Disney with a 6 month old...insights?

[fallen_angel727]

We are expecting our first child at the end of July, and were planning a Disney trip end of Jan beginning of Feb 2016. We'll be booking after the little one is born, possibility from the hospital as I'm going through withdrawals either at AKL, Beach Club or POR depending on where our finances stand. Anyway, parents out there who have made the trip with 6 month olds, how did go?? How was meal times with food, formula or breastfeeding?? Park travel (within parks as we'll have our own car), rides with little ones, hotel accommodations?? Any insight would be awesome! I get i'm WAY ahead of myself, but this will be a totally new experience for us so I want to be prepared have have this done before baby comes!

 

[Happyinwonerland]

We are expecting our first child at the end of July, and were planning a Disney trip end of Jan beginning of Feb 2016. We'll be booking after the little one is born, possibility from the hospital as I'm going through withdrawals either at AKL, Beach Club or POR depending on where our finances stand. Anyway, parents out there who have made the trip with 6 month olds, how did go?? How was meal times with food, formula or breastfeeding?? Park travel (within parks as we'll have our own car), rides with little ones, hotel accommodations?? Any insight would be awesome! I get i'm WAY ahead of myself, but this will be a totally new experience for us so I want to be prepared have have this done before baby comes!

We didn't do Disney with a 6 month old, but we did take her lots of places like that, the zoo, festivals, etc. It was a breeze. She slept really well in stroller and in the Ergo carrier. The ergo was great for breastfeeding, and much easier on my back than the wraps style carriers.

I'd recommend a couple changes of clothes because breastfed babies tend to blowout. At that age she should be starting on baby food purees too. The little pouches of organic baby food were wonderful for that. We never had set meal times at that age. She just ate when she was hungry.

I really think the biggest worry with a child that young is that Jan and February are peak cold and flu season, and your little one will be too young to be vaccinated.

 

[bostonminnie]

I've taken my kids at 8 weeks, 6 months, 11 months, and 2 years. 6 months was definitely our easiest trip! We had just started solids with him at home so we didn't stress about pushing solids at every meal. I was no longer breastfeeding so we would just pack bottles with water already in them and we had a formula dispenser so mixing bottles was quick and easy.

Having a car is a huge help, especially since we were using his snap and go stroller/car seat. We tried the bus once with that and it was a huge pain.

Your baby will be able to go on a lot of rides. At 6 months our son loved It's a Small World, Dumbo, and Finding Nemo.

6 months is also a great age since it's the earliest you can use sunscreen on your baby. We took our son the first week of February when he was 6 months and the weather was perfect. It was in the 60's/70's so I didn't worry about him overheating.

Congratulations on the baby and have a great trip. It was one of our favorite trips!

 

[Greenfield1984]

Learn where the baby care centres are in each park as well as plan for many bathroom breaks for diaper changes.

The baby care centres are good for a quiet spot to breast feed, diaper change, or warming up bottles.

If you do go the formula route one strategy for warming bottles I used was asking cast members at shops for a cup of boiling water and I mixed it with cold bottles water to desires temperature.

That's of course with powdered formula. For the liquid formula you can still get a large boiling cup of water and place your bottle in it to warm.

Congrats on the new baby!

 

[Mainemama]

The only other recommendations I have are to consider a monorail resort... Much easier to deal with when you have an infant. Also, ordering baby food and diapers saves room packing! We love Garden Grocer for this. Read up on Rider swap. I fed/changed my baby while waiting for the rest of my party to ride these rides. So nice to have this option! Also, make sure you love the stroller you take. You want easy fold and comfortable for the baby to sleep in above all else!

 

[mommy2jack]

OP, you sound like me! I'm due in April and we're planning our next trip for October. Baby will be 6 months old. This is our 3rd baby though and my other 2 kids both went on their first trips at 13 months, but I just can't wait that long this time around! Our ADR day actually falls a few days before I'm due and I already warned DH that if I'm in the hospital then we better make sure we have our laptop and tablet ready because I AM NOT missing our ADR time! My plan is to take it at a slower pace this time around. We're going to rent a nice stroller from on of the off site places and I'm going to take a carrier along. My other 2 kids were really good about sleeping on the go so I'm hoping the new little one will be too! My only real concern is sleeping at night, I highly doubt my baby will be sleeping thru the night at that point (if he's anything like his older siblings!) so I just hope I'm able to get enough sleep to keep me going all day long! Caffeine will definitely be my friend.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Mousemommy1]

Following along.....keep the suggestions coming.

We are headed down in April and our son will be 3.5 months old at the time. It will be his 1st trip but our older girls 6th trip. We didn't start bringing them until they were 3 and 5 though so this bringing an infant thing is all new to us!!

