another question about newborns in Disney

[justhat]

For everyone who replied that they took a newborn to Disney on the similarly titled thread, how did you get there? We're going in May and June and our baby is due March 12. We already had the trips planned and he/she was a surprise, but we've decided to go ahead with our plans and just bring the baby. We'll be flying out of NJ both times, May with my mom and the baby, and June with my then husband and the baby. We're a little nervous about flying with such a young infant-has anyone done this, or did you drive?

May is a trip for the girls in my bridal party, sort of a bachelorette party, so I'm not too worried about bringing the baby since I'll have the 6 women in my bridal party, my mom, and my aunt there to help out. Plus we'll also have a 6 month old with us so I won't be the only one having to stop for feedings and changing.

The June trip, though, is our honeymoon and we've also booked a 4 night Disney Wonder cruise, in addition to a week at the GF 1st, then 3 nights at AKL after the cruise. We're wondering if we should bring the baby, or leave him with my mom for those 4 nights. I know he won't be allowed unless he's 12 weeks old, so if he's late it might not be an issue (cruise is June 13), but has anyone every taken an infant on a cruise? We're afraid that we won't know if he's seasick or something like that and we don't want him to be miserable the whole trip. We're considering taking my mom with us for the whole 2 weeks so that we can actually spend part of our honeymoon alone, so since the cruise is in the middle, leaving them at WDW would be pretty easy.

What are some opinions on this? Is flying okay for a new baby? Will he be okay exposed to all those people in Disney?

 

[EthansMom]

I flew with my son when he was 10 weeks. He slept most of the time on the cross-country flight and was an absolute doll for the flight.

The biggest problem with flying with an infant is the recirculated air in the plane -- if baby is still quite young, he/she won't have enough immune system to fight off any germs circulating through the cabin.

Also, don't forget to deal with the ear pressure from takeoffs or landings. Giving baby a pacifier just before and during takeoffs and landings can help alleviate this. Or try feeding during that time -- it's the jaw movement that helps pop his/her ears. My son did come back from our trip with an ear infection and we suspected it may have been from the ear pressure of flying on the trip home.

Travelling with an infant is nothing short of a logistics nightmare. You won't believe how much stuff one little baby needs on a daily basis. I could never fathom how my son could go through 5 outfits in a day as a newborn. Not to mention the 10 diapers.

I highly recommend getting baby his/her own seat on the plane. You'll be able to relax and the baby is much safer in case of turbulance -- you just take the carseat and strap it into the baby's seat on the plane. Infant seats are often half price on the airlines.

For the honeymoon -- I don't know if you'll be like me, but I still can't leave my son with anyone other than DH for an overnight. Maybe I'm too overprotective. But you may find that once the baby is here, you won't want to part with him/her. Could you delay your honeymoon for a few weeks to make sure baby will be old enough? Also, taking a relative who gets a connecting room would be a good way to give you and DH a little space. The other problem with taking baby on a cruise is that you really should have a passport if you're going anywhere outside the U.S., so baby would need a passport or at a minimum a certified birth certificate.

Another idea that you might not like, but I thought I would mention -- Have you thought of moving the wedding up to November so that you could honeymoon before the baby is here and while you can still travel by plane? Just a thought...

Best of Luck,

EthansMom

 

[house_of_princesses]

The only thing I have to say about this is, if you do bring the little one PlEaSe keep him/her out of the sun!! It just galls me, the way some keep that precious skin and those eyes baking away all day! Especially a newborn. They just don't belong in direct sunlight!

That said, have fun! and congratulations on what is going to be a few months of major adjustments!

 

[justhat]

Thanks! Well, we would have moved our wedding except that everything has been booked now for 18 months and we'd lose a fortune on cancellations and would never be able to rebook the reception site, photographer, etc. Plus we have to go to marriage classes and those aren't till November, so the earliest we could do it would be December, but my dress won't be in till March, etc. So it's just too confusing to change it now so it has to stay in June. We also can't make it any later because my fiancé is in his 2nd year of medical school, so he has to take the board exams 2 days before the wedding and he starts his year-round rotations on June 30th, which means no more breaks for us, since he doesn't even get every weekend off, and the ones he does are not planned in advance. So we've got to be back in DC by June 25, and the wedding is in NJ on June 5, so we'll be away the 6-20, then we'll be packing up and driving back down here.

