3-4 month old or 10-11 month old at WDW? Which age do you recommend?l

[sheboz]

Our third child is due January11 2014. We cant wait to meet him! I am Canadian and I get a year maternity leave. When would be a good time to go to WDW? When the baby is 3-4 months or 10-11 months? I will be breast feeding so no bottles necessary. Is it practical to "wear" my baby at such a young age on some of the rides? What is your experience? If you were in our shoes what age would you bring to WDW? TIA

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

Personally, I would do 3-4 month old. They aren't mobile yet and a little easier to wear and go on rides with. My daughter was walking at 9 months and I would have had a harder time with her there in those first couple months of activity!

 

[khibs]

We took our little boy in May when he was 10 months old and he was totally amazed by it all. I never expected him to love it quite so much but he couldn't get enough, and in return he got loads of attention from the characters! We are going back in 8 weeks and I'm hoping he is just as excited this time too! His reaction to the characters was truly magical!

 

[sheboz]

Personally, I would do 3-4 month old. They aren't mobile yet and a little easier to wear and go on rides with. My daughter was walking at 9 months and I would have had a harder time with her there in those first couple months of activity!

We watched all of your videos last night, the kids thought they were great!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

We watched all of your videos last night, the kids thought they were great!

Oh really! Too funny...that was with my first video camera. Now I am a professional videographer and they make me cringe a little quality wise, ha! I am SO looking forward to my trips next year so I ca make some new ones!

 

[sheboz]

I forgot to mention that we are staying fifteen minutes off site.

 

[timandjanl]

I'm not sure you can say just yet. I think it depends on the kid. If it were my first I would have been fine taking him at 3-4 months. But my second is another story. He hates to be in a car seat or stroller and is easily distracted so he won't sleep when we're out. With him I wouldn't think about taking him at all at 3-4 months but probably would at 10-11.

 

[justhat]

I've done both with my older 2 and I vote 10-11 months. They actually enjoy the sights and attractions at that age, whereas 3-4 months they're just along for the ride. Plus 3-4 months, they sleep a lot, so you're either stuck with one sitting out with a stroller, or if you wear them (which I did), sometimes a loud or jerky attraction wakes them up so you're still stuck waiting. By 10 months they usually have set nap times that you can work around.

 

[DSNY4ever]

10 months hands down. At 3-4 months my son was still nursing a LOT and he was such a slow nurser that I would have to sit there for an hour. My whole vacation would have been spent nursing! But he was sleeping all day at that age- which was easy. At least at 10 months he was nursing a little less and a little faster and was more aware and would have a little fun and could still be carried etc. but still young enough that they are just at the "go with the flow" stage still. Plus at 10 months you won't be waking up at night to feed anymore so if you are all in a hotel room together that will make for less noise and better sleep Either way, you can have fun.

 

[cgerdon02]

We are going next month with an 11 month old. I can't wait to see his reaction to everything! He is not walking yet so that makes things easier.

 

[dsneygirl]

I'm not sure you can say just yet. I think it depends on the kid. If it were my first I would have been fine taking him at 3-4 months. But my second is another story. He hates to be in a car seat or stroller and is easily distracted so he won't sleep when we're out. With him I wouldn't think about taking him at all at 3-4 months but probably would at 10-11.

yes, we took my DS at 3, 5 and 10 months but he was the easiest baby ever. I would not have wanted to travel with a high needs infant. If you book make sure it is refundable.

 

[Grendalynn]

All depends...

Do you want a baby that will sleep through most everything and have little interaction with what is going on? Diaper bags, bottles, feeding schedule...

OR - a child that is more in tune with what is going on. Loving all the lights and sounds, watching all the parades and all the excitement - they would be more a part of the vacation. Yes mobile and wanting to walk and run and touch everything, but isn't that what is most fun??

We took our youngest at about 7+ months and he he had a BLAST!! He loved Winnie the Pooh and to see his face light up at Crystal Palace and the Meet & Greets, point and say "Pooh!" in his sweet little voice was the best!! The Rider Swap was super helpful for our 2 older boys and DH and I. No one felt like they missed out on anything and it was an awesome and magical overall experience!! I am looking at the picture right now remembering how much fun he/we had!

