Nice places to nurse in the parks?

[my3princes]

I've nursed 2 sons at disney over the years and like you I didn't mind nursing in public. Nursing shirts work great at Disney. they keep you completely covered. I didn't worry ahead of time about where I would nurse and all worked out fine. My best advice is to position your stroller in front of you. It will block the view of unlookers a bit. My experience is this: I never, in the 20+ days that I nursed in Disney parks had a negative comment. Most people are so involved in their own vacation that they don't even realize what you are doing. The only difficulty I encountered was trying to nurse at Blizzard Beach in a bathing suit. He didn't like being covered with a towel or sheet (we used 1/2 of a twin sheet as a blanket instead of a regular blanket. It also works great over the stroller for naps to help block the sun). If you've ever been to Blizzard Beach you know that there is no quiet out of the way spot. Another good tip for a baby is to buy the battery operated clip on fans. We had people stop us to thank us for taking such good care of our baby. I recommend at least 2. Good Luck.

 

[lindaso]

Originally posted by my3princes
The only difficulty I encountered was trying to nurse at Blizzard Beach in a bathing suit. He didn't like being covered with a towel or sheet (we used 1/2 of a twin sheet as a blanket instead of a regular blanket.

An easy way around this problem is to keep a light t-shirt handy. You take your arm through and take down the strap of your bathing suit and put your arm back in the t-shirt. Then you lift the shirt from the bottom like you normally would and nobody sees a thing and you don't need to cover baby with anything.

 

[dmaz]

Some great tips. I actually just did a search of the site a few hours ago and this didn't come up on the first page. Glad I checked again.
I'm glad everyone mentioned clothing. I have recently lost 60lbs, due to nursing and exercise, and started buying more form fitting clothing for my April trip. Ooops! forgot I might have to nurse my 8 mo old in public. Guess I have to go through my wardrobe again.
Thanks for all the great tips and advice about nursing in the parks. I am shy about nursing in public places - not commonplace where I live. In fact, I have encountered many uncomfortable people - even in my own home.
With my first I would hide but now that I'm older and wiser I feel if they're not comfortable they can leave!
I'm glad to hear that there will probably lots of other nursing mothers around.

Gem - good for you - I hate to hear people say they couldn't nurse. Look at you - WOW!

 

[kangaandroo]

El Rio Del Tiempo in Mexico is my favorite because it is dark, cool, quiet, and you can stay on virtually forever because it isn't busy. I generally don't go out of my way for the baby centers, but they are great if you are close by. Aside from nursing, they are great for a place to let a young toddler down to stretch in a cool spot, play with some toys etc. Ditto on the kudos for all of the nursing-past-a-year moms! My DD is 15 months and going strong. I figure she'll need a king size bed in college so I can continue the night feedings, LOL. I have had her at WDW twice (at 10 weeks and at 14 months,) and we had no problems either time. DH was working, so we did the parks solo. We're going back in May (she'll be 16 months) and it'll be just the two of us again for a week. I think the best advice I heard was to nurse at every opportunity, and to keep yourself hydrated! I have no modesty and will nurse absolutely anywhere, but sometimes it is nice to sit in a cool quiet spot so the baby can focus on the job at hand.

 

[justhat]

I'm heading down to WDW in May with my daughter who will be almost 3 months old then and am so glad that I found this thread. She's a month now and last night we went out to dinner with her whcih was the first trip in public other than things like the dr or cvs but she slept the whole time so I didn't have to nurse her so I haven't yet had any experience with nursing in public. I don't have a problem with the idea of nursing in public, but if my daughter at 3 months is anything like she is now at a month I don't know how we'll manage it. She's so easily distracted now that she'll constantly unlatch to look around and then after about 7 minutes total she's asleep and there's no way you're waking her up till she's ready (and this is when she's sitting on the same sofa or rocking chair she is fed in everyday). So my big fear for our trip to WDW was that I'll have to trek back to the baby care centers to nurse her, and at that point she'll still be nursing every few hours so it would really put a damper on our trip, especially since it's me and a group of female family and friends. If it were just me, my fiancé and the baby I wouldn't care as much, but I don't want to ruin the trip for everyone else by constantly leaving to feed the baby, and since it's the end of May I don't want to risk pumped milk going bad if the icepacks melt or something. So thank you!!! to all the quiet places I can try that should hopefully help her nurse without too many distractions.

 

[mum4jenn]

I did not nurse but I would think that a great spot would be the Rose Garden at MK. It is a nice shady place and no one hardly ever sits down there. You can still people watch and see what is going on and no one would be able to see what you were doing.

Do you have any recent pictures of Paul?? How much does he weigh now?? I remember when he was born and thinking tht God must have some very special plans for him.

 

[peanutzmom]

Originally posted by justhat
So my big fear for our trip to WDW was that I'll have to trek back to the baby care centers to nurse her, and at that point she'll still be nursing every few hours so it would really put a damper on our trip, especially since it's me and a group of female family and friends.

If you aren't already using one, I would strongly recommend you try out a sling (my favorite is the Maya Wrap) before you go! When my babies were still as young as yours, I would nurse them in the sling and use the tail of the sling to cover them, not out of modesty, but to keep them fom becoming distracted by all of the sights & sounds. At that age, they would blissfully nurse themselves to sleep in the sling!