So because we're sort of on a tight schedule, we've decided to just continue with our plans. house_of_princesses, we will keep the baby out of the sun. If not for the fact that I think it's terrible, especially since they can't use sunblock that young, my mother tells strangers to put their baby in the shade, so I can only imagine what she'd say about her 1st grandchild. That's also partially why we want to bring her with us, so that the baby's not out during the hottest parts of the day. I know I'd trust him with my mom, at least right now, but never with a stranger or really any babysitter, so by bringing her we can get a few breaks.

EthansMom, when you flew with your son at 10 weeks, did his dr mention what the youngest age he should fly was? We've heard from friends that they were told it was 8 weeks, which cuts it close to our May trip. We do plan on getting him a seat on both trips since he'll be so little, but I do worry about germs, both on the plane and once we get there.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[mcnuss]

Well, congratulations on both counts, baby & wedding! I cannot help you with tips on taking the baby to Disney, but I did fly with DD at 10 weeks, and for my pedi, that was the earliest she'd allow. I think a little of the problem here will be that babies are notoriously unpredictable, and so yours could be older or younger for your trip depending on when s/he makes his/her entrance.

If DCL is ok with the baby's age, and since you'll need to pick your pedi several months in advance (and if nobody has told you that yet, it's true! You don't want to wait too long, bc it can be hard to find a good one sometimes...) you'll be able to ask what their practice's recommendations are.

As for seasickness and the baby, I think I remember that they really don't suffer from it, so don't worry about that. In terms of exposing him/her to a lot of people, I was always careful about people touching my DD was she was little, but other than that, did not worry at all about germs.

Do you have travel insurance? If not, please get it. I think your plans are great, but as you've really learned "life happens" and you should be protected in case something gets in the way of your plans.

Enjoy your wedding planning, your pregnancy (it's an awesome time!) and your trip.

Allison

 

[lovesdumbo]

My neice flew with her DD at about 6-7 weeks without a car seat (EEEEK-not something I would ever do) but she used a baby sling and said it really helped to keep people from touching the baby. You might want to consider that for the airport.

You may want to consider getting a travel system stroller/car seat. You can put up both canopies- the one on the carseat and the one on the stroller and the baby will be in complete shade.

Be sure to use the baby care centers in the parks they are great-quiet and cool.

Good luck!

 

[Bird-Mom]

I second the idea of the sling. People are less likely to try and touch your baby when it involves invading your space. Babies are really portable-I would be less worried about slinging him everywhere (even on the boat) than leaving him at such a young age. Are you breastfeeding? A major growth spurt occurs at around 12 weeks, so leaving him could hurt your nursing relationship. I would say that being tied to a pump every few hours on the cruise would stink; it would be much easier to sling him-even when nursing!

Check out www.mayawrap.com. Awesome sling!

 

[house_of_princesses]

My sling proved invaluable many a time for all 4 dd's. Highly recommend getting one!!

 

[Scoootch]

Just my opinion but.....I'd consider postponing the honeymoon until the baby is a bit older. Going through with the wedding is one thing due to everything being booked and all but why not put off the vacationing part until you know the baby's immune system can handle all the travel and being exposed to all kinds of germs and the public and such? I was told not to even take the baby out in public to the grocery store until he turned at least 10 weeks with my ds who's now 3 so I can't imagine taking my newest baby (due to arrive soon) on a plane where they'd have to breathe recirculated germs for 2hrs or so. Plus as for the cruise, up until now, I've been afraid to try the cruise with ds being so young. Maybe it's just me but ds is just now at the age of 3 where he can tell me if he doesn't feel well. I'd be afraid to be out in the middle of the ocean somewhere and have such a young baby get sick -- they can't tell you at that age that their ears hurt or they are feeling ill in anyway It doesn't mean that you can't go and have no problems but personnally, I'd have the "what if" in the back of my mind and with a baby that young it's pretty scary. Some friends of my parents took their 8 and 10 yr olds on the Disney cruise a few yrs ago and their 10yr old dd got sick while there and spent most of the trip in their cabin - yes there was a dr. on the ship but not their dr. and being stuck in the middle of the ocean in a cabin until the trip was over was not much fun

It's a rare occassion for these things to happen I'm sure, but for me it would just make me all the more nervous when you're not even sure that the baby's immune system could or should be handling it yet.

