Going with 4 kids under 7...are we crazy?

[kstinw19]

Okay, I need opinions. We are avid Disney goers and have taken all three kids to WDW several times already. Here are the ages: DD7, DS5, and DS2.

And...we are having another DS in October, so that baby will be about 3 months old when we plan on going in January.

Originally we were planning on taking our sitter/nanny with us but due to her school schedule (college) she doesn't think she can go.

Should we still attempt this without any other adults to help? We are staying in a DVC 2 bedrooms so space isn't an issue, but just nervous that we will be overwhelmed.

Thoughts??

 

[princess lovers mom]

it depends on what type of trip you have planned....if you think you are going to get on a lot of rides and eat in wonderful restaurants I think that yes you are crazy...if you hope to relax a lot at the resort and pool then go !

my concern would be how can you do rides that the kids cannot go on "alone"..I would imagine that one adult would stay with the baby and the other is going to try and take 3 young kids on by themselves...depends on your kids, I guess the 5 and 7 yr olds could sit together...

just somethings to think about....

 

[kstinw19]

Definitely some good points. We are very realistic in the fact that we aren't planning any elaborate dinners with all the kids. We may try and hire Kids night out one night and just take the baby out with us to eat, and we were thinking we could hire them one other night to watch the two little ones while we took the two big ones out by themselves.

Luckily, the my kids are chickens and won't go on the "big rides" yet so we won't have an issue with that hopefully. Last year we ended up baby-swapping all the time and going on alone.

I would love to have my parents join us since they already own a time share in Orlando, but don't think dh would go for it. He is not big on "outsiders" even though we wouldn't have to pay for them and they were a huge help when we went one other time when ds2 was 5 months old.

Our other option would be to leave the baby home with my folks but I just think that a week is too long to be away from my 3 month old.

 

[beccalines]

I think we are crazy too!

We leave in 24 days for our fam's first trip.

Our kids are ages 7,5,3,1 and I'll be 16 weeks. I guess we are just going to have a good time, so we'll try and relax.

But we are soooooo excited!

 

[kstinw19]

Wow! Are you bringing any other adults or is it just you and your dh?

You will have to let me know how it goes and if you have any tips for us.

Where are you staying?

 

[darlak]

As a mother of 4 and a former foster parent, let me just say that...yes, of course you're crazy. You probably weren't before the children and you probably won't be when they're older, but you are right now, most likely on a daily basis.

As for going to WDW with all 4 in tow, I say go for it. I learned years ago that if I ever factored in the number of children we would be taking and gave it too much consideration, we would never have left the house. It will be a different kind of trip than you'll take later, but you'll make memories that you will cherish. Have a great time and be sure to pack your sense of humor, you'll need it.

 

[mom2LLN]

We are leaving this weekend and our children are 5, 2.5, and 4 months. I've been wondering myself lately if we have lost our minds!!!

 

[beccalines]

kstinw19,

We are staying at the ASMu resort. Our travel agent said it would be better for our large family. Maybe not better then one of the villas.

It's just me and my dh. It's always just me and my dh. Or just me. Usually just me. I'm so use to taking them everywhere with me.

I am interested to see their reation to the World. When we go in the Disney Store, they think they are in heaven. We actually had a hard time explaining to the 5 and 3 year old that we weren't spending a week in the Disney Store. (Which they were really excited about that!)

I'll let you know how it goes!


(7) (5) (3) (1) (still cooking)

 

[PrincessasMommy]

.

 

[kstinw19]

Thanks for the responses and for all those leaving soon, have a great time!

Okay, you have all conviced me...I am not canceling the trip. I think I am just a little apprehensive b/c I haven't had the 4th kid yet (due in a month) so I am not sure what life with 4 will be like, never mind Disney with 4.

And to PrincessaMommy...I am pretty used to being alone with all the kids. My dh travels for work 4 days per week every week and that is why I have my sitter to help 3 afternoons a week so I can run the two bigger ones to all their activities. But this just started a month ago, so we should be fine with all of them...just have to take things slower, I suppose.

Disney...here we come

 

[darlak]

kstinw19, hope you have a great trip. The third child is the hardest because that's when you suddenly realize that the kids outnumber the adults. Once you get past that realization, the 4th child seems easier somehow. I'm not sure exactly why, but almost without exception, every parent of 4 or more children that I know will tell you that 4 children is easier than 3.

