Disney with an Infant

[minijenny]

Sounds like you are planning an amazing trip. And congratulations on your pregnancy! I wish you all the best.

I think as long as you are aware (and it sounds like you are) that this is likely to be a much slower and more go-with-the-flow kind of trip, you'll have a great time. And having three adults with one baby is a great idea.

Take care of yourself, first and foremost, because it's a big physical change and challenge having a baby. Besides the recovery from birth, you will be dealing with lack of sleep and the literal and figurative draining effects of breastfeeding (if you choose). It's beyond exhausting and it will slow you down. But keeping hydrated, well fed and resting before you pass out will help. Let your husband and his mom help as much as they possibly can. I had such a hard time accepting help with my first baby because I thought I "needed" to be able to handle it. He was my responsibility and I had to do everything. It was a useless attitude that luckily I dropped in time for baby #2. If you need to nap, let them take baby out. If you need to eat, let them stand in line for your snack. And make sure you carry a water bottle with you everywhere. I have never been so thirsty in my life as I was during the first 3-4 months of nursing my babies.

Hopefully your baby will be relatively easy. At two months they love to sleep, watch people (esp Mom and Dad), and eat. I strongly agree with everyone's recommendations of using a baby carrier. I've carried DS when he was 11 mo and DD when she was 7 mo at Disney in my Beco Gemini and they both did well. Of course, when I say "I've carried" what I actually mean is DH, DDad, DSis, and I have all lugged my kids around WDW because I finally learned to say " Sure! You can carry her now!" The babies could nurse, sleep, and feel secure easily without the hassle of moving them in and out of a stroller the whole time. The stroller was mainly used for holding the diaper bag. Speaking of which, don't overload your bag. I currently have a toddler and a baby and I carry less than half as much stuff as I did when DS was a newborn. You'll likely only need diapers, a change or two of clothes, and a hat or blanket to cover baby. DD was a newborn last summer and I was outside constantly with her and DS. Since she was too young for sunscreen yet, I simply dressed her in a lightweight white sleeper that covered her hands and feet and put a big floppy hat on her head. Even when it was hot, she seemed comfortable and wasn't sweating.

Have a great time. My absolute favorite trip to Disney was my DS's first trip for his first birthday and a lot of it was the novelty of being a parent for the first time and sharing my love of a place with my baby. My second favorite trip was DD's first. Babies are all about exploring the world for the first time and everything seems to be new and fascinating. Enjoy it!

 

[justhat]

Fair enough. We had no issues with our 3 month old (at the time). It was my 2 year old last year who decided he didn't want to sit in the stroller.

None of mine have ever been stroller babies. Never before 5/6 months, and then not much after 2yo. Sometimes I wish they'd use them, but most of the time it isn't a problem. But as babies they all cried/cry in strollers. All of them just wanted to be held all the time.

 

[daisygirl902]

Again, thanks to all for the amazing feedback. Great suggestions, and it's just nice to have people sharing their own experiences with me!

We've got our 2 bedroom booked at OKW, and have BLT waitlisted...either would be fine with us. I'd prefer the monorail, but we LOVE OKW so I'd never mind staying there.

Only 2 more days till our next ultrasound! We could technically find out as early as Monday whether we're having a boy or a girl, but we're waiting to find out with our families on April 4th (I'm having a friend of mine bake us a cake with a pink or blue icing layer in the middle, so we'll all find out together at the cake cutting).

So excited to not only be planning for baby, but for this trip as well!

 

[themarquis]

Honestly, there are a lot of variables, and you won't know which ones you'll be dealing with until the baby arrives. Let me spell some of them out for you:

- Your baby could have colic and scream all day and night. Ours did, and at two months all of us were miserable and would have been in no position to take a vacation.
- You could have a bad sleeper who is up for hours at a time (potentially screaming) or all night. Or unable to sleep when too stimulated. Ours was.
- Your baby could hate being worn and/or hate being in a stroller.
- Your baby could have health problems or arrive prematurely.
- You could have health problems due to the birth or have a difficult recovery (and as much as you think you are a 'good healer', there is absolutely no way to know how your recovery is going to go until you get there)
- You could be struggling with new parenthood to the extent that being at disney would be miserable (I know I sure would have been - at that stage I was pretty much crying every day)
- You could struggle with PPD. It is much more common than most people realize.
- If you breastfeed, you could be still struggling to get into a rhythm with it. A trip will mess badly with your supply and the timing of baby's feeds. Or you could have a baby who isn't able to just breastfeed 'wherever' (ours needed to be breastfed lying down using a nip shield and holding in a very specific way ... not easy to do in public!!)

