Newborn at Disney

[C U AT DISNEY]

Hey guy's and gal's, we are going to be heading to to Disney sometime in Jan or Feb. My question is this, my fiance' and I will be going down with our 8 year old. My better half is due to have a baby in Oct. I would like to hear from all of you that have been down there with your 4 or 5 month old.. What is it like and did you have any problems with anything.. If you have any tips I would love to hear them...


James

 

[Dancermomof1]

Well...we went to Disneyland when DS was 3 weeks old and WDW when DS was 5 months old and both trips were fantastic! We stayed at the DLH the first trip which was just wonderful for a baby and so convenient and then we stayed at POR for our WDW trip which ended up being very quiet and had terrific bus service to the parks. The parks are laid out in such a family friendly way. The baby centers are a lifesaver when it comes to needing a cool, relaxing place to feed or change the baby. They sell baby supplies you might have forgotten for more reasonable prices than one would think. The baby swap is great too. You can take turns riding the attractions (baby free attractions) and then switch off without having to go through the line again. Plus, there are so many rides you can take baby on. It's a small world, Peter Pan's Flight, pretty much everything in Fantasyland is a go. When we went to WDW our little guy LOVED the characters so I suggest stopping in Epcot to see all the characters in the character photo stop. The baby slept a lot of the day in his stroller (that is a must because the strollers Disney has are not able to accomdate small babies). Just make sure to bring things like extra nasal aspirators and allergy medicine for baby... They didn't sell nasal aspirators (ours was lost somewhere during our flight) and concierge couldn't even track one down. Another little tidbit is- remember to bring plenty of baby socks. Like a lot of infants our son always would kick his off his socks and the CM's would not allow the characters to take pictures with our "barefooted child" so we kept having to buy more socks. It kind of added up so I reccomend bringing a little ziplock baggie full to the park just in case. Hope this helps a little. Have a fun trip!

 

[dougsmom98]

January weather will be great for a little one. The youngest we have taken is 8 months old, but we brought my DD to other parks when she was even younger. We thought it was pretty easy taking her when she was little. Get a Baby B'Jorn or something similar so whoever is holding the baby has their hands free. The baby can go on many of the rides sitting right in the B'Jorn. The only rides I didn't take the baby on were the ones that had height restrictions and also the teacups. Other than that, I think she did everything. She took naps in the B'Jorn or in her stroller. If you want your 8 year old to get a chance to ride a lot of the headliners (space mountain, thunder mountain, tower of terror, anything with a height restriction...) more often, then use baby swap. I am not great at explaining it, but when you go to get in line for a ride, tell the CM at the beginning of the ride that you would like to do a baby swap for that ride, they will see the baby and give you a baby swap pass that allows one person and two additional guests to go through the fast pass line anytime in that day. So, the 8 year old would go on with one adult while the other adult sits/shops/rests with the baby. When they are done riding the 8 year old can go through the fast pass line with the other (or same) adult in the fast pass line using the baby swap pass. My boys have gotten quite used to riding headliners quite a bit this way. It is nice so that neither adult has to miss out on the rides either.
You guys will have a great trip. Good luck.

 

[Miss LD]

We just got back from WDW and we brought our 3.5 month old. We had both a stroller and a Bjorn.
It was way easier than I could have thought. DD slept a lot (while we traded off taking ds on rides) and we were able to bring her on a lot of stuff including Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear. She LOVED Buzz Lightyear and was laughing and smiling the whole time. It was hilarious.
We also used baby swap and it was great.
I'm still nursing exclusively, but I spoke to my doctor in advance of the trip and she suggested introducing bottles of water so the baby would stay hydrated. She would have about 8 oz of water (boiled and then cooled to room temp) in addition to nursing.
I will say I was surprised how much more she ate. I had to drink a lot more water and eat a lot more to keep up. I'm pretty sure it was because it was so hot.
The other thing that helped a lot was the baby care centre. They are so helpful and friendly there. I found the baby needed a break from all the lights and noise so we would go there so she could eat and just be in some silence. We had a blast.
Also, because we have a 4 year old we went to some character meals. We have adorable pictures of her with the Winnie the Pooh characters and a beautiful one of her with Cinderella (she actually sat down and took the baby in her arms). The characters LOVE babies

 

[brandylouwho]

We took our 4 mo old last Sept. It was great. She is a very easy going kid though. We wore her a lot (in a sling or a bjorn), but she also used the stroller. DH refused to bring the travel system--he would not carry the bulky car seat part on the disney bus, so we used an umbrella type stroller.

