DDP with 18 month old????

[alayne]

I read the brochure for the DDP (we are on the deluxe) and it says that children under 3 can share from an adult plate or you can purchase a meal for the child but they can not be added to the DDP.

My DD will be 18months when go to Disney the week of Thanksgiving. Currently she is eating table food for the most part. It still has to be soft, small and easy to gum. She has her front two bottom teeth and the top two front teeth can be seen.

She loves breakfast and eats a whole serving of oatmeal, grits or applesauce. I don't see this as a problem meal since most of our breakfast will be buffet style character meals. However, lunch and dinner are mostly playing and not eating. I'm not worried about her going hungry at Disney but I am wondering how it works at places without the buffet, when I have to order.

For example at Sci-Fi Cafe my DH is going to order the All American Picnic Burger which she will not be able to eat and I love the Smoked Turkey sandwich. So what is my DD going to eat???? I looked at the menu at allears.net and I don't see anything she could eat even from the kids menu.

What do you do when you travel with a child in this age group? We are taking our camper so I had planned to pack snacks for her in the diaper bag.

Thanks for your tips and suggestions!! I look forward to them helping make our trip even more magical.

 

[DisMama3]

How about packing her something to eat? A sandwich, oatmeal, anything she normally will eat since you will have the camper and a place to store food. When my son was 18 months we stay in a villa at SSR so we brought his food without an issue.

 

[ses1230]

At that age I gave my DDs little piece of my roll or little pieces of fruits or veggies that came on the side of my meal. I would also bring in baby food, goldfish, yogurt, etc. that they would eat.

If the restaurant had mac and cheese or pasta or something similar on the kids menu, I would order that and pay oop.

 

[kddisney502]

Some places will give your under 3 year old a bowl of buttered noodles for free (or french toast sticks for breakfast). I believe it's limited to places with a fixed price like CRT, Ohana, Akershus, Trails End, etc.

 

[Magic2000]

When I took my granddaughter in Nov/Dec, she was 20 months old. We were staying at Pop Century, I'd buy a banana from the food court. She mostly ate off of my plate (although a few meals I did get the mac n cheese for her), and at some point in the day, she'd eat her banana. She also ate cereal and milk really well too. I fed her in the room sometimes too (she was less distracted).

Have a great trip!!!

 

[SEA333]

When my kids were little, I never bought baby/special food past the age of about 8 months. They ate what we ate - as long as it was cut up small enough, they were fine. By the time they were 18 months, they were well past the age that they had to have a seperate meal than what we were having. Why wouldn't your 18 month old be able to eat hamburger meat or sliced turkey? Cut it up into tiny pieces, give her some bread and some cut up steamed veggies or potatos on the side and Voila'! You have a meal. She will only eat about 1-2 tablespoons of each item anyway, which is the perfect serving size for her age, which should leave plenty for you.

FYI - babies "chew" with their back gums until about 2 1/2 years old when they get their back molars. They still chew with half teeth/half gums until they are 6 and get their 6 year molars. Just because she doesn't have teeth in the back doesn't mean she shouldn't eat regular food!

 

[alayne]

When my kids were little, I never bought baby/special food past the age of about 8 months. They ate what we ate - as long as it was cut up small enough, they were fine. By the time they were 18 months, they were well past the age that they had to have a seperate meal than what we were having. Why wouldn't your 18 month old be able to eat hamburger meat or sliced turkey? Cut it up into tiny pieces, give her some bread and some cut up steamed veggies or potatos on the side and Voila'! You have a meal. She will only eat about 1-2 tablespoons of each item anyway, which is the perfect serving size for her age, which should leave plenty for you.

FYI - babies "chew" with their back gums until about 2 1/2 years old when they get their back molars. They still chew with half teeth/half gums until they are 6 and get their 6 year molars. Just because she doesn't have teeth in the back doesn't mean she shouldn't eat regular food!

Thanks!!! This is what I was looking for. I could not remember for the life of me when my DS started eating regular food. It's been 9 years since I have had a baby and I have forgotten all the ends and outs. I have also been a little more nervous with my DD than I was with my first child DS. I don't know why but my Mom says I'm holding her back. I guess it's because I know she is my last child and I want to keep her little for as long as I can.