My vote is to wait until they are 10+ months....

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I say old enough you don't need a diaper bag and stroller.

 

[corneredbycorn]

10-11. Their sleep is better then, they have good head control, still nap a lot, will be more aware of their surroundings, etc..

 

[Lilliputian]

4 months isn't a *bad* time to take a baby (as long as it's not a baby who cries all the time and doesn't sleep well), but 10-11 months is a WONDERFUL time to take a baby.

The weather in October and November is wonderful, and the crowds are low most of those weeks. A 10 month old will really enjoy a lot of the rides but not be so demanding as to make you have to schedule around the child as much as you might have to with an older toddler. You won't need to nurse a 10 month old as often or for as long, and he'll probably be able to nurse discreetly wherever you want to do it.

A lot of 3-4 month old babies would be easy to take to WDW, but you just don't know what kind of a baby you're going to get. If it's a baby with colic, you might not have as much fun. Nursing should be pretty easy by then, but some babies that age like to have nursing sessions that are 20-30 minutes, which means it would be hard to just do a quick feeding during a 3D movie or a ride on the People Mover. I've gone with a 5 month old, and we had a blast, but we planned the trip when he was about 3 months old after we knew what we'd likely be getting into. Plus he was my 5th baby, which is easier than your first.

 

[sheboz]

I appreciate your responses. As I mentioned we are staying off property so I think we will make two reservations. I guess we'll just have to meet our little blessing and then decide. Any tips would be great!

 

[SweetMissy]

When we went last year our little one was 4 months old....he was so easy! I was somewhat nervous beforehand but he was easier than the 2 older ones, lol. Yes you can wear the baby on most every ride...I did and never had any problems. I know another poster mentioned wasting a lot of time sitting and nursing...our 1st night there, I mastered wearing him while nursing. Never did I sit and nurse, unless we were eating. It's one thing I worried about, having to sit somewhere and make us all wait but, no I wasn't letting that happen, lol. Worked out great! I think either age would be fairly easy, but I would go the younger age because a 10 month old is a little more mobile (crawling and whatnot). My little one was content in the beco 99% of the time, nursing or on hubby's lap during a show. A 10 month old not so much I'm guessing, plus at that age, he/she is doing solids which is another thing to deal with. So IMO, 4 months is better.

 

[Paigesmom2013]

We just took our 4 month old and I would vote for 10 month old. She was fine in the parks. I held her on my lap on rides bc it was too hot and she was too heavy to wear. But in the room we had no place to put her since she can't sit up. We flew so no bumbo or bouncy seat. And it was hard to bathe her with no baby tub. Plus a 10 month old can eat some solids and hold their own bottle. Then at dinner we had to keep her in the infant seat bc she couldn't sit in a highchair.

 

[msmama]

I don't think *I* could have handled Disney with a baby at 3/4 months. I ended up with a c-section and complications and then had my gall bladder out. When my son was that age, I was still running on fumes.

By 9-10 months, even though we still weren't sleeping through the night, I could handle a trip. His first trip was at 10 months. He was walking at the time so we had to find out of the way areas for him to toddle around. But it was great. In fact, they've gotten progressively harder as he gets older I think. They start to talk and have opinions and stuff.

Enjoy your little one!

 

[irky416]

We took our almost 4 month old in July and had a great time! She was very into everything around her and intrigued by the characters.

We wore her most of the time and she rode in the stroller occasionally. We stayed offsite and shoved a boppy into a suitcase so we would have somewhere for her to be propped up on at the house. We didn't mind not being able to use a high chair because she just sat on one of our laps while we were eating. Even at home, we had to hold her while we were eating or she would cry, so it was nothing out of the ordinary for us at Disney.

ETA: For baths, one of us just got in the tub with her and it was super easy to do it that way.

We had a great time and would do it again. We're taking her back for her first birthday in March. I'm so excited! I'd be happy to answer any questions.