Can't believe I'm asking for advice...

[cerilene]

I'm usually the one giving all the advice for Disney trip planning, but it's my turn now. I need HELP! We are going next month for my DD's 1st birthday and while we go to Disney often, the only kids I've ever been with are my nephews and SIL definitely doesn't do things the way we do.

DD doesn't have any teeth yet and we make all her food. Does anyone have experience with bringing homemade frozen food cubes to Disney? We'll be staying at SSR so we'll have a fridge, but the food can only be thawed for 3 days I think. We are driving so we don't have to deal with airline restrictions. She has had some table food, but the last thing I want to deal with is an upset tummy from something new. Sad to say we feed her much healthier than DH and I eat ourselves so eating off of our plates isn't always an option.

Another thing, what are the best shoes for the parks for little ones? We just bought her a pair of Stride Rites for Christmas, the ones that have super flexible soles. Any tips for little walkers? I know she's going to want to get out of the stroller and explore and the idea of that scares the mess out of me!

Any other advice or tips are welcome. Oh and anyone who cloth diapered, I would love to hear your experience. We plan on using disposables the first half and cloth the last. That way I don't have to wash while there, I'll just bring everything home with us.

TIA sorry it's kinda long.

 

[tjmouse]

I made homemade cubes for my DD when she was a baby. Whenever I traveled, I used jar food. She never had a problem with it upsetting her stomach, but I made sure it was the all natural kind. Maybe you should try a few jars before vacation and see what happens. That way you'll know. I tried going on 2-day trips with frozen cubes and it was just so much easier to bring jars. That's all I can help you with!

 

[2binak]

I made homemade cubes for my DD when she was a baby. Whenever I traveled, I used jar food. She never had a problem with it upsetting her stomach, but I made sure it was the all natural kind. Maybe you should try a few jars before vacation and see what happens. That way you'll know. I tried going on 2-day trips with frozen cubes and it was just so much easier to bring jars. That's all I can help you with!

Good advice! We used Earth's Best organic jarred food for DD and felt it was the best jarred food on the market.

We took DD to WDW for the first time when she was 8.5 months old. She only ate jarred food & cheerios at the time. We packed a ziploc for each meal containing: a disposable bib & take 'n toss spoon & 1 jar of food. We would reuse the bib if it didn't get dirty & we would put the dirty spoons in a separate ziploc and wash them in the room that night. If you don't want to use disposable bibs, Babies R Us sells great bibs by Bumkins that are very soft, are hand & machine washable & can be rolled up really small.

Stride Rite makes great shoes for little ones just learning to walk. Robeez Tredz are great too. I would avoid anything with a narrow strap as it could dig into your DD's ankles (been there, learned that lesson!). Also, if your DD does get out of her stroller and walk around, be sure to check her feet for swelling. When we took DD to WDW this year, her feet would swell several times throughout the day so we were constantly adjusting her shoes.

If you can, let her explore quiet areas rather than areas with heavy traffic. The Baby Care Centers have great playrooms where little ones can run or crawl around. The largest and quietest play room is in Animal Kingdom.

My last & most important piece of advice is to go at your DD's pace. Let her mood & schedule dictate your day and you'll all have a great time!

 

[Shleedogg]

I could have written this question (I think I did too, lol) in July. DD was only eating banana baby cereal and baby food that I made and froze. She wouldn't touch jar food. We used the month before our trip to get her used to eating table food. She was eating mashed potatoes, pasta, small veggies (corn, peas), chicken and the baby snacks (cheese puffs, apple-cinnamon puffs, yogurt melts, etc.). We just always made sure that we ordered something that we could have her eat too, or ordered her her own meal. We brought her baby cereal and could just mix with hot water when we needed a meal and there were no options at a cs location. The other good baby food option at the parks is that they sell fresh fruit. DD is not a fruit fan, and she hates bananas (used to love banana cereal though, go figure!), but if your little one likes them, that could be an easy option for you.

If you're set on just continuing with your homemade baby food through your trip, I'd say bring a cooler, keep it frozen through the trip. Just keep refilling the cooler with ice and keeping what's thawed in the fridge in room. I think that's really your only option other than jar baby food. As far as meals in the parks. The baby care centers will be your friend if you go this route. They have a microwave, high chairs, everything you could need for meal time. They also having a nursing room if you are nursing. Great for some quiet time and to have baby focus on having a good meal.

Have fun! We took DD at 2 mos, 8 mos and 1 yr (for her birthday too) and had a blast, she was so much fun and LOVED the characters, and we could take her on almost all of the rides!

 

[cerilene]

Do you think a cooler of ice would keep the food cubes frozen enough? We are cutting back on spending for this trip so I'm pretty sure we won't be doing many buffets. I know that would make it much easier for us to find something she can eat. Do you guys have any recommendations on places to eat that would have good options for DD?

Thanks for the advice on the baby care centers. We probably won't visit those once during our stay. DD eats her meals straight out of the fridge! And I'm not shy at all about nursing in public.

Keep the tips coming please!!!!!!

 

[roobug]

We've taken our twins to DL (so not WDW) when they were 9months, and 13months for 3 days plus driving each trip. For the first trip we used our homemade baby food cubes. We just put them in the cooler for the road trip, then when we got to the hotel we put them in the freezer. Then we pulled out what we would need for that day and put it in a soft sided cooler with drinks and stuff. They had thawed out enough by the time we wanted to use them to feed them to the boys. The few times they weren't completly thawed we just sat them in the sun for a few minutes and they were good to go. It was pretty easy and much cheaper.