 

[justhat]

Bird-Mom, the maya sling looks great! We knew we wanted a sling of some sort, but this one looks really comfortable and the prints are great too.

Scoootch, we'd love to postpone the honeymoon, but the soonest it could be would be June 2006, since my fiancé will not have any planned breaks from June 30 until he graduates from medical school, including holidays. He will have 2 weeks off his 3rd year (2004-2005), but he won't know when those weeks will be until right before the come up. Also, I'll be back in graduate school in May 2005 for a year, so that will further complicate our ability to plan vacations. So after this June, that's pretty much it for us for at least 2 years.

So that's why we're really looking for advice from anyone who's travelled with a new baby, since we don't really have another option, besides not going for at least 2 years. Thanks everyone so far! Keep the ideas coming!

 

[mcnuss]

I was told not to even take the baby out in public to the grocery store until he turned at least 10 weeks

It is so interesting the varying advice that we get from pediatricians! Mine encouraged us to get out ASAP! My DD was born in a heat wave and we had no a/c, so she recommended taking her to the mall.

I am going to throw out a new suggestion to you -- how about cruising for 7 days? I think the cruise will be super easy for you. Every little whim is taken care of, there is a Dr. on board, you can be back in your room in 3 minutes, and you can/will have fun even if you don't leave the ship. The most challenging part of yoru itinerary will be the parks - babies are so much challenging in "real life" than they seem like they will be when you are planning. Like others have said, they require a ridiculous amount of gear. I am the lighest packer I know, but I was still amazed by what I had to bring on our trips with DD when she was new. The diapers! Yeesh. Babies poop constantly!!

Anyway, I think you'll have fun no matter what. Life will be easiest if you're nursing bc you can do that anywhere, don't need gear, etc...

 

[BevS97]

my dd will be 11 weeks when we fly to Orlando. my health visitor just said have a great trip when I asked her what she thought.

we are advised to use sunscreen from birth and can buy infant suncream, so seems odd that you are told not too use it, but then most advise seems to differ from uk to usa.

personally, I couldn't leave my dd for 4 days at such a young age, even with my mum. and if your are breastfeeding it will be even harder

hope you can work it all out so you have a good trip, I think babies are very portable

bev

 

[NotUrsula]

FYI, it isn't just moving the jaw that lets pressure out of the ears, it is swallowing, or yawning, which uses the same muscles. You'll want to give baby a bottle or nurse on ascent and descent in an aircraft. It's a good idea anyway because the air on planes is dry, and babies easily get dehydrated. Watch the fontanelle (aka the soft spot), it should not sink inward, as that is a sign of dehydration in a newborn.

As to when to take newborns out, peds differ on this, and of course, a child with special health issues would be a special case. For the most part, the usual advice in the US is to keep baby away from crowds for about a week (usually easy to do b/c most Moms are told not to drive for about that long), and not to take baby on a trip far away from home until about 3-4 weeks. The reason for the second rule, as I understand it, is so as not to get too far from the pediatrician. There are some health problems that may be present at birth, but which do not become obvious for a few days/weeks afterward; the point is to be home so that you can get the child to a his doctor ASAP if you notice anything not as it should be. BTW, babies can't get seasick until they learn to sit up; it's related to the sense of upright equilibrium, and babies that young are not yet oriented to always being upright. (Remember, it will have just spent a couple of months floating upside down!)

