8 month old in Sept - how to tote around the parks?

[megrod74]

We are bringing our DD to WDW in Sept (hot!) and she will be 8 months old. I'm trying to figure out the easiest way to cart her around. We currently use a carseat in a Snap N Go as our stroller. But I don't think that would be the easiest to strap in and out of, or the best to leave unattended. We can rent a stroller from www.abbf.com. I also have a carrier I can use, but again I'm concerned about heat.

Please let me know what worked and didn't work for you.

 

[DISNEYFOS]

Hi There. I voted stroller. I took my DD when she was 8 mos in August a couple of years ago (very hot). She had outgrown her infant carseat @ 6 months, so I had a stroller that fully reclined for naps. We were even able to have a nice dinner at California Grill with her sleeping in her stroller next to the table.

I would just be afraid a carrier (like a bjorn, right?) would be a killer on your back with all the walking...

Hope that helps!! Have FUN!!!

 

[bartleby1]

Your little one will most likely have grown out of the infant seat by 8 months, plus they get very hot in those since air doesn't circulate well around them.

I vote for a stroller. By 8 months, she'll want to sit up and look around and she'll be getting heavy to carry in a carrier.

 

[penjen]

I voted for the stroller also. We took DS when he was 7 months. Make sure it is comfortable. If your baby is small you may want to bring the carrier too. I used this on the plane for he was a lap baby. Also there will also be A LOT of in and out of the stoller. This took a lot out of me
The carrier might be good during waiting in lines, shows and maybe rides? This is depending on the size of your child.

 

[amarberry]

I voted for a regular stroller, but I would also bring an Bjorn type carrier for the lines.

You mentioned renting a stroller from ABBF. Is there a reason you would take the money that you would use towards the rental and put it towards buying a stroller? You will probably need a regular stroller after your child grows out of the infant car seat and I can't imagine not having a stroller at the airport. For $100 you can usually find a decent lightweight stroller that is perfect for an older baby or toddler. We are Combi fans, but lots of people love the Maclarens.

 

[KimberlyC]

By carseat, I assume you mean an infant carrier carseat. By carrier, I assume you mean a Baby Bjorn or equivalent.

I think the carseat will not be an option at 8 months. If you read the manufacturers booklet you will see that most allow a maximum weight of 20 lbs (or thereabouts) and a maximum height of 26 or 28 inches. My infant carseat (Graco) was max 26 inches and even my DS (who weighed under 7 pounds at birth and was 20 inches) had hit the height limit at his 4 month doctor's appointment. Please check your carseat to see what the requirements are. I know 2 people who have knowingly kept their children in their infant carseats because it was more convenient to do. They believed it to be a pain to have to take their sleeping child out of a regular carseat (they would wake up) or to have to prop them with blankets in a shopping cart (so much more convenient to have the infant carrier). That is not safe IMHO and I make sure to tell my friends who are new moms about the limits just in case they didn't read the entire book and don't know.

DS also outgrew his Snuggly (front) carrier pretty quick. I never tried a carrier on my back and he would have been too big at 8 months for me to think about trying it.

So, as you may have guessed, I voted stroller. If you plan to travel a fair amount or you live in the city you may want to invest in a decent umbrella stroller that reclines for smaller babies, but will also fold up easily on buses. If you are driving, a full size stroller would work too. Honestly, you can buy a decent stroller for not a lot more than the cost to rent one and if you are flying, you will have it for the airport too.

 

[honey11dog]

I was wondering about this too. My baby will be 5 months old and unable to sit up. I was thinking about using just her stroller. But I have heard that some restaurants won't allow strollers. Then I would want to use her carrier that attaches to the stroller. That way I could detach it and use it for her to sleep in.

 

[megrod74]

Thanks, everyone!

Good point, Amarberry! I was just thinking that we will need the carseat and to have both seemed cumbersome.

My baby is small right now, percentage wise.

 

[las3888]

Our DS outgrew his car seat carrier probably around 4 mos. He was on the larger side at that age, but even if he could have still fit in it, it got way too heavy!

We took DS at 8.5 mos. Around 5 mos my DS was able to sit in a regular stroller okay, at 8 mos he was great in a regular stroller.

Our dilemma at the time was whether to take our heavy duty stroller or our lightweight stroller. We opted for the heavy duty stroller. It really was no problem--the only time you have to fold it up is when you go on trams to the parks.

We also took his convertible car seat with and bought a seat for him on the plane. Even if you had your DC as a lap child on the plane, you can still check the car seat at the airport (I wasn't sure if you were renting a car or not).

For this trip we are taking the lightweight combi as DS is 14 months.

 

[goofy4wdw2]

We are taking our 8 month old DD in 2 days! We're taking our Graco Metrolite stroller (which is our regular stroller), as well as a Hotsling carrier and Baby Bjorn carrier. The stroller will be for the airport, resort, and most of the parks. DH and I will alternate using the carriers for the lines and some parts of the park such as the Land in Epcot (no strollers allowed) and Fantasyland (in and out of the stroller and parking the stroller for each ride might be a pain).

