his flights and now at the age of seven he has 158,676 miles under his belt!

You have to take precautions, we had a three in one Bebe Confort stroller/pram unit and made sure he was shaded from the sun.
You cannot be "full on" WDW with a child this age, rather choose to go in the mornings before the heat of teh day, then back for naps during the hot periods

No problem whatsoever on the flights.

 

[a jay]

thankyou so much this has been a great help. do babies have any baggage allowance? if you take your own pram/pushchair do you have to allow for it in your own baggage allow or does it go into the hold free?

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

No-passenger without a paid seat gets a luggage allowance, but they do allow you to carry the pushchair

i.e Virgin:-

Infants not entitled to a seat are entitled to one piece of checked baggage weighing no more than 10 kg and with dimensions of 9 x 14 x 22 ins. They are also entitled to one piece of hand luggage weighing no more than 6kg. This is over and above the buggy or bassinet or car seat, which are carried free of charge.