 

[PrincessasMommy]

I so hope I didn't come across the wrong way, it was not my intent, you sooooo didn't need to justify it to me!

It's just I have witnessed 1st hand vacations, once with my BF and another time with my SIL, and they normally have regular care and when they didn't it was mayhem for everyone and they honestly should have saved their money or take someone.

On this board we are all so quick to say "We did it!" and "It will be amazing" ....and it will, but the moment I saw "Nanny" and with my experiences I thought I should give my 2 cents.

Anyhow, if I offended please forgive me.

And, it's true for me too, the 4th is so much easier than the 3rd!

Have fun!

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

The 1st time that we brought all of my 4 children I was 5.5 months pregnant, had a 1.5 yr. old, a 2.5 yr old and a 4 year old. The second time that we brought all of our children I had a 1.5 yr old, 2.5 yr old, 3.5 year old and a 5.5 year old ( almost B-day time for all of them). Then we took all of them again the next year. So obviously it is either not that bad or my husband anI are gluttons for punishment! This last trip we didn't even bring a stroller for the youngest or rent one. We always take it slow for our trips and never stay for less than 9 days. We also learned the 1st year that going back to the room for naps did not work for us as did not lugging around a giant diaper bag. I just put the nessecities in a backpack that we traded throughout the day, occasionally my older children would even ask to carry it because they thought that it looked fun! Whatever floats their little boats! Basically don't rush your children- stop and go to all of the little shows and get really excited and sing along with them. Let the kids decide to do whats next or navigate on the map ( or pretend to at least). WDW is my childrens FAVORITE place on earth and part of that is because my DH the most stressed out anal person on earth relaxes and lets go there and chills. We have spent 12 hours walking around MK and AK and Epcot each doing absolutely nothing but enjying the atmosphere and the sunshine and EACH OTHER! Take lots of pictures so your children can look back and see how much fun that they had- my children love to do that. They think that they were SO cute when they were 1 or 2 on the Dumbo ride or the Carousel etc. or eating with Pooh. Good Luck and have Fun!

 

[nicolemomof4cuties]

Oh and our favorite resort is Port Orleans Riverside!

 

[momof2n2]

you can do it!
check out my sig

 

[SplashMountainMama]

We're also going in January with a 3 month old baby (due date Oct. 23rd). Baby will make #6 for us. Our others are 10, 9 , 7, 5 and 3. My mom and dad will be in Orlando and are planning on coming to the parks with us for a couple days, but it will mostly be DH and I with the kids. This will actually be a bonus because I usually take the kids on vacation by myself. DH doesn't have that much vacation time and I'm a teacher so I've got a lot of time to spend with the kids. I'm really looking forward to it. We last went when the 3 yr. old was 8 months and we just took our time and paced ourselves. Because the older ones like the big rides now we will probably split up a few times throughout the week, but will have plenty of time together as a whole family. I love having a big family even though we are looked at as though we are crazy almost everyday. Sorry this turned out to be so long-winded. Have a great time!!!!

 

[kstinw19]

I so hope I didn't come across the wrong way, it was not my intent, you sooooo didn't need to justify it to me!

Oh not at all! You definitely had a good point that if you weren't used to the chaos all day long, you would have a really hard time dealing with it on vacation 24/7. I totally understand that and was just saying that having a sitter is pretty new to me so I have been used to the chaos for a while now

 

[kstinw19]

WDW is my childrens FAVORITE place on earth and part of that is because my DH the most stressed out anal person on earth relaxes and lets go there and chills.

I think our husbands must be long lost brothers

It is the only place on Earth that he is not on his cell phone...

Well, you have all given me the confidence to go for it! Thanks

 

[timmac]

Well, this won't help you much directly, but I'm very interested to hear how it all works out for you! In April, I'm going with DW, DS7, DD6, DD4 and DS (11mo). (All ages at time of travel) But, I'm bringing DMiL along as well, so I know it will be no biggie.

We did go to a local, smaller amusement park (day trip) this summer, with just my wife and I with all four kids, and it worked out all right. DD5 didn't want to go on much, so either DW or I would take DS6 and DD3 on everything.