The list could continue. Basically, right now, you don't know what kind of baby you will get (it's basically a crap shoot). You don't know what motherhood will be like for you. I didn't either - no new mom does.

I wish you the best of luck and hope this works out for you but at the very least you may wish to purchase trip insurance. You could be out a lot of money if things don't go how you imagine.

 

[linzbear]

Honestly, there are a lot of variables, and you won't know which ones you'll be dealing with until the baby arrives. Let me spell some of them out for you:

- Your baby could have colic and scream all day and night. Ours did, and at two months all of us were miserable and would have been in no position to take a vacation.
- You could have a bad sleeper who is up for hours at a time (potentially screaming) or all night. Or unable to sleep when too stimulated. Ours was.
- Your baby could hate being worn and/or hate being in a stroller.
- Your baby could have health problems or arrive prematurely.
- You could have health problems due to the birth or have a difficult recovery (and as much as you think you are a 'good healer', there is absolutely no way to know how your recovery is going to go until you get there)
- You could be struggling with new parenthood to the extent that being at disney would be miserable (I know I sure would have been - at that stage I was pretty much crying every day)
- You could struggle with PPD. It is much more common than most people realize.
- If you breastfeed, you could be still struggling to get into a rhythm with it. A trip will mess badly with your supply and the timing of baby's feeds. Or you could have a baby who isn't able to just breastfeed 'wherever' (ours needed to be breastfed lying down using a nip shield and holding in a very specific way ... not easy to do in public!!)

The list could continue. Basically, right now, you don't know what kind of baby you will get (it's basically a crap shoot). You don't know what motherhood will be like for you. I didn't either - no new mom does.

I wish you the best of luck and hope this works out for you but at the very least you may wish to purchase trip insurance. You could be out a lot of money if things don't go how you imagine.

This right here. My third baby is 8 weeks old now, and he only likes being worn if I'm constantly moving. I also got PPD for the first time and am just starting to feel normal since starting meds 2 weeks ago. If someone gave me plane tickets for today I might be ok to go, but I also know what I'm getting into and know where to go in Orlando and how to get there if there's a problem. Physically, this was my easiest birth, fast labor, med free. My last baby had a c-section followed 2 weeks later by a gall bladder surgery.

I have brought both kids at age 6 months and was fine. 2 months is just more unpredictable. (This baby will go at 10 months). Earliest I'd plan for is 3 months.

Not to say it can't be fine, but I would definitely get trip insurance.

As for a carrier, look into a gauze wrap. They're very lightweight and great for newbies as well as older babies. With wraps just remember to start early so that they and you get used to it.

 

[tinkerbesh]

Congrats on your pregnancy! I share in your excitement of planning the first trip with baby -- we are going in June & bringing DS for the first time- he'll be 11 months.

I just wanted to chime in with an observation- you seem like a "glass half full" kind of person who always finds the positive in any situation. And while you're getting a lot of helpful advice & things to look out for, they are definitely a lot of "glass half empty" feelings amidst the replies. So I just wanted to say I think it's equally important to hang on to your optimistic outlook. IMO, so much of what we feel in life can come from what kind of attitude we go into it with.

I was my most uncomfortable at 7 months pregnant, and I had no idea how I would still be able to walk for those last months of pregnancy. Then I took a hypnobirthing class (during the 8th month), & it refocused my mind -- I became incredibly comfortable even as I continued to increase in size, found out I had gestational diabetes, a breech baby, & wound up having to have a C-section. I found such beauty in the experience of the last months of pregnancy & an increase in mobility even though I was facing more difficult things than just the month before...

