QUESTION 1: Packing for a 10-month old

[RRBB]

Now that our trip is just 2 weeks away I'm full of questions about travelling with our baby.

Travelling with a 10-month old, what should I leave at home and what should I be sure to pack for our trip to WDW? Is there anything you really wished you'd taken but forgot? And was there something you took with you that was a total waste of space?

 

[metivier]

Must have -- disposable changing pads. I bought the Huggies ones online and they were GREAT to have at the parks!

Must have -- quart size and gallon size storage bags. I bought the Target brand ones with the zippable (is that a word? ) top. Great for packing outfits, for packing snacks, for storing leftover food for snacking later, for disposal of smelly (!) diapers, etc.

Must have -- disposable sippy cups. Who cares if they get lost (which they will)?

Must have -- sunscreen and diaper cream. We brought Triple Paste in case of a bad diaper rash.

Must have -- a small roll of duct tape. We used it to tape down electrical cords in the room, to tape down a table cloth at the California Grill (under the table), to tape rain ponchos down to DD so it didnt blow in her face, etc. You can even tape over electrical outlets with those saftey plugs if you have a VERY inquisitive one. I now have a small roll of duct tape in my diaper bag at all times.

In the Why Did I Pack So Much category -- toys. It was silly to bring so much stuff with us. I would REALLY cut back on this stuff as you end up needing so little -- plus you are going to buy stuff there anyway.

In the Wow, What a Great Tip category -- one of those over the door holders -- I bought ours for $1 at the local dollar store. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! We stored bathroom/toiletry things in there. It helped us get stuff off the vanity so when DS was cruising the room (he didn't walk until 13 months but was definitely cruising at 10 months) he didn't pull stuff off the vanity.

Good luck and have fun!
Karen

 

[Huntava]

Great idea on the over the door holder for extra hanging space. Wouldn't have thought of that, but very glad you did. That is going on my packing list.

A few other ideas on baby packing, the disposable bibs, I think called bibsters.
Also disposable placemats, you can get them at baby stores, they stick to the table and remove very easily with no mess, so you don't have to worry about the baby eating things off the table (if they are sitting in a high chair).
Remember if you are staying at a place with a clothes washer, you don't have to overpack on clothes, and can just wash some if you need to. This really helped us when we travelled with our infants.

 

[goofygal531]

I went when my DS was 11 months old back in January. This is what I did:

Food: He was on baby food at the time. I packed each ziplock bag with a disposable bib, disposable infant spoon, some with disposable bowls and single serve infant cereal. When I arrived in FL, I had Tiffany Towncar stop at Publix for me and I bought all his jar food, formula, bottled water, and diapers at the store. Pack each meal "ziplock" ahead of time so when your ready to run out the door, baby has a meal pack.

Bottles: Brought 5 of them. Make sure to bring dish soap and bottle brush.

Bath: Layed towel down in tub, filled water on top of it. Brought the Johnson & Johnson travel pack of soaps and lotions. Used plastic cups as tub toys.

Toys: Bought DS Disney toys (ball, spinning mickey, cars, etc...)

Diaper Bag: Used a tote bag while traveling, then used Skip Hop at WDW. Kept it on my stroller (Zippy) while on rides. Kept my valuables in a small handbag with me at all times. Bring rain shield, travel umbrella, sun canopy.

Clothes: Since I was there in Jan the weather was crazy. 75 during the day, 45 at night. I kept a stroller blanket in the the basket along with sweats to throw over his clothes in the evening.

I also went around his schedule. Up and out early, back to bed by 9pm. Once caught fireworks at MK, once at Epcot. Epcot one scared him - very loud!

If your child is sleeping, restaurants will let you dine and bring the stroller in. I found this was the best way to have a nice early dinner in peace! He'd wake when we were done, and I'd feed him while having coffee.

Need any other info, just email me.

 

[EthansMom]

Food: He was on baby food at the time. I packed each ziplock bag with a disposable bib, disposable infant spoon, some with disposable bowls and single serve infant cereal. When I arrived in FL, I had Tiffany Towncar stop at Publix for me and I bought all his jar food, formula, bottled water, and diapers at the store. Pack each meal "ziplock" ahead of time so when your ready to run out the door, baby has a meal pack.