 

[GEM]

This is just the best thread. Thanks everyone who has contributed their wonderul ideas.

mum4jenn, Paul is doing great! He's 11 months old now and weighs about 15 pounds, so he's still small. However, he doesn't seem to know it! He is crawling, trying to pull up, saying "DaDa" and "MaMa", and just generally having a great time! I'm working on getting some pictures here on the DIS, but until then, here is a webpage with some pics. It needs to be updated desperately, so there aren't any really recent pictures. I don't think it's been updated since the beginning of February.

http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/b/bittybuddy/

 

[liznboys]

This thread is GREAT!!! We just had our 3rd baby on the 6th, and we'll be in WDW for his 1st birthday next year. I plan to still be nursing him then, so this thread is very helpful! And it's always wonderful to see other moms who nurse past one year, we are a rare breed unfortunately.

Happy nursing!!

 

[RIDISNEYLOVERS]

I too want to congratulate all of us nursing moms!!

I too feel that this is a wonderful thread. In December my youngest DD was 7 months old when we went to Disney and I never nursed in public until that trip - I got over my fears - FAST!! We will be going in May and she is going to be ONE on May 8th and I am going to be nursing her then too. We are doing quite well together!! She is very distractible too so I know how hard it is to be discrete when they are on and off and you are trying to get through a feeding!!

DH and I have been to Disney so many times that we truly go for the enjoyment of our girls. We take it all in now and go at a relaxing pace instead of having to do it all. Potty training is similar, but that is a whole other thread.

Enjoy your time and the bond you are making with your baby!!

Lisa

 

[mum4jenn]

GEM....He is such a cutie pie!!!! I had a co worker whose grand daughter had a preemie only a couple of ounces more than Paul and was born just about the say time.(only a couple of days later).This little baby went to heaven but I have always wa=ondered about little Paul. Glad to hear he is doing so well.

 

[MelessaG]

GEM-
He is precious and he and I share a birthday, though mine was many years before his. I was a preemie too.

 

[M_N_M_MOMMY]

I admire all of you nursing moms. GO YOU!!

I will be going to MK next week to celebrate my son's 1st birthday. We are still nursing and this will be his first trip away from home. I am PRAYING that all goes well. He usually doesn't do well when he is out for long periods and likes to be at home. I am hoping that he will adapt to this new schedule for the 4 days we will be in Orlando.

Anyone have any additional suggestions? My son is also a very nosy nurser. He loves the ****ie but will pull off constantly to see what's going on.

 

[phillybeth]

Not BFing (not a mom), but there is a nice quiet spot behind the Sleepy Hollow counter service place- tables with benches, shaded and quiet with not much traffic. Great view of the Castle too! Plus, Sleepy HOllow does great fresh cookies, brownies and icecream sandwiches You can both have a snack!

 

[Ariel8676]

This thread makes me so happy..
My(#3) dd is almost 16 months and still going strong... most of the places mentioned we have nursed at..lol TTA is probably my favorite, and they will let you go around as many times as you'd like.
I love having my slings and Mei Tei's for walking around, nursing and standing in lines. I had a Solarweave Mei Tei (Sachi)that i brought with us for our trip last August that was great..it has sun protection and very breathable and had an attached hood...i wore her around the parks in it during the day and could take her right in the pool in it.
As for clothes..in the summer months i usually wear one of those fitted tank tops with the built in bra shelf thingy(for lack of a better word) under a nice regular tank top...that was you can just lift the outside tank and your belly is covered...

Good Job Mamas!!!!!!

 

[mommytomy3]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the TTA (my favorite!!!) At Epcot, the boat rides in The Land are also great nursing spots.

!

These were my favorite places to nurse-especially TTA!
and also in the differnt airconditoned shows/attractions

 

[Juliet25]

My DD's first trip to WDW was right after she turned one. For the most part, she didn't want to nurse with all the excitement going on. When she did, it was usually in a quiet area. I nursed in The Little Mermaid show at MGM...any of the shows would be a good spot. But I also nursed her after a traumatic encounter with Cinderella's mice in Toon Town (I underestimated how scary a really big mouse is to a 1 YO!). I nursed her right outside that big giftshop where all the people come out after meeting the characters. It was very busy, but I don't think anyone had any clue we were nursing.

ETA: Just realized the original post was from 3 years ago! Oh well, hopefully others will find this info useful.

 

[Juliet25]

Wow! You guys are the best!! I am so grateful for all the wonderful suggestions - and for the support! I'm especially glad to hear from all of you nursing babies past the first year, since we are definately headed there ourselves.

The Internet is a great place to connect with other "full term nursers." I didn't know anyone IRL who was nursing past 1 year, but thanks to my on-line pregnancy playgroup and visiting other boards, I learned I wasn't a weirdo for not closing up shop when DD turned 1.

It's more common than you think.

 

[katiebsmom]

Hi all!

I'm a fellow BF mom too and I did a little research on this not to long ago for myself for our upcoming trip. This may have been mentioned already (sorry, I didn't read through all the posts ). Each park has a baby care station where they sell baby products and provide a great environment for changing/rocking/nursing our little ones (or so I'm told, I've never seen them!). HTH!

 

[katiebsmom]

The Internet is a great place to connect with other "full term nursers." I didn't know anyone IRL who was nursing past 1 year, but thanks to my on-line pregnancy playgroup and visiting other boards, I learned I wasn't a weirdo for not closing up shop when DD turned 1.

It's more common than you think.

I nused my DD (in the pic below) until she was two and a half. I mostly did it A. because it was convenient and DD has clingy/comfort issues, B. Because my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when DD was 1 year old and after intense research, I found that a woman who nurses her child for two years or more lowers her risk of breast cancer by 50% more than if only nursing to a year old . Peple being judgmental towards me was a small price to pay for all the benefits .

I say, if it's right for you and YOUR family, that's ALL that counts!!!