Do bring your carseat for the flight; it is MUCH safer for baby and much less hassle for you than carrying the baby in your arms while you try to deal with details. However, do not expect baby's seat to cost 1/2 of what yours does; the 1/2 for under 2's is half of the fully refundable fare, most people pay a lot less than that for a leisure fare. I also second the recommendation to use a sling; not only does it make moving around easier, it's a godsend getting on and off rides, when you need your hands for yourself. If you are comfortable with strolling baby in a carseat, just bring a seat frame for strolling. Otherwise, you will also need a stroller that reclines as far back as possible. A couple of flat cloth diapers, (along with a clothespin or two) will solve the shade issue; just clip them on the stroller/carseat canopy so that baby is completely covered. The cloth diapers also come in very handy for the inevitable spills.

As to trip insurance, you can't get that at this point to cover pregnancy-related illnesses or issues, as you are already pregnant now. You can get it for other coverage, though, and it is a rather good idea.

Diapers should not be that big an issue for such a small child, the diapers are quite small at that point. However, if luggage space is tight, put them in a compression sack and squash all the air out before packing. You will need about 10 diapers per day for the first few weeks, but by 8 weeks you will probably be down to about 7 per day. You can buy diapers in Florida, of course, but that will mean shopping offsite, as the gift shops don't carry the really small ones. For the flights, you should carry a minimum of 24 hrs. supply of clothing, diapers, and formula if you bottle-feed, in case of an airport delay. Also you should carry a change of clothes for yourself for the plane; babies have amazing aim!

I'm with Bev on the issue of babies and 'stuff'; the younger they are, the more portable they are. At that age, DS went everywhere around town with just a binky, a sling, and one of those little folding diaper/wipe kits. (Nursing maximizes baby portability.)

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

Good luck with your pregnancy, the birth, your wedding and honeymoon - with a little planning and a flexible attitude you will have a great time through all of these events! I seriously doubt you will want to leave your newborn at home during your honeymoon - it is just amazing how quickly you become so attached that leaving them seems almost unimaginable. As others mentioned, if you are nursing, it will also be near-to impossible to leave the baby at that age and maintain your milk supply. You will also fine that pumping around-the-clock on vacation will be a really big bummer.

I second the idea of a 7-day cruise with fewer days in WDW. The cruise is soooo much easier to manage with a little one and much more relaxing too. There is even a wonderful nursery on board if you want just a couple of hours for a special dinner. Having your mom come along would also be a great idea. You will also avoid the large WDW crowds (the cruise only gets so full so even when sold out it is still more manageable than crowded parks) and the heat (you can schedule your shore days to avoid most of the extreme heat). Imagine a couples massage on Castaway Cay, sunsets on your verandah or a romantic dinner at Palo with your little one only minutes away at all times. A few days before the cruise at WDW will give you your parks "fix" but I would schedule the longer cruise in your situation. Also, the medical care on board is excellent and you are never far away from more advanced care (some of the islands are US islands) either on shore or by helicopter. Of course you would DEFINITELY want the trip insurance to cover any problems.

As for the infant plane fares, you should generally get them for 1/2 of the fare you pay on those airlines that offer infant fares (AA does offer them but Air Tran does not). We have purchased 10+ roundtrip infant fares in the last 3 years and always paid 1/2 of the base fare we paid (even heavily discounted fares) plus the taxes etc. This means the fare generally comes in at about 60% total of the adult fare since the taxes are the same as for the adult ticket. I have never had to pay 1/2 of the fully refundable fare but there may be some occasions where the discounted fare is sold out and you will have to pay 1/2 of whatever is available.

FYI - You can only purchase infant fares on line from Orbitz and Exedia - however they charge a fairly hefty fee (~$22) for printing and sending paper tickets since for some reason they require them when purchasing an infant fare. So if possible I would buy them directly from the airline's website and then just call in and purchase the infant fare afterwards. You can also call in before purchasing the adult tickets to see what fare they are offering so you know what the infant fare will be and they can even hold it for you while you purchase your other tickets. The airlines themselves don't seem to require the paper tickets so overall you can save around $50 by avoiding the orbitz/expedia processing fees and paper tickets fees. You can have the airline then link your two reservations together and assign your seats.

Your infant should not be placed in an exit row or the row in front of an exit row if you are using a rear-facing carseat (which of course you will be for your trips next year). You will almost always be requested to place the infant in either the window seat or the very middle seat of a middle section if the plane has one to prevent any blockage of passengers during an evacuation.