I did this also and it was great! I bought disposable bibs, placemats, spoons and packed one of each into a small ziploc bag with one jar of baby food. In the morning, I would just grab three "meal packs" and throw them in the diaper bag -- easy as pie!

I also bought and used disposable changing pads (less bulky than regular changing pad and didn't have to worry about washing poopy changing pads -- just reused the disposable one until it got messy and then pulled out another disposable) and I used disposable sippy cups (since we use Soy milk, I bought enough for 3 cups each day and then rinsed each cup out and put it away to take home after it was used).

Take all of baby's usual medecines -- Tylenol, Motrin, orajel, decongestant, nebulizer (if you use one)...

Also, take and use antibacterial wipes -- lots of germs at WDW. DD got pink eye on our last trip. Don't let any kids touch your baby!!!!!

Pack stain spray and other laundry supplies. Plan on doing a load or two. With two kids, I did two loads about 4 days into our trip.

Don't forget extra pacifiers, if your child uses them -- they get lost easy!!!!

As for overpacking, we really do wear the same 20% of our clothes 80% of the time. I only pack clothes and shoes that we really wear at home and plan on doing laundry. Also, with toys, less is more.

Enjoy your trip!

 

[LaraK]

Must have -- disposable changing pads. I bought the Huggies ones online and they were GREAT to have at the parks!

Must have -- quart size and gallon size storage bags. I bought the Target brand ones with the zippable (is that a word? ) top. Great for packing outfits, for packing snacks, for storing leftover food for snacking later, for disposal of smelly (!) diapers, etc.

Must have -- disposable sippy cups. Who cares if they get lost (which they will)?

Must have -- sunscreen and diaper cream. We brought Triple Paste in case of a bad diaper rash.

Must have -- a small roll of duct tape. We used it to tape down electrical cords in the room, to tape down a table cloth at the California Grill (under the table), to tape rain ponchos down to DD so it didnt blow in her face, etc. You can even tape over electrical outlets with those saftey plugs if you have a VERY inquisitive one. I now have a small roll of duct tape in my diaper bag at all times.

In the Why Did I Pack So Much category -- toys. It was silly to bring so much stuff with us. I would REALLY cut back on this stuff as you end up needing so little -- plus you are going to buy stuff there anyway.

In the Wow, What a Great Tip category -- one of those over the door holders -- I bought ours for $1 at the local dollar store. WHAT A GREAT IDEA! We stored bathroom/toiletry things in there. It helped us get stuff off the vanity so when DS was cruising the room (he didn't walk until 13 months but was definitely cruising at 10 months) he didn't pull stuff off the vanity.

Good luck and have fun!
Karen

I would add disposable spoons. Ziplock baggies. We brought little disposable bowls with lids and pre-mixed cereal with formula before leaving the hotel. They now sell baby food in plastic containers...much easier than glass. In terms of the toys...I brought those really colorful links (you can get them from lots of places) that I put on the stroller and secured any toys we had in the park to them. Once you popped the toy off, the links stayed on the stroller and helped us identify it. A little squeeze bottle of dish soap...I was amazed at everything that needed to be washed. Swimmy diapers...harder to find then I thought. Snack foods (cheerios, finger foods, etc...) Enough wipes to wipe down the world! ( few with antibactial qualitiess) and waterless antibacterial hand soap.

In terms of the "what I brought that I didn't need"...I bought WAY too much water. I found out quickly that it was easier to as a CM for a little warm water than to lug a bottle with me.

 

[AUDramaQueen]

We did the "food" bag too. Disposable spoon, disposable bib, disposable table mats and food all went in a zip-loc bag. Highly recommend the mats. They do stick to the table so he could eat regular food off of it and not the icky table. Our 11 month old eats like crazy so we also took some snacks.

We also did this with his diapers. We put about 4 diapers, disposable changing pads, and travel wipe box all in a zip-loc bag and then put that in our backpack. When he needed changing we just pulled that out. Saved on keeping up with a separate diaper bag.

We used a pacifier tether so we wouldn't have to worry about him dropping it on the ground.

Umbrella stroller, but I'll let you read the millions of stroller threads here to make a descision about that!

Of course, sunscreen, pain/fever reliever, etc