Help! Traveling with infant. Need advice!

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

We are going to Disney again in October. This time with a new addition. Our youngest son will be 5 1/2 months old at time of trip. We also have DS9 and DS6. He is also breastfed only (will not take a bottle or pacifier) and it is a 21 hour car drive for us ( will stop in a hotel halfway and stay night) I'm worried about how it will be while we are in Florida and for the drive(he doesn't like the car rides much at all). Any advice would be much appreciated. Are there places to nurse in Disney? We will be going to Animal Kingdom this time and Sea World and the beach. PLEASE HELP with any advice you can. THANKS!!

 

[KteaRN]

Hi there!

I have breastfed my kids, and my advice is don't worry about it, just do it when he's hungry. There are baby care centers I understand in each park, but they're not always close. Find them on the park maps, but I would be prepared to just grab a shady spot or go into a show or a corner of a restaurant, and nurse! Also, definitely bring a sling or other carrier, I have an ergo. This way you have a hands free way of carrying him, and you can nurse a little more discreetly if you're bothered by nursing in public. There are many threads on this topic, if you do a search, with great advice.


As for the car ride, I don't know. You'll have to stop every few hours to nurse, and you can let your other kids burn off some energy with DH at that time, maybe you could sit in back some of the time to try & entertain the baby? My kids all just go to sleep in the car, or we sing songs together and even small babies are entertained by that!

 

[gwtw428]

Hi, I took my 4 month old daughter to Disney this past December. We had a great time. I didnt breastfeed but I did pump. I used the baby center in every park. They have a private breastfeeding room there. ( I was uncomfortable pumping in there so I went to the first aid center and the nurses there let me pump in a private room there!) The baby centers are located in all the parks:
Magic Kingdom - next to Crystal Palace Restaurant
Epcot - before you enter World Showcase it is over the bridge to the left (brown building)
MGM - Located in the front of the park in the Guest Services building (this baby center is small)
Animal Kingdom - I cant remember where this one was! Sorry
They all have a small play area with kids tables and a tv, puzzles, toys (exept for mgm). And bathroom. They even sell baby stuff...diapers, formula, bibs, etc.
These centers saved me! I also pumped on occasion in the bathrooms in the parks or restaurants.
Have a great time.....Also, the Baby Bjorn carrier was a life saver.

 

[bean]

Both of my girls also refused pacifiers and bottles so I know how that is! I actually thought it made our trip very easy though. We went twice when my youngest was still nursing and it was easy to not have to pack supplies for the park. I did take a lot of breaks when she was younger in the Baby Centers to get out of the heat. It's nice and quiet in there and the staff there is always very nice. However, I've breastfed more places in the parks than I can remember. The longer rides such as POTC and IASW are great. Just be discreet and no one notices or cares. Drink lots of water though b/c it will still be pretty warm in Oct. I also LOVED having my mei tai and ellaroo wrap for the waits in line, waits for parades, etc. We would often park the stroller in one area and leave it while we walked around with the baby in the wrap. Have fun! THe trips with the babies were a lot of fun!

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Thank you so much to all of you who have already responded. I love hearing the tips and the stories. Keep them coming!

 

[LadyShea]

I didn't nurse as we adopted our DS, but my mom told me she always just threw a light scarf or blanket over her shoulder, covering both the baby and breast, while nursing us and never made a fuss about it. She said people even asked her "Don't you ever feed that baby" because they simply didn't notice LOL!

If you use a wrap type sling that would work beautifully. They also have baby care centers in each park. Though as another poster mentioned they might not be convenient for every feeding.

 

[barbanm]

Last August my son had just turned one and at this point took very few solids and refused to even drink water out of a cup! So I nursed him our entire 2 week stay- several times a day to keep him hydrated! I was worried about it before I left but read some great posts here that put my mind at ease. I would say it mignt be a bit tricky if you are shy about nursing in pulblic but for me it was very easy! It was REALLY hot so whenever we were anywhere close I used the babycare centers. They were great for cooling down and getting out of the sun. I also nursed in many shows/theatres and occasionally when he couldn't wait in shady spots (if the weather had been cooler I would have done this probably most of the time). I even nursed him in a couple of restaurants while we were eating. At the Water parks I do not believe there are any baby care centers and there I just nursed him in the shade. No one even blinked an eye at me nursing him.... I truly thought it was very easy and would not even hesitate if we had another baby to go with a nursling!

Good Luck!

Barbara