There are many many parents here who have traveled with little ones to WDW and on DCL (even more parents to ask on the DCL board) so please let us know what we can do to help.

 

[justhat]

Thanks, NotUrsula and akasleepingbeauty, for your thorough responses. We thought about the 7 day cruise initially, but we chose the 4 day because we just got back for a 2 week Alaskan cruise, were on a week long Caribbean cruise in January, and will be on one again in December 2004, so we thought that another 7 day cruise might be too much. The problem we have with changing it now is that my mother gets very seasick and was miserable on the cruise last January so she would not be able to join us for that part and I don't think I could ever leave our 2-3 month old baby with anyone other than my mom so we wouldn't really get to have that dinner alone, which I'm sure we could do without, but the other problem is how old the baby will be. if he's born early or on time we'll be fine and he can come (which is what we want to happen), but if he's late, then he won't be the minimum of 12 weeks old so he can't come at all, which is where our problem comes in. In that case he'd have to stay with my mom, who will already be in Florida with us for the first week, so our plan would be to have her just stay in the hotel with the baby the 4 nights we'd be gone.

We have looked at some flights already, and some infant fares are 1/2 price, but others we've gotten are a little more, so we'll definitely call and book the infant fare that way, thanks for the tip! I guess once we know the baby's actual birthday, we can decide definitely on the 4 or 7 day cruise, though we have a 1 bedroom suite booked now, which I doubt we'd get on a new booking, and ship cabins are so small. If we do have to leave him/her with my mom for the 4 nights, and we do pump, will it significantly affect my supply? We thought that pumping for the 4 days would be ok, so I hope it is. Thanks again for all the advice, it's really a huge help, especially knowing that if he does get to come that he can't get seasick, it's a huge relief.

 

[mcnuss]

If we do have to leave him/her with my mom for the 4 nights, and we do pump, will it significantly affect my supply? We thought that pumping for the 4 days would be ok, so I hope it is.

justthat: This subject can often start the mother of all debates on the DIS (no pun intended! ). I hope it does not.

I did this, and it was fine. First of all, my DD ended up in NICU for 2 days at 2 days old, and I pumped then bc she was not allowed to nurse. No problems. Subsequently, I went back to work when she was about 3 mos. old, and I had to travel for work, and while I hated to be apart from her (it's hardest when they are that little), it was manageable. I had to pump a lot (and dump put that liquid gold), that's the bummer, bc you do not want to pump a lot at a time, but frequently. The idea is to mimic what your baby would do so as not to mess up the equilibrium of supply & demand. And for some people, pumping is not easy, esp. at first. I was like a fountain, and could pump 4 oz. in 3-4 minutes, but I have friends who needed an hour to do that.

The difficulty with a 12 week old is that his feeding patterns change all the time, and at that age, they often have a growth spurt. The other challenge is going to be banking a supply for your mom to use, unless you don't mind supplementing with formula. Also, not to be the problem person today, you're going to have to introduce him to a bottle right away so that you can be sure he'll take it from her while you're gone.

The one thing also to mention, that I neglected before, is that you could still feel pretty horrible that soon after giving birth. You also may not fit into your clothes yet. At 12 weeks post-partum, I could squeeze into my old work clothes, but they did not fit the same, and I only gained about 22 pounds. The biggest problem was on top, if you know what I mean, I was rather Ruben-esque, and I leaked milk all the time - like I said, I was a fountain. Didn't matter whose baby I heard or saw, my milk let down. I had to change my blouse a couple of times a day, even with the pads. It was comical! Anyway, some women snap back and heal fast, others take a long time, and if you need a C-section, you may not be cleared to travel. Have you discussed all these plans with your OB? I mean, the first trip you'll only be about 8 weeks post-partum. We've all been focusing on your baby, and have left you out of the picture, I'm afraid.

 

[house_of_princesses]

We've all been focusing on your baby, and have left you out of the picture, I'm afraid.

A sign of things to come, to be sure!! Remember that first time you visited family or an old friend and they all ran to the car to get the baby...and left you standing there to schlep the diaper bag, play mat, portable bouncy chair..... McNuss is correct...you have to be cleared to travel, just as babykins. Let's hope for a speedy labor, delivery and recovery!!