So I just wanted to cheer you on & encourage you to hang on to your optimistic outlook -- focus on the fullness of your glass -- that will help you a lot post-pregnancy, especially in the early days.

Of course any of the above listed things could happen, but they could also not happen -- you will really have no idea until you experience your baby yourself - and even then, s/he will continue to change and grow every day.

 

[daisygirl902]

Congrats on your pregnancy! I share in your excitement of planning the first trip with baby -- we are going in June & bringing DS for the first time- he'll be 11 months.

I just wanted to chime in with an observation- you seem like a "glass half full" kind of person who always finds the positive in any situation. And while you're getting a lot of helpful advice & things to look out for, they are definitely a lot of "glass half empty" feelings amidst the replies. So I just wanted to say I think it's equally important to hang on to your optimistic outlook. IMO, so much of what we feel in life can come from what kind of attitude we go into it with.

I was my most uncomfortable at 7 months pregnant, and I had no idea how I would still be able to walk for those last months of pregnancy. Then I took a hypnobirthing class (during the 8th month), & it refocused my mind -- I became incredibly comfortable even as I continued to increase in size, found out I had gestational diabetes, a breech baby, & wound up having to have a C-section. I found such beauty in the experience of the last months of pregnancy & an increase in mobility even though I was facing more difficult things than just the month before...

So I just wanted to cheer you on & encourage you to hang on to your optimistic outlook -- focus on the fullness of your glass -- that will help you a lot post-pregnancy, especially in the early days.

Of course any of the above listed things could happen, but they could also not happen -- you will really have no idea until you experience your baby yourself - and even then, s/he will continue to change and grow every day.

Thanks so much, I appreciate the supportive words, and all that I've had on here. If anything when I read most of the "glass half empty" posts I normally think things like "I could also fall trip, fall, and break my leg before a trip, but it's never stopped me from planning"

It's not that I don't appreciate that the worst could happen, but in more cases than not, women have normal deliveries and good recoveries. I know for sure that there are many cases that fall outside of that...but i'm not gonna dwell on that for sure! I'm just not the type. I've spoken to my Dr about it, and she is 100% supportive of a trip with a 2 month old. She said something along the lines of "if you have a baby that cries a lot, would you rather be here on your couch or on your balcony at WDW?" Which is what I've been saying all along...I won't even dwell on the fact that I started the thread to ask for survival tips, not to ask whether or not I should be planning the trip at all .

On a different note, we just found out WE'RE HAVING A BOY!!

And here are his first two onesies...totally appropriate IMHO:

 

[AmyBWV99]

Congrats! We have 4 boys they're the BOMB! Have a great trip!

 

[justhat]

Congrats on the little boy! I have 2 of them.

For me, having had 4 kids now, my cautions wouldn't come from my own end. Yeah, I ended up with an emergency c-section with my 3rd and had a rough recovery. But I can handle that. May not be my favorite trip, but whatever, I can deal with that. The comfort of the baby would be my thought. My first we took everywhere and anywhere all the time. Like I posted earlier, wdw at 2.5 months and again at 4 months. She was fine and the trip was fine. She loved to be held, hated strollers and cribs, so all was well in her world being held all day.

My 2nd went at almost 3 months and the trip was fine overall, but he just really liked to be home, nap and sleep in his own bed, keep to his routine. Again, it was fine, we survived, had fun overall, but he was super happy to be home. He was an excellent sleeper, 12 hours straight overnight and set 2.5 hour naps, but in his own bed, not a stroller, not a sling. He was also preterm so he had a rocky start and we were worried about illness and he ended up getting hand, foot, and mouth, along with my 2yo and I, which I felt guilty about. He managed, but not ideal.

3rd was just always unhappy with reflux and allergies so while she loved to be held all day in the Moby Wrap, a wdw trip just wasn't in the cards in terms of her being in her comfort zone. She projectile vomited so much, needed her whole outfit changed, cried, just all that the thought of keeping her out and about in a park, restaurants, etc, just didn't seem fair. She also liked to sleep in a dark room with a noise machine and not so much out and about. Her first trip was 8 months when her reflux had significantly cut back and she was just a happier baby.

