Just back with 5 month old!

[NurseKim]

Hi!

I used to be a frequent poster here, but I've gone into lurk mode again! Actually, I've been busy with my son and I belong to an internet playgroup!

I lurked here for tips since this was our 1st trip with a baby.

We returned Saturday after 5 wonderful days in WDW.

We used Tiffany Towncar van and provided our own carseat. They were wonderful as usual.

We took our large stroller and I used my Maya Wrap Sling alot, especially on the rides and on the bus.

We stayed in Pop Century and had them provide the Pack n Play. Be sure to ask at check in for the crib. We had to call Mousekeeping when we arrived in our room for them to deliver it. They provided cute Disney sheets for it too.

I BF my son everywhere. I used the Baby Centers in all 4 parks. MK and EC have a room with 4 rockers each for nursing moms. AK had only 2 BFing rooms which were both taken so I had to BF in the kids room which was too distracting for my son. At MGM, the 2 BFing rooms were more like dressing rooms with pull curtains.
There were times when I had to BF my son and the rooms just weren't a quick walk away. I nursed him in restaurants and on benches and in Ellen's Energy Adventure. Sorry if some of you don't agree with that but when the baby is screaming and hungry, you feed him!
No one blinked an eye at us. I was pretty discreet. In Donald's Breakfastasaurus, our waiter (who was a hoot!) poured OJ for me while I was BFing. He said "This is the OJ with vodka". I joked and said "Oh, good, then he'll be really quiet then!" LOL
I also saw other moms NIP too.

If you are looking to get a solo pic of your infant and Mickey Mouse, visit the Judge's Tent in Mickey's Toontown Fair. He was sitting on a chair and held my son.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

[disneymama73]

Sounds like you had a great trip, Kim! And I love the picture of your son. He is adorable!!!

 

[dparksfan]

thanks for the tips! Our ds will be 4 1/2 mos. during our trip. I'm pretty freaked out how he will be. I planned the trip before he was born, and now I have a not sleeping through the night and spitting up infant to take on vacation! My first son was easy so I assumed 2nd would be the same, wrong!! I know...I didn't listen to everyone who warned me that each kid is different! I imagine I will be breastfeeding around wdw, and hopefully he will be good in the stroller. We will be taking a baby bjorn, which I haven't tried yet because he pukes! Expecting to do a lot of laundry on this trip. Just wondering how your son did with all of the temperature changes, since mornings and evenings are cold and afternoons warm? Did you spend the majority of the trip feeding and changing clothes? Or did you avoid the cold with him?
TIA

 

[NurseKim]

We dressed him in layers. Onesie, long or short sleeve shirt and pants and a jacket. I also took 2 changes of clothes with me in my diaper bag backpack. I also had a thin pram suit that he wore most mornings. My mom got it at JC Penney. It's a mickey mouse one and it's adorable!
My son only eats 5-6 times a day so I had to BF him about 2-3 times in the parks. Have lots of bibs and cloth diapers on hand.
I hope this has answered your questions!
Have fun and good luck!

 

[cyndibelle]

your son is ADORABLE!!!!..we are leaving in 19 days for pop century and we cant wait!!!

 

[kelma]

I'm glad you had such a great time! Good for you for feeding your baby when and where you needed to. Nothing I like to see better than a happy, well-fed baby (and mama )!

 

[bjakmom]

We also just returned from trip with 4 1/2 mos old granddaughter- fortunately for us, she is an extremely calm baby and sleeps 10-12 hours per night (my DD has no idea how lucky she is, as this is her first!!).

We took a smaller, cheaper stroller that reclined for sleeping. The most valuable article on the trip was the rain sheild for the stroller - we used it at night when it was a bit chilly and/or windy and she was as snug as a bug in there (it never did rain!). I was surprised to only see 2 others the entire trip - but I did see lots of babies with cold wind in their little faces! It was only about $8 at Babies-r-us!! It completely covered the stroller and even had net side vents that could be opened for additional ventilation if needed.

We never had a problem taking the stroller into a restaurant - everywhere we ate found us a table with space around it, or removed a chair so it could be slid up to the table.