 

[justhat]

I did discuss it with my OB and as of now he thinks I'll be fine to travel, of course that is barring any significant complications which hopefully we can avoid. We have chosen the pediatrician we want, though we haven't met her yet so we haven't been able to see what her thoughts are about the baby travelling.

mcnuss, I'm glad to know that pumping worked out okay for you and hopefully I'll have the same luck. I figured I'd be okay since my SIL just had her 2nd baby on 9/2 and he was in the NICU for 8 days and had to be fed through an IV, so she pumped milk while he was in the hospital, and even when he came home for another 6 days since he could only nurse for about 1/2 oz, and had to take the rest through an NG tube. He's fine now and she nurses regularly with no problems. We also realized we'd have to start him on a bottle pretty quickly since there will be a few days early on when he'll be away from me for several hours and will have to have someone else feed him. My shower is April 18, so at most he'll be about 7 weeks then and he'll have to stay home with his daddy while I'm gone. Also, we don't plan on bringing him to most of the wedding reception since I don't really think his little ears should be exposed to music of that volume all night, and also, even though he'll be present at the church, I can't exactly breastfeed him during the ceremony. So to make sure those days go smoothly we've decided to let him get used to the bottle early on. It's great to hear though that someone else was able to keep their milk supply while gone for a few days.

 

[NotUrsula]

I found that keeping up with the supply wasn't an issue for me, but storing the milk was.

Warning up front; Avent 4 oz. milk storage bottles do NOT travel well on their own, though I love them for actual feeding. If you have these and want to use them to pump into while you are out of town, you will also need to bring a roll of plastic wrap with you.
The reason for that is that the silicone filler disks that complete the bottle lid will easily push down into the bottle unless you put a layer of plastic wrap underneath.

I'm coming back to this post; I hit post before I meant to. As McNuss has pointed out in the next post, she went with the "pump-&-dump" option; I found that I just could not deal with doing that. I also had a lot of milk, but it still took a lot of effort to interrupt what I was doing every 3 hours to pump; I couldn't stand throwing out the milk. At the time I was travelling for work; if I had dumped all of it, the little guy wouldn't have had much banked when I was away. I did use plastic bags and a bottle frame to pump when I was at the office, but I didn't like them for travelling because the bags burst too easily if the cooler was roughly handled, which happened in airports sometimes. Human milk does not spoil as easily as cow's milk, you can leave it at room temp for several hours. However, outdoor Florida temps in summer are not what the pump mfrs. are talking about when they say room temp, so if you are carrying it around in the parks, you need to keep it somewhat insulated. In the parks, the only good place to actually pump is probably the baby centers; unlike feeding a real baby, where the process if often silent, pumps are ALWAYS noisy, and you always have to fully expose the breasts to do it. Bathrooms may work if you're dumping, but you wouldn't want to be handling food in a bathroom stall.

The other issue with pumping somplace like WDW is that if you are like most people, you'll need to do it on the same schedule that your child nurses. At younger than 12 weeks, that is probably going to be about every 2.5 to 3 hours. What that means, obviously, is either going back to your resort after only 1.5 to 2 hrs in the parks, carrying the pump in the parks, or learning to hand-express. You will not likely have a choice about this; your body will have adapted to your child's feeding needs, and you will be in pain pretty quickly if you don't get rid of the milk on time. Also, delaying on a regular basis for several days *is* likely to adversely affect your supply. (BTW, if you are going with hand-expression, carry a slashed t-shirt to wear at the time to protect your clothes; the spray will likely hit you, even if you are expressing it to dump in a bathroom stall.) What I'm trying to say on this point is, for an outing like a day at a theme park, IME, feeding the actual baby is a lot easier than pumping.

 

[mcnuss]

When I traveled, I sacrificed the milk. It was depressing, but I could not store and then travel with a 4 day supply. When I was pumping at home, I would transfer the milk to the Playtex plastic bags that fit into their bottle system. I liked that I could seal them tightly and put them in the freezer. They were so easy to transport to DD's daycare.