Exercise for a 9 month old?

[bartleby1]

OK, we are leaving in 5 days and it just dawned on me that my 9 month old is going to be cooped up for our whole vacation and will be in desperate need of exploring and exercising. We've taken our older two to disney a few times before, but never in the pre-walking stage. We are driving down from NJ (stopping overnight) so she is going to be stuck in her car seat for two days. Then, she will be mostly in a stroller while we do the parks or she'll be in someones arms at the pool. My older two can get out and run at rest stops, but what do I do with my 9 month old? She is not pulling up to stand yet and not walking even holding hands yet. Basically, she is still dragging herself around (creeping) but not up on all fours yet. Any ideas for getting some exercise on the way down?

Also, what do you guys do with you babies in the hotel room? The thought of her crawling around all over the floor in a hotel grosses me out! Any ideas? This poor kid is going to go from being stuck in a car seat, to stuck in a stroller, to stuck in a pack n play...

 

[indylaw99]

I always throw the extra sheets down on the floors to cover them when the kids are playing on the floor or crawling around. There are usually extras in the closet or somewhere. Or housekeeping can get you extras. We learned the hard way (BONK!) about having a 9 month old up on the bed with us on a Disney cruise a couple of years ago. Both of us were RIGHT THERE when she made a lunge and fell off. Talk about feeling like crappy parents. LOL!

Mickey's Toon Town had some cool "playground" type areas, if I recall, where the kids could pull up and play around a little.

 

[AnnetteF]

We went last October when DD was 7 months. We rented an exersaucer from www.abbf.com for her to use in our room. It at least allowed her to "stand" and play for a little while. I'm not sure how much room you will have. We were in a 1 bedroom at OKW. Our DD wasn't really crawling much at that point but there was room if we had wanted to put a blanket down and let her crawl on it.

We also drove (from CT) but did it over 3 days. During that time, the pack n' play was where she had to get her "exercise" when we stopped.

 

[rt2dz]

Our babies have all taken their first vacation at 4 months, by car. We always took a big blanket and stopped at rest stops to let them crawl/creep around. In hotel rooms, we put a blanket down or just put the baby in the pack-n-play. I love renting the exersaucer idea too! You could also get one of those things that clip on to the door for them to jump in. I was given one after having my second and DS#2 LOVED it. More than the swing, the bouncer, and the exersaucer. Plus they are fairly inexpensive and small to carry with you.