I was breastfeeding and I am not that graceful about doing it in public, so I often ran back to the baby center (or ducked into the last row of a dark ride or show). Hubby would often go on to another ride with our 3 year old, but sometimes they'd come hang out near the baby center & get a snack or take a break too.

If you need more diapers, or a pacifier or even a clean outfit for baby--these things can be bought at the baby care center. They were also the easiest places to change daipers, but since there is only one per park, not practcal to go there for every change.

 

[hardingk]

Thanks for all this great information. We will be going with our baby in December and January. After reading so many reviews, we have decided to leave the car seat and stroller frame and get an umbrella stroller. Can't wait to check out the baby care centers! Do they care more then one type of formula?

 

[Dancermomof1]

Thanks for all this great information. We will be going with our baby in December and January. After reading so many reviews, we have decided to leave the car seat and stroller frame and get an umbrella stroller. Can't wait to check out the baby care centers! Do they care more then one type of formula?

Since they are sponsored by Nestle they carry the Nestle brand formula only.

 

[The Disney Bunch]

My little one was 6 months when we went - no problems - my best friend went down when her youngest was 4 months- no problems- It probably is easier when they are younger because they stay in a stroller for most of the time!
Good luck!

 

[goalierich]

Congrats on the new arrival! My DW and I took our DD (2yo) and our DS (5 months old) to WDW in May. I have to admit we were skeptical about it, but my DD kept asking us to take her to see Mickey. We went to MK and DHS and we had a great time. DS loved seeing the charaters, going on the rides in Fantasyland, especially Peter Pan and IASW, and he really liked the music in Country Bears. In DHS, he liked seeing the characters, the Playhouse Disney show, Beauty and the Beast and other shows. My only advice is that to take it easy, if you child has a set time to eat, have a bottle, etc., plan to do things around that. We would get to the parks when they opened, and left shortly after the afternoon parades, and went back to the resorts to let the rest and then splash around in the pools. Take care and have fun.

 

[kjs1976]

Is it really true about what an earlier poster said that they won't let you take a picture if your infant doesn't have socks on??????????

 

[geogirl0626]

Another little tidbit is- remember to bring plenty of baby socks. Like a lot of infants our son always would kick his off his socks and the CM's would not allow the characters to take pictures with our "barefooted child" so we kept having to buy more socks. It kind of added up so I reccomend bringing a little ziplock baggie full to the park just in case. Hope this helps a little. Have a fun trip!

Really? You couldn't take the baby's picture with a character if he had no socks on? That sounds bizarre to me. Did they give you reason? I've taken my infant to WDW, but I didn't take any pictures of her with the characters. We're FL natives, so she pretty much never wears socks! We're going again in Oct and we'll probably get some pictures this time because we're doing a character breakfast. However baby will be 10 months then and we may have something on her feet this time .

 

[Ellester]

Really? You couldn't take the baby's picture with a character if he had no socks on? That sounds bizarre to me. Did they give you reason? I've taken my infant to WDW, but I didn't take any pictures of her with the characters. We're FL natives, so she pretty much never wears socks! We're going again in Oct and we'll probably get some pictures this time because we're doing a character breakfast. However baby will be 10 months then and we may have something on her feet this time .

I have no sock experience at Disney, but I know we had to put "shoes" on our then 6 month old to take her on the carousel at Carowinds in NC. We didn't have any, but later a different operator let us on without a hassle (she sat in my lap on the stationary seat).

 

[geogirl0626]

My last trip to WDW was April 2008. My DD, who was 4.5 months at the time never wore any socks or shoes and rode all of the things that infants are able to ride. So I don't think Disney has any sort of guidelines on shoes for babies. But now I'm thinking that maybe they do and it's just not enforced?

OP, sorry this is kind of off on a tangent. To answer your concern, I found it to be super easy to take an infant to WDW. She either rode in her stroller or baby sling and was happy as a clam most of the time. I used the baby cares when they were convenient. We used the rider switch often as well. We all had a great time!

 

[lundve]

We took DS last year when he was 3 1/2 months old. I agree that it is easier to take them small when it is less likely that their schedule/development prevents them from wanting to be carried in a Bjorn or strolled everywhere. We also took Grandma though and do not regret that at all. Since we also had a 2 year old sometimes we needed the extra hands.