The baby bjorn came in handy on the buses and for a break from the stroller (she spit up a bit more in that, too, pressure on the tummy when facing forward I guess).

Sorcerer Mickey in MGM also knelt down on the floor to hold her for an awesome picture! The characters all had a lot of fun with her - she loved them all - giant stuffed animals to her!

Several of the restaurants (Crystal palace and Chef Mickeys for us) had the 'infant' high chairs which were especially great for character meals, as the characters would kneel down and turn her around to face the camera - great shots!

The bottom stroller basket was a great place to store all the layers of clothes for this time of year.

The baby care centers were awesome - one frantic morning DD forgot a bottle and we were able to purchase one at the center for $2.19 - we were so glad we didn't have to run back to the resort! Also had microwaves for heating bottles and wonderful rooms for tired Omas (grandmoms) to rock and feed the baby in peace and quiet.

We also found that any place with boiling water for tea was happy to give us a 1/2 cup of water to warm the bottle in - it worked like a charm!

We quickly caught on that even though the baby seemed to be handling some rather loud or startling rides/attractions without crying, she would go into 'overload' (not the norm for this baby) by evening - too much overstimulation and once we cut back, she was right back to her mellow self.

It was a great trip and we were lucky to have 5 grown ups for only one baby - made it much easier, I know - but I still feel that WDW is very baby friendly - you just have to slow it down and take it easier - remember that you don't (and can't) do/see it all and stay sane and happy!! Thanks again to everyone for the great tips they gave us - they all worked and I'm just passing them on!

 

[castlegazer]

WOO HOO - NURSING MOMS UNITE!

I just have one question - Internet Playgroup? What's this and how does it work?

 

[jmkst58]

congrats to you. sounds like you managed to create a very enjoyable vacation that you will cherish forever.

Re: BF in public...you're not the first...you won't be the last. I anticipate having to do the same on our next trip with my then- 8 month old => If there aren't enough interesting sights around to divert others' atttention at WDW...then I'd be suprised.

 

[GEM]

Thanks for the great report. We are taking our baby in May for his first birthday and I'm looking forward to nursing him "around the world". He's almost 9 months old now and we are pretty much pros at nursing in public, so I won't be making any long walks to the nursing rooms either. Although, it sounds like a good place to get out of the heat if we happen to be nearby! Good for you for doing what's best for your baby!

 

[jhun21]

Hi everyone!

I just got back from a very short business trip where I went to Universal Studios for one day - it was nice because we have a 3 month old girl, and we sort of got to "test drive" her at a park, as we are going back in March (Caribbean Beach) for 6 days.

What I am wondering is from any of you that were just there with infants, is what rides can you actually take them on? If you go to the Disney website, it just says "guests with children too small to ride can make arrangements wit a cast member" or something like that. It would seem like things like Peter Pan, Pooh, Journey Into Imagination, you would be able to take them on. Should we bring the Baby Bjorn?

Thanks for your help!

 

[bjakmom]

jhun21 - Welcome to the DIS !

We used the baby bjorn quite a bit - and then some rides we just held her (4.5 mos old). We took the baby on most of the rides and shows that we could, Peter Pan, Small World, Haunted Mansion, Figment, etc - she loved them, though we noticed that loud noises would 'startle' her, but she didn't cry. After a few nights where she was crying for an hour or so before bed (normally a very mellow baby who falls right to sleep and sleeps through the night), we decided to cut down on the loud attractions (like the 3D movies) and she was back to her old self - we definitely feel that we were 'overstimulating' her, even though she seemed fine at the time. She loved Small World and even Philharmagic!! We didn't really use the baby swap, I usually waited with the baby (I was just so happy to have my new grandbaby with me at WDW - I had fun just walking her around!!) so the big kids could see and do all they could - besides, I get to go back in Dec. !

We thought that Universal made it easier to baby swap, as they use the 'old' system of waiting right at the ride unload and then getting right on - at WDW we found most rides were using a system of telling you to wait for the first riders to go through, then the second rider would use the fast past line (sometimes another 5 or 10 min wait) - it seemed like a lot more waiting to us.

Have a wonderful trip !!