We also CD, we have done both disposable and CD in the parks - I have to say that I like CD better now that they are older. They don't need to be changed as often with the CD, and they are just happier. With disposables we had to make twice as many changes (times two gets to be alot), and we had to be careful what pants we put them in because most of their clothes are sized to accomidate CD and they would slip down with disposables. We usually changed them in the babycenters so we had a close place to dispose of poops. Then we put the used diapers in a wetbag. Worked great for us and we never smelled them or anything which I was a little worried about.

 

[MommytoaSweetie]

How far is your trip from now? Both of my girls were almost off of purrees around 9ish months (I still have some in the freezer so we use that if our meal isn't appropriate for her or as spreads for toast or yogurt mixins or whatever), so unless you're going soon, it's possible your DD will be on more table foods then. Eating table food doesn't relate to having teeth - anything you can squish with your fingers is chewable with gums, so as long as you cut up food into small bits and it's not something HARD (like raw carrots), there's a lot a baby can eat. We've found that it's pretty easy at restaurants to order a side of veggies or fruit if we don't feel like being as healthy as we should or we're getting pad thai or something (and we eat SO MUCH healthier than we did before we had kids, which pretty much started when DD1 started eating off our plates ). Fresh fruit like the pp said is a wonderful option, and we always keep an applesauce ("adult" kind, but natural and organic) in the diaper bag in case there isn't something great on the menu. When we travel, we used jarred food just because it's easier, and neither of my girls seemed to care which they got. But if you do bring frozen (it should work), those baby care centers will be great if it's not thawed yet.

As for shoes, we never buy pricey brands - just make sure that they're very flexible and as close to barefoot as possible. Since we're barefoot at home so often, I don't worry much about getting the best brand for shoes. We took DD1 to DL when she had been walking for 2-3 months and we'd leave her in the stroller (or take her in the Ergo) for when we were going places, but then we gave her opportunities to get out and stretch in safe areas (like the houses in ToonTown, the play areas, or just anywhere uncrowded with some open space). Those little walks also lead for some really cute photos! Have a great trip!

 

[mjkacmom]

Even late teethers can eat table food at aroudn 7 - 8 months. Molars are used for chewing, and they come later, but they are right under the gums, which make the gums able to chew solid food. By the age of 1, my kids were only eating table food - no baby food. You might want to introduce some before your trip, to get her over the gag/choke reflex.

 

[tzolkin]

We also made our own baby food and froze it in cubes, but if we were going away I would buy the Earth's Best organic. My kids also liked eating yogurt. Since you have a car and a fridge, you could stop at the grocery store when you arrive and buy a few things. You could also buy bananas and avocados that can just be mashed with a fork and eaten immediately.

My kids were eating regular food by a year old. My youngest really never wanted to eat the mashed baby food. He wanted to feed himself instead of being fed with a spoon. Have you tried those mesh feeders? DS ate his first Thanksgiving dinner out of one-- turkey and all. I was amazed at how well he could gum through it, so he used one of those until he was able to pick up table food and feed himself (around 10 months).

 

[cerilene]

I guess I should clarify her eating table foods. She's had noodles, chicken, turkey, broccoli, carrots, pears, bananas, and stuff like that just cut up into small pieces. She hasn't had a lot of spices or sauces and stuff like that. I remember my nephews eating mac and cheese at their first visit to the mouse (about the same age as DD will be next month when we go) but she hasn't had anything like that yet. She also didn't start eating solids till after 6months. She loves to feed herself and does really good with mashing most foods if they are soft enough, but I worry about things having too much added to it for flavor, like the parmesan mashed potatoes and the fried chicken that I have to get at 50's Prime Time!

I'm sure we'll run to Walmart to get stuff like yogurt which is what she eats for breakfast and we talked about picking up bananas. I know avocados would be a great option, but she doesn't like them. Thanks for letting me know that frozen cubes have been done and should actually work! We have a 9 to 10 hour drive ahead of us, if anyone wants to comment about that.

 

[roobug]

I guess I should clarify her eating table foods. She's had noodles, chicken, turkey, broccoli, carrots, pears, bananas, and stuff like that just cut up into small pieces. She hasn't had a lot of spices or sauces and stuff like that. I remember my nephews eating mac and cheese at their first visit to the mouse (about the same age as DD will be next month when we go) but she hasn't had anything like that yet. She also didn't start eating solids till after 6months. She loves to feed herself and does really good with mashing most foods if they are soft enough, but I worry about things having too much added to it for flavor, like the parmesan mashed potatoes and the fried chicken that I have to get at 50's Prime Time!

I'm sure we'll run to Walmart to get stuff like yogurt which is what she eats for breakfast and we talked about picking up bananas. I know avocados would be a great option, but she doesn't like them. Thanks for letting me know that frozen cubes have been done and should actually work! We have a 9 to 10 hour drive ahead of us, if anyone wants to comment about that.

We made the mistake this last trip of doing the mac n cheeese out of desperation yeah both my boys took it made the worst face spit it out then proceeded to pick at it with looks like - what is this??? One of them tried to shake the cheese off and then tried scaping it off to get a plain noodle They did like the applesauce that was served with it though.

We have a 8 - 10 hour drive (depending on traffic) and our food stayed frozen in a cooler with ice packs - I put the ice packs on top and the frozen food on the bottom.

We left right before their nap time so they slept for a few hours then we stopped for a snack and let them out to stretch. The only toys we brought for them were books - they really love books, and looking out the window. They also slept more then normal because of the movement of the car, and when it got dark out they just figured it was time to sleep. We also listened to books on tape which they seemed to like, I couldn't deal with hours of kid music