4th kid will go at 6 months. He's 3 months now and would be ok, but I can't say it would be particularly enjoyable for him or us. He sleeps well at night, 8-9 hours, but only with no one else in his room. Same with naps. He'll nap in the Moby Wrap or sling, but 20-35 minutes at a time and then he's sorta crabby. In his bed he'll nap 2-3 hours straight and wakes up more refreshed. We got a 1 bedroom so that we can separate him from the other kids and hopefully let him get some space to be free too. We did decline to plan for over our February days off, when he was 2.5 months, or over spring break (he'll be almost 4 months then) just cause 6 months will be way easier on both he and I.

But all that said, like I said earlier, I wouldn't be deterred. I did it, it wasn't bad, and I'd do it again if the opportunity arose and I couldn't plan for a later time.

 

[PrincessBCF]

Congratulations on a boy!! So exciting my daughter is taking her first trip to WDW at 16 months and I wish we had taken her sooner. She was a wonderful baby and napper/sleeper so I think she would have done great on a trip like that. Definitely easier to travel with before she started being mobile! Your plan sounds wonderful and as long as you can keep the go with the flow attitude you'll be great! Having the two bedrooms will be helpful too. You could even put baby to sleep in the main room and then everyone goes to their bedrooms after that and it may help him sleep.

The only issue would be make sure he gets his 2 month vaccines before the flight. Lots of germs on the plane, wipe EVERYTHING down and keep your hands clean too. DD did great her first few flights, again, until she was mobile! I think she's been on 5 trips now so in my opinion if you start them young it'll make traveling not scary but fun for them. I hope you have a H&H remainder of your pregnancy and have a wonderful trip!

 

[ilovebassets]

Honestly, there are a lot of variables, and you won't know which ones you'll be dealing with until the baby arrives. Let me spell some of them out for you:

- Your baby could have colic and scream all day and night. Ours did, and at two months all of us were miserable and would have been in no position to take a vacation.
- You could have a bad sleeper who is up for hours at a time (potentially screaming) or all night. Or unable to sleep when too stimulated. Ours was.
- Your baby could hate being worn and/or hate being in a stroller.
- Your baby could have health problems or arrive prematurely.
- You could have health problems due to the birth or have a difficult recovery (and as much as you think you are a 'good healer', there is absolutely no way to know how your recovery is going to go until you get there)
- You could be struggling with new parenthood to the extent that being at disney would be miserable (I know I sure would have been - at that stage I was pretty much crying every day)
- You could struggle with PPD. It is much more common than most people realize.
- If you breastfeed, you could be still struggling to get into a rhythm with it. A trip will mess badly with your supply and the timing of baby's feeds. Or you could have a baby who isn't able to just breastfeed 'wherever' (ours needed to be breastfed lying down using a nip shield and holding in a very specific way ... not easy to do in public!!)

The list could continue. Basically, right now, you don't know what kind of baby you will get (it's basically a crap shoot). You don't know what motherhood will be like for you. I didn't either - no new mom does.

I wish you the best of luck and hope this works out for you but at the very least you may wish to purchase trip insurance. You could be out a lot of money if things don't go how you imagine.

I haven't read the whole thread, but this a hundred times over. I'm glad you're a glass half full person, and yes, most women have normal deliveries and healthy babies. But even a normal delivery and a healthy baby can really take it out of you the first time in a way that you quite frankly can't imagine yet. Heaven forbid something actually wrong happen. Or even mildly not according to plan (like a c section--happens to about one third of american women, colic, reflux, post partum depression, bad sleeper, poor breastfeeder, grade 3 or 4 tear or an episiotomy, etc).

We took ours to WDW at 5 months and even did one Disney cruise at five months. Five months is a WORLD apart from two months. I could NEVER have pulled it off at two months. Going to the grocery store at two months was a massive accomplishment some days.