 

[SEA333]

Thanks!!! This is what I was looking for. I could not remember for the life of me when my DS started eating regular food. It's been 9 years since I have had a baby and I have forgotten all the ends and outs. I have also been a little more nervous with my DD than I was with my first child DS. I don't know why but my Mom says I'm holding her back. I guess it's because I know she is my last child and I want to keep her little for as long as I can.

LOL - I hear you! My oldest just turned 13 on Saturday (eek!!!) and my middle turned 9 on Friday. It was a bittersweet weekend celebrating a brand new teenage son and a "tween" daughter. My youngest is just about 7 1/2 (in August) and it seems like yesterday that he was born and his big sister was only 19 months old! I felt at the time like I would be stuck in the baby years forever, but until your post, I totally forgot about cutting things up small or sharing plates, etc! Now it seems like it was a lifetime ago

Have a wonderful time on your trip!

 

[bdklein]

For example at Sci-Fi Cafe my DH is going to order the All American Picnic Burger which she will not be able to eat and I love the Smoked Turkey sandwich. So what is my DD going to eat???? I looked at the menu at allears.net and I don't see anything she could eat even from the kids menu.

Well maybe your DH may not order the All American Picnic Burger or you may not order the Smoked Turkey sandwich, and instead one of you order something your daughter might eat a bit of? And if she won't eat anything off the kids menu there, where will she order off the kidas menu?

Looks like you will be packing a lot of food, or making a market stop. But in a few months her tastes may change, or some more teeth may come in.

 

[vinotinto]

I think you'll be amazed at what your toddler will be able to eat in 5 months when she's 18 months. She will be able to share some of the turkey and sandwich and the burger with you at DHS. Obviously not in burger form or sandwich form, but just the little pieces of cut-up turkey, and cut-up tomato, and cut-up lettuce, and cut-up meat, and cut-up sides. All the restaurants will be able to bring her milk too. With the DxDP snacks, you can buy her fruit, etc., since her stomach is smaller and she'll probably need to eat more frequently.

We went to WDW for the first time when my DD had just turned 2 and it was wasy to find lots of things to feed her. I remember that at Akershus they brought out some pasta for her. I also shared my salmon and veggies. We did a few dinner buffets that trip to have variety for her. We went to Crystal Palace and Boma, and while I don't have any desire to hit the dinner buffets anymore, I have to say, it did provide a lot of variety for her. Lots of things that could be cut-up small and she could easily eat. We also ate at Marrakesh and we cut up the lamb really small and shared the veg cous-cous, which was very eay to eat.

Also, some of what your toddler eats now, she may not eat at 18 months. At around 15-18 months my DS refused to eat oatmeal or yogurt, which he ate just fine when he was a baby/younger toddler. Go figure!

 

[honeybunches]

Thanks!!! This is what I was looking for. I could not remember for the life of me when my DS started eating regular food. It's been 9 years since I have had a baby and I have forgotten all the ends and outs. I have also been a little more nervous with my DD than I was with my first child DS. I don't know why but my Mom says I'm holding her back. I guess it's because I know she is my last child and I want to keep her little for as long as I can.

Aww, I know what you mean. My son is my last baby and I find myself trying to keep him little too. We took him when he was 14 months old (my daughter was 6) and he ate off my plate just fine. I wasn't giving him any shellfish at that point so I didn't order any of that, which was a bummer. He was excited to eat what we were having. We went to a lot of buffets where they had fresh fruit options. When we went to a non-buffet, I usually ordered an appetizer that he would enjoy, then cut up small pieces of whatever my meal was for him.

I took a box of those plastic placemats (bought on amazon) and also small paper plates so that I could put his food in front of him but not right on the table. That way he saw it as his meal, not mine. Often he was distracted by the characters so I popped a bite in his mouth while he watched Pooh go by. At the end of the meal it was easy to just toss it all.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[WantToGoNow]

My dd9 went twice before the age of three and both times we shared with her. There was always plenty for her to eat. If you have the turkey sandwich, she could have a little bit of turkey cut up, a little bit of your bun, some fries and yes my kids were eating hamburger by 18 mos. If she will still eat baby food, maybe bring along a jar of fruit and/or veggie to supplement when you don't have anything for her. You could also order a side dish of applesauce, mac n cheese, etc.

