leave baby home?

[sharonb]

I am a little torn-our plan at the moment is to bring our boys who will be 5 1/2 and almost 3 for 5 days to Disney next December-likely early on (we want to go to the magic Xmas party). We plan on driving from NC and my mom was going to take care of our baby girl who will be 14 months then. Now that she has arrived (10 weeks old ) I am a little sad about the thought of leaving her, but worry if we take her the boys wont have as much fun and we won't be able to go on rides and see shows etc with them as easily. Has anyone else had this dilemma? Advise please

 

[risy]

Congratulations on your little bundle and color me jealous! This trip will be our first without an infant in a long time (youngest is now 2). These are my thoughts:

All of your children are very young and you should be planning a more leisurely pace. Perhaps your infant daughter will actually force you to pace yourselves.

Your daughter will be happiest in your arms - no matter where those arms are: standing in line, waiting at dinner, at a show, on "it's a small world".

There are many debates on this, but there is no better way IMHO to keep baby close, happy, safe, and your hands free than in an old-fashioned baby sling. My husband refused to use this with our oldest. But when number two arrived, he became a true believer. He's now been sling-wearing babies & toddlers for the last 5 years! (So has mama.)

Your 3 year old will not be able to ride the same attractions as your daughter. So baby should not impact overall touring plan.

The joy (and later photos) of your daughter at 1 character breakfast will make it all worthwhile!

If you leave her behind, what will she think about that in 10 years? Disney is for families!

I am sure I will think of more reasons why families should vacation together (or wait a little longer). But I'll end this long post now. Good luck with your decisions and planning.

 

[BevS97]

personally I couldn't leave any member of the family behind, we just got back from a trip with our 6 year old and our 3 month old- she did fine, and while we probably didn't do some of the bigger rides with the 6 year old like Splash or BTM, if they had been really important to her then we could have made the effort and she could have seen them.

There is actually very little that the baby won't be able to ride- depending on the temperment of the 3 year old, he is more likely to impact on 'touring' plans, (for example the baby will quite happily ride Snow White's scary Ride, but the 3 year old may well be terrified of the witch)

We used both a sling and a stroller - I think the sling is essential around WDW for all those places a stroller won't go, but my back isn't strong enough for constant slinging - so for me a combination is ideal.

Bev

 

[megan2346]

I know how you feel. I could never leave my baby. We are going in March my son will be 3 1/2 and my baby will be 6 months. My parents are going with us. They came the last time we went and it worked out great. It is a extra set of hands and they can watch the baby when we go on rides. My Father loves to sit and give the baby a bottle, so we know he is good for all the feedings. It is also nice because they will watch the kids so we can do a dinner out. I know not everyone gets along with there family as well but if you can get another adult to come it would be a lot easier.
Megan

 

[PrincessMommy2]

I would also have to agree with the other posters that a baby really does not hold you back. We went this past November with our 7 mo. old DD and our just turned 3 DD. Now I have to tell you that my DH was totally against taking a baby with us because he thought it would be too hard and no fun.....boy was he wrong. Our first day in MK we had breakfast reservations at CRT. Paige(the 7 mo. old) loved the princesses. I don't know if it was the clothes or what but the pictures we have of her with them are priceless. She has such an adoring look on her face while looking at them. And Snow White left big lip marks on her forehead when she kissed her....my 3 year old loved that! Anyway, the baby was like that through the whole trip...she loved the characters...was not at all afraid of them. We took her on almost all the rides the 3 year old went on. DH and I even managed some grownup rides. We both got FP and one went on the ride while the other stayed with the kids. Yes, it would have been more fun going together, but on a couple of the rides our wait was even shorter b/c we were single riders! Baby DD easily slept in the stroller during the day and I nursed her on the quieter, darker rides. We both said the baby was the easiest of the two. Definitely take the baby, you won't regret it.

 

[jcemom]

We're going in February with DS 10, DS 9, and DD 1. While I don't think poorly of anyone who would want to go without baby, I know that I wouldn't enjoy myself if I left mine at home. (I would constantly be worried about her and/or wondering what she was doing!) She is such a joy! She is wide-eyed at everything at this point and I think she will be more fun than the older kids. It is just TOO CUTE for words to see her "dance" to any and all things she deems to be "music" so I think we'll have a ball!

 

[BrerMama]

I'm with the replies that say "take your baby!" I've gone twice with 10 month olds (1st and 3rd children) and they loved it and we loved it. That's not to say that we aren't looking forward to our first trip with all our children toilet trained and walking, but I can't imagine not sharing the Disney magic with them. If you can swing it, take Grandma with you. We did this last trip (except we took Grandpa) and he enjoyed sitting with our youngest while she napped and watching the crowds, sipping coffee, etc. while we took the two oldest on the thrill rides. If you can't do this, there's always the baby swap option. Disney makes it easy for young children to enjoy the park!