We loved the baby stations and meeting the characters too. In fact, Leo from Little Einsteins at Hollywood and Vine was really good at trying to comfort him. I also think it was super easy to take him at this age because he would sleep and eat anywhere. One thing I would not leave home without if she is BF is a cover. I bought a Bebe au Lait nursing cover from babycenter and it was worth its weight in gold. Any bench or place to sit became a convienient place to feed him without people staring. And it was so big and so easy to see him that I dont think anyone even knew there was a baby in there.

Have fun!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Hey guy's and gal's, we are going to be heading to to Disney sometime in Jan or Feb. My question is this, my fiance' and I will be going down with our 8 year old. My better half is due to have a baby in Oct. I would like to hear from all of you that have been down there with your 4 or 5 month old.. What is it like and did you have any problems with anything.. If you have any tips I would love to hear them...


James

We took my daughter when she was 5mo and my son when he was 5mo. Click on the links for my trip reports for each of those experiences. I talk a lot about caring for a newborn while at WDW.

Have fun!

 

[NotUrsula]

Thanks for all this great information. We will be going with our baby in December and January. After reading so many reviews, we have decided to leave the car seat and stroller frame and get an umbrella stroller. Can't wait to check out the baby care centers! Do they care more then one type of formula?

Unless your baby will be old enough to sit up unaided, be sure that the lightweight stroller can be reclined. Small babies that cannot yet sit up on their own should not spend extended periods in non-reclining strollers -- that is just as hard on their spines as sitting forever in a carseat.

 

[lundve]

Unless your baby will be old enough to sit up unaided, be sure that the lightweight stroller can be reclined. Small babies that cannot yet sit up on their own should not spend extended periods in non-reclining strollers -- that is just as hard on their spines as sitting forever in a carseat.

I agree!!

That being said we used a Zooper Waltz - a brand not very well known but very very good. (mine has lasted through 2 kids and many trips.) You can buy them online many places (we shopped tinyride). They actually have hard backs that recline in four different positions including almost flat. Several reclining stroller use ties or straps and they still slump in them. Mine also came with a foot muff, rain cover, and UV shade - the latter two that we used several times on our trip last year. Check them out.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

I agree, too. Although they are more difficult to maneuver at airports and on the buses, we took our double stroller on our last trip and always took a comfortable stroller for our daughter before we had two children. First trip with my daughter we took her full Graco travel system, including carrier. Second trip she was 1 and we used our Peg Perego P3. Third trip we had our newborn and our daughter was 2 1/2 so we took our Graco Quattro Tour Duo stroller. This upcoming trip we are going to see how we do with two individual strollers instead of the double -- we'll be taking our two Peg Peregos.

I cannot imagine not having them in the most comfortable stroller.

 

[alyssa810]

We went with our DS at 12 weeks, almost 5 months, almost 8 months, and we will be going the week before his 1st birthday (and when he's 14 months too). Anyway, at 12 weeks he spent a lot of time in his infant car seat in the big stroller, but he really seemed to enjoy the lights and music. He did pick up a tummy bug and was projectile vomiting all over MGM so I ended up flying home a day early with him (but that's a whole other story). It was on that trip that I fell in love with the baby centers !!
When we went down again when when he was almost 5 months we had such a good time! We still had to keep him pretty well covered since most pediatricians say 6 months before using sun block but he was sitting up in the big-boy part of his stroller, and had no tummy issues. He just started cereal a few weeks before, so again, we made great use of the baby centers for feedings, nursing, and changing! Our most recent trip in May was awesome! He was old enough for sun block so out came the shorts and short sleeves (and lots of SPF 50!). We also took him swimming in the evening, which he seemed to really enjoy. The baby centers were great again!! While I'm not sure if I'll still be nursing him when we go in September, I'm sure we'll hit the baby centers for cool down feedings too. We didn't use the baby swap for rides, we most rode things separately and made use of fast passes...As far as strollers go, I didn't want to use an umbrella stroller when he was 5 months since ours doesn't recline. We've stuck with our big graco quattro because not only for the full recline, but also for the storage basket so no one has to lug the diaper bag...or my DH's pins!! The only time that stroller is a major pain is getting it on the trams...and the steam train at MK

 

[jenlynn0808]

Our first trip to WDW in 2005, DD was 8.5 and DS was 11 months. The best thing we did for tehm, was split up. At MGM...oops DHS, I took DS to playhouse Disney, while DH & DD hit ToT and RRC. This worked out better for us, and DD didn't have to sit around waiting for DS to be feed or changed. At times we were together and at times we seperated.