 

[Overexcited]

Last trip my little guy was 16 months, he shard off it plate with no problems! At a buffet we just got him a small plate, no one minded.
Good luck!

 

[maplevale]

We went to Disney when DD was 9 months old. She ate 100% off our plates (I had packed a small amount of baby food and she woulnd't touch it!)

Burgers, cut a piece off and you can nearly crumble it, fries are easy, turkey out of a sandwich is easily cut to size etc.

By about a year I don't even offer my kids their own food - just cut mine down to size (and even then - my kids did learn to bite... like I could put a chicken finger on her plate by 18 months easily and she would take bites).

 

[DvF Diva]

We went in Feb with DS who was 29 months at the time. He's still happy to eat pouches to this day, so we ordered several food pouches (Sprout, Plum Organics, Happy Baby) and had them shipped to our resort (those things get heavy so quickly and add weigh to the suitcases in a snap!). We always had some veggies, fruit and protein on hand that way. Every kid is different, of course, and some won't eat baby food or pouches by 18 months, but ours did, and the pouches were indispensable. Since most babies start solids by 6 months, yours can progress at any rate, depending on her preferences. If I recall, by 18 months, DS was willing to try a LOT of foods and wasn't as picky as his is now. He had his favorites, of course, but IIRC, at that age, he was still open to trying stuff, so I don't think you'll be severely limited.

DDP worked for us: Any place with a buffet style service was easy -- you can grab the table foods your toddler wants or is willing to try. They are considered to dine free and do get their own plate. I mean, at that age, they eat so little it barely matters. And DS always received his own glass of milk and cup of water, so feel free to bring yours a sippy cup to fill. IIRC, they had straws but not always lids for the plastic cups.
Of all the places we dined, only CRT and BRG (lunch) were non-buffet style.
*At BRG, I ordered an entree DS would be willing to eat bits of (I think it was a sandwich and he likes cheese and ham, but not together, LOL) and DH had something that probably came with fries. At that meal, DS's lunch was mainly pouches supplemented with whatever table food he was willing to eat.
*At CRT, the apps were not very kid-friendly, and our server brought grapes and cheese to the table for DS without us even asking! I think they also gave him complimentary ice cream at the end. They were very helpful and I bet would try to be as accommodating as possible (I guess with that meal's price tag, why not, huh?). In general, whenever we dine out, I just always try to order an entree that DS might want part of, and let DH order whatever he wants.

DDP worked for us because we did a lot of character meals. That's what excited our toddler the most about WDW; many of the dark rides were especially terrifying for him at that age. I felt that the Deluxe DDP was worthwhile for us because we didn't have to think about the "cost" of each of those character meals. How much fun DS had meeting characters definitely made it worth spending that kind of money on what I felt to be mediocre, though plentiful, food. We stayed one day past our DDP plan days, because we had a split reservation, and stocked up on snacks on the final day on DDP so that we'd have stuff to munch on throughout our last day (ASIDE: our reservationist had told us our DDP expiration date would be extended by one day to cover our last day at WDW. Long story short is that Disney never followed through with that promise and we lost a meal and a snack credit per person -- I still get angry thinking about the run-around we got and the horrendously rude phone service to top it off when I was trying to resolve that issue throughout our stay).

Regarding supplementing, we used We Go Shop to buy some breakfast staples (cereal, milk) and fresh fruit to keep in our villa, especially since our DS was up at 6 or 630a, and earliest reservations were closer to 8a at the in-park dining options.

So I guess the short of it is that by supplementing with snacks and pouches, you little one will be fine if you're on DDP and eating some of whatever you buy for yourself. DDP was a good idea for us, but is one extra thing to keep track of during your stay.

 

[TDC Nala]

You can pack her something to eat or you can ask to purchase something on the menu that she will eat. I am not sure what your options are if there is nothing on the menu that is suitable for her, besides bringing your own.

 

[alayne]

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions. We just spent a few days at Disney's HHI Resort. I didn't take anything for my DD (15 months) just as a trail run. She ate just fine. I gave her steamed vegs off my plate one night, along with bread and crab dip. She also had a PB&J sandwich, apple source, mash potatoes, French fries, banana, ice cream, etc.

I think we will be fine at Disney!