 

[kbkids]

We took our youngest for the first time when he was 15 months old, and he had a great time. I don't regret it one bit.

However, we did leave him at home at 9 months. He was a preemie, and we were going in February, so I didn't want to expose him to the cold and germs, but honestly, we were able to do more without having to stop and feed him, change him, get him to settle down for nap, etc. My parents live close by, and my kids are at their house around 20% of the time anyway, so it was not difficult for me to leave him, as I knew he was accustomed to being there anyway. And my DD had a great time being the center of attention again.

 

[risy]

I forgot to mention that Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party is usually from about 8p-1am.

ALL of my children are asleep by 7:30-8:30p so we've never had any interest in doing this. However, if we had, the baby asleep in a sling would be the happiest of the bunch!

 

[kbkids]

This year's MVMCP was from 7-12, but you were able to get in around 4:00. We were out of there by 9:30, right after Wishes and one last ride on Splash Mountain.

 

[BevS97]

we did MVMCP just a few weeks ago with the 6 year old and the baby, my baby was quite happy snuggled up in her stroller covered in loads of blankets, the big girl had a great time on all the rides, there were no lines at all so she was able to go straight on everything, while the other parent waited outside - the atmosphere was so lovely and the lines so short, that waiting outside was no hardship at all -plus most of the things we did were shows that the stroller could come into.

At the end of the night (we were there till nearly midnight), I put the baby in the sling, and the big girl in the stroller and they both slept all the way back to the car.

Bev

 

[Daisy64]

For me, 99% of the fun is seeing the reactions of my children and that gleam in their eyes, no matter the age!! We took our son to Disney Paris when he was 1 and dd 3, wow what a blast!! He sat in the stroller and was never bored, when sensory overload kicked in we'd find a quiet spot or leave.

Have a great trip!!

Daisy

 

[gravymom]

I would rather leave my 4 year old than my 2 year old (just kidding.) Get a sling. The baby will be the least of your worries.

 

[MissMagnolia]

I agree with all of the above. I could never leave my baby home - especially going to Disney!!

We are going in less than two weeks (yeah) with our DS (3-years-old) and our 8 month old DD. I am so excited to see her expressions on all she will see. Here is a thought - we are bringing my DH's mother along to play with our little one while we take our son on the rides the baby can't go on. That way our DS can do the things he wants with Mom and Dad, and our DD will be happy too!

 

[tinaluis]

Another vote for taking the baby. Like another poster said, the baby will be the least of your worries.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

First of all congratulations! I also have a new DD (13 weeks). We will be going back to WDW next Nov. (DH, DS (5) my mom, 3 cousins and myself) The baby should be about 13 months old and I can't wait to take her. Our first stop will be DD so I can buy her either a Minnie Mouse or princess dress. I heard they sell smaller sizes than at TDS. She already has a princess jacket for the cool nights. We're going to take our time and what we see we see and what we don't we don't.

 

[disneygeek]

I am always in the minority here. I take no one less than 18 mos old. I'd leave the baby. I took a 12 month old. He needed 2 naps a day at that time and thats just not pratical at Disney. I can't really say he enjoyed it either. At 18 months it was ok because he just napped once a day. But we didn't have a great time until he was 2 and a half.

Just my opinion.

 

[kendeann]

we took our 15 mo. old son, last yr. going again jan 23 - 31st.
i will have to say, thought we would not have fun but..... did 1st hair cut very cool, the gals at the barber shop knows there stuff, we went much slower & took naps/breaks but was not all bad at 40yrs. old our feet needed to rest also.
the only bad thing i can think of, is many places do not allow strollers, this upset me very much, disney is for kids..... other than this, our whole trip was good. very good baby changing stations, had everything kinda pricey but very, very good. our son got to much sun on his head, went to 1st aide, again very top noch place, very kind, willing to help out.

 

[houseofmouse]

Do whats feels right to you.

My DH and I leave our DD at least once a year for our anniversary trip. (She is our only, but we would leave a baby to take older sib. to DL or WDW) It has been easy because we leave her with someone we trust and she feels comfortable with. In fact when we asked her if she wanted to come with us to WDW or stay at Grandma's the kid actually had a tough time making a decision! Your daughter is still young and will most likely not remember if she went or not, so don't let that effect your decision.
Just decide whats best for your entire family then go have fun!

 

[Sammy]

I agree that you have to do what is right for you. We waited to take our first "family" trip until my youngest was done with naps and worrying about regular feeding times, etc. It worked out for us because even though we waited, the oldest was still "young" enough to have fun.

My SIL and BIL are going to WDW in January and are taking their 15 and 8 year olds....and leaving the 4 year old with Grammy for the week. I could never have done that. He's definately old enough to know he's being left behind. When I asked SIL why they were leaving him, her reply was, "We want to have FUN and not be tied down by DS...!!!!" Some "family" trip