Just an aside, DD still fits in her infant carrier carseat. Our Graco snugride goes to 20 pounds, 29 inches. DD is 16 pounds and 27 inches. She's petite, but we can still use it, and plan to on the plane.

Happy planning!

 

[grlpwrd]

I voted stroller, too.

Plus, if you're into babywearing I would go with a Bjorn carrier, sling, or mei tai just in case and to carry baby around, be closer to you at times, for baby to see things at eye level, and to be more portable.

 

[Bird-Mom]

I would go with a carrier or 2. My older dd went at 6 months and 13 months (September and May), and we wore her the whole time. I never used the carrier type car seats-went straight to a rear facing convertible-and neither of mine would ride in a stroller until they were over a year. She was a big girl too, about 20 pounds at 6 months and 24 at 13 months. We took turns wearing her and switched between a Baby Bjorn and a Maya Wrap.

 

[my4kids]

STROLLER DEFINATELY - I can't even imagine wearing a kid that long- plus I would think the baby would get hot and uncomfortable after a while. Fully reclining stroller with a canopy for shade. Plus it gives you a place to put your "stuff". Get one with a drink holder. The only problem would be if you were in a restaurant that you could not pull your stoller up to a table, but I think your baby will be able to sit up by then and would be able to be put in a highchair.

 

[megrod74]

BTW the carrier is a Storchenweige wrap ( a sling).

I guess I didn't realize how big she'd be by 8 months. She is currently 3 months and about 10 lbs.

 

[bw2003]

Definitely a stroller...we have the Combi Ultra Savvy that easily folds in 1/2 2x which was perfect and it has many different reclining positions and when we wanted her to take a nap we reclined her fully and the sunshade goes almost fully to the bar so it blocked out a lot of light. Also, if you aren't near a family restroom i liked changing her diaper right in the stroller since it fully reclined. Much easier to me. And my daughter also grew out of the height of the infant seat by 4 months also! I'm sure whatever you decide will work out.

 

[KimberlyC]

If you plan to put your DD in a high chair, I recommend a Floppy Seat. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Floppy Seat. $40 at babies r us. I started using it as soon as DS outgrew his infant carrier carseat. It worked in a high chair when DS was small and I still use it sometimes in shopping carts (because lets face it, those things are germy). It fits over most shopping carts (even the big ones at Costco). It goes over standard high chairs adding some padding so its more comfortable for infants and they don't slip. You can always put a blanket in with it to prop her up more if she not great at sitting on her own. Plus it folds up into its own carrying bag so its about the size of a basketball and not a big hassle to carry. I too have the Graco Metrolite regular stroller and it fit fine in the basket with plenty of room for other stuff. I don't think it would fit well into my Chicco umbrella stroller though. And I tested the Combi and Mac umbrellas and their baskets are equivalent so same thing.

 

[mdhkitten]

I recommend the Maclaren Quest! It's so awesome! I got it for my DD's first trip to WDW last year. She wasn't quite a year old and is small for her age, and I knew after researching that she would get "lost" in the park strollers. Not to mention, we were flying so wanted something to push her around in the airports and that would be easy to collapse at security and the gate. I had a big Graco, but knew that it wasn't something that I wanted to bring along because I've been to WDW 28 times and have seen too many parents miserable on buses with huge strollers. I love my Maclaren. Folding it is a dream, the seat reclines, it has a sun shade, and comes with a rain cover. The negatives would be that the shade isn't the biggest, but I hear that you can purchase a shade extender, and the basket isn't big either, but I hang her diaper bag on the back of the stroller, so it works. I basically just loves the fact that it's SO easy to fold, and is portable like an umbrella stroller, yet has the extras of a full size. You can get Maclarens off of certain sites and Ebay much cheaper than you can at the store, because they carry the 2004 and 2005 models. Maclaren changes the colors every year, thus the model "change". That seems to be the only difference in the years. Good luck!

 

[PortieOwner]

Regular stroller but bring a sling or other carrier, those work great when she isn't in the stroller.

 

[WAHMto5]

I always use a stroller and bring the carrier just in case. If you have a sling they are super light and easy to just fold up and put in your diaper bag!

 

[nancy drew]

we are bringing our kids, ds will be almost 8 months, in may. we plan on using a stroller and a carrier (mei hip and mei tai). the mei hip is a hip carrier that will be used when we are waiting in lines or basically any time that he needs to go in and out of the carrier. the mei tai will be for longer walks etc so we can put him on our backs, which is more comfy for us. so i recommend bringing a carrier and a stroller.

if you bring the storchenweige, you will probably just want to keep it on you or your husband and pop your baby in and out as needed. and if you find you dont need it all that much you can just store it in a stroller basket.

last year my dd, who was 15 months old, and i used the stroller and a ring sling. the stroller was for walking around the parks and the ring sling was for waiting in lines. i definitely needed both.