 

[theyoungs07]

We've done Disney twice with infants, my wife found it best to nurse the babies during seated attractions like Hall of Presidents, COP, people mover, mermaid...etc. I'd suggest you take advantage of those however you feed. We've never been in a baby care center so can't speak to those.

Try a carrier like an Ergo (our fave), have an easy to grab and carry diaper bag, if your baby isn't sleeping in the stroller/carrier you may have to leave for a break. BE FLEXIBLE

 

[Andipandi]

We have taken both our boys when they were babies. Our oldest was 6 months the first time we took him. He breastfed solely and wouldn't eat pureed foods yet so I had to find places to feed him. The baby centers are great. They have a dim lit room with rocking chairs and soft music for you to nurse the baby. Plus if my son heard loud noises he would pull off and try to look around which left me wet with breast milk. Not a good smell while walking around the park all day. I brought extra clothes for him and an extra top for me just in case. If this is your first child I'm sure you will pack everything you need and then some. Enjoy your trip with your new addition and congrats!!

 

[SweetMissy]

Our youngest was 4 months old for his 1st trip and he was so easy! He was exclusively breastfeeding at that age which obviously made things much easier....he nursed on many rides, lol. I baby wear, which also made things easier. He was much easier than the older 2, lol. We plan on going in October with the kids and by then we'll have another 4 month old and not hesitating at all to do it again. Have fun and congrats!

 

[Feberin]

I haven't been to Disney with a six month old but we did go on vacation when my daughter was around six months. We intentionally waited to start food until after the trip. Our pediatrician is really big on no solids before six months and it was easier to just wait a couple extra weeks then have to worry about packing food and dealing with the mess. Obviously some people wouldn't find this too much extra hassle but for us it just made our trip a little easier.

 

[princessdi81]

We are currently on our way with an 8 month old, so I'll let you know if I come up with anything. I'd recommend staying at a deluxe resort, for the extra space. We are driving to avoid any issues with waiting for transportation.

 

[taffy]

We have done DL with a 6month old and it was just fine. My wife had the feeding cover and fed whenever we needed, wherever we needed. We had a stroller and an Ergo and it was great having both. The carrier was great as we could take him on many of the rides that let us on like IASW.

The baby centre are great and there were a few times my wife would hang in there for an hour so the baby could chill and I would hit a ride or 2.

We are heading to WDW in a week this time with the 4 year old and also out 7 month old. We are staying offsite and not worrying about it this time round.

 

[Fireflyblue]

I went when my son was 4 months old, but we just moved to SoCAl and got annual passes to Disneyland so we will be going a lot.

I highly recommend a baby carrier and one with a good back support. I have a beco gemini, but i have heard good things about the ergo as well.

Recommend a good stroller as well. When I went I was using bottles, so we just took 2 bottles and then would rinse them out and fill them when needed at the baby stations. I also bought 2 formula dispensers, so before we left the hotel, we would have all our formula measured out for the day already.

We stayed in a moderate resort and it was easy still with the buses. My husband would handle the stroller, and I had the baby in the carrier and managed the diaper bag. I even did it once when my son was 8 weeks old and we had the stroller, the diaper bag, and my pump bag because I was still pumping at that time.

Its really easy at that age. If you have more questions or want help booking your trip. Click on the link in my signature.

 

[pixiemama91]

OP, you sound like me! I'm due in April and we're planning our next trip for October. Baby will be 6 months old. This is our 3rd baby though and my other 2 kids both went on their first trips at 13 months, but I just can't wait that long this time around! Our ADR day actually falls a few days before I'm due and I already warned DH that if I'm in the hospital then we better make sure we have our laptop and tablet ready because I AM NOT missing our ADR time! My plan is to take it at a slower pace this time around. We're going to rent a nice stroller from on of the off site places and I'm going to take a carrier along. My other 2 kids were really good about sleeping on the go so I'm hoping the new little one will be too! My only real concern is sleeping at night, I highly doubt my baby will be sleeping thru the night at that point (if he's anything like his older siblings!) so I just hope I'm able to get enough sleep to keep me going all day long! Caffeine will definitely be my friend.

Best of luck to you!

I pretty much had this exact conversation with my DH. I am due 4/23 and our ADR date is on 4/27. We are pretty flexible, and probably won't have too many ADRs. I just hope that I don't have to leave it up to DH to handle.

 

[fallen_angel727]

I just realized I could be in labor when we have to make ADRs...oh well there's Wi-Fi in the hospital. The kid'll just have to wait till Mommy's done cuz I'm not sure we can trust DH with that task LOL!