Taking 5 month old, Any Tips, suggestions?

[disney4us91]

We have been to Disney many times but never with a infant. We open and close the parks and we also have a 11 and 9 year old. I am planning on taking my own stroller and a baby carrier. Do you have any tips or suggestions on how to make things eaiser. I formula feed and I dont think we will be going back to the hotel for naps, I know I will have to stop and let the baby sleep at some point during the day. Also I want to bring her on any rides she can go on. Can she ride with me in the baby carrier or will I have to hold her. also will be driving 13 hours to get there. OK I will stop asking questions and hope I get some good tips. Thanks!

Sherry

 

[1Prince2Princesses]

When we took my little ones at that age (and even now, at 11 mos and 2 1/2), they would nap in the stroller. When it looked like they were getting pooped, I'd find a quiet, shady spot (yes, it IS possible! see below) and send DH and DD off to ride for a while, change the diaper, feed the bottle, and rock the baby in the stroller until she fell asleep. Then kick back and people watch while the baby naps.

As far as riding rides, if by "baby carrier" you mean something like a snugli, then you should be able to take the baby on rides in this. You might find, however, that your little one will be much more interested in the rides than you expect.

Whatever you do, take enough of everything with you. You do NOT want to run out of formula or diapers in the parks. While they are available for purchase, they are insanely expensive there.

Quiet places for the kids to rest:

MK - There are several nooks and crannies in Adventureland, near Pirates of the Carribean. Great to send the older ones for ONE MORE RIDE on Splash Mtn and Pirates!

AK - Anywhere on a bench in the Oasis area near the front of the park.

EPCOT - There are spots throughout the park, but the one that worked best for me was the walkway between the restaurant and the store near Mission Space. Not as quiet as some, but the constantly opening doors of the two buildings made it rather cool, and a relief from the opressive heat.

MGM - Not so many shady spots here. What did work was the covered food court area near Tower of Terror, across from the Beauty and the Beast show area. We hit it after the lunch rush, and it was quiet and covered.


Good luck to you, and have a super time!

 

[bjakmom]

When we took DGrD at 5 mos we had a wonderful trip - I LOVE the rayshade for the stroller (still using it, and she's 3 now) -http://www.toysrus.com/product/inde...255983.2256189.2256199&pg=3&parentPage=family
- protected her from the sun and gave her a dark, quiet place to nap. Also take a rain cover for the stroller - and use it whenever you leave the stroller - the rains can come quickly in FL and I've seen many a soaking wet stroller from a quick shower while the family was on a ride/attraction. We used the Baby Bjorn a lot - and she loved meeting the characters this way - while facing outwards, of course! If you go in the colder weather, the Baby Bjorn fleece over-blanket (elasticized to go right over the baby while in the carrier) was great to have and much easier than a blanket. Several of the restaurants offered infant high chairs - we used then whenever they had them - we always asked to take our umbrella stroller in if they didn't - and every place we asked allowed us to - made meal times much more pleasant. Have Fun!! - I think it's a great age to take little ones (of course, I haven't found an age yet that wasn't fun at WDW ). PS: make sure you know where the baby centers in each park are - they are WONDERFUL !! and the staff there are very helpful!

 

[dsneygirl]

We just got back from a trip with DS who was 5 months. I found he took several cat naps (20-30 min) rather than his standard 90-2 hour naps twice a day. These seemed to be enough to recharge him for a bit and then when he was tired he was just fall asleep in the stroller (or on the bus a lot).

We used the opportunities to sit and have a snack or lunch and take a breather ourselves. You'll have a blast!

 

[PrincessasMommy]

I have been with an older child and 2 babies and it will be great! It's easier than most people think. Baby carrier and your own stroller are great ideas! A plastic stroller cover is a good idea for the 5 minute rains we ran into, it kept the stroller dry and we were the envy of many others.

We never left the park for naps, the little ones slept in the stroller and the baby spent alot of her time in the sling. I took her on small world, pooh ride, haunted mansion, etc in her sling!

The baby centres are everywhere and we used the family washrooms as opposed to the regular ones when we could, when I changed diapers our older daughter liked to watch the cartoons on the TV for 5 minutes.

We don't drive when we go, but have taken our baby at 5 months on a 9 hour drive and to be honest, she slept most of the way. Good luck!

Oh, and baby swap!!! We did it everywhere and our oldest LOVED that she could ride twice in a row, once with Mom & once with Dad.

Have Fun!

 

[disney4us91]

Thanks for all the great tips! I have another question. Are there microwaves or any other way to warm bottles in the baby care center, my DD likes it warmed just a little. If not any suggestions on what to do . Also, is there more then one baby care centers in each park? I have never noticed them.

Sherry

 

[Poohbug]

I found the baby care centers very nice. Expensive to buy things there but if you forgot something in your room its convienent to have it available. I think there are microwaves in the care centers. Nice and quiet-rocking chairs, bathrooms, etc. Tip-I take palmolive disposable dish clothes to clean bottles-you don't have to worry about liquids spilling in luggage if you are flying. Have fun.

 

[SaraMc]

We are taking DS in Feb and he will be almost 6 months so yahoo for all the valuable info. We too are bringing our stroller and bjorn for him. I just got something today for his formula. Avent has come out with a container that hold 3 feedings of powder and later can be used as a snack container. I got two just so I can fill them up and have extra for the day instead of what we are doing now, little ziploc baggies that honestly get thrown out half the time. I found them at babiesrus which is normally expensive here in Canada.

 

[bjakmom]

All of the baby care centers had microwaves - there is only one baby care center in each park. We had no problem asking at any of the CS counters or many of the drink/snack kiosks for 1/2 cup hot water. We put the bottle in it for a few minutes and it warmed it up just fine!

 

[kmk160]

We took our DD this past August who was 4 1/2 months at the time.
It was alot easier than expected.
We did the same thing to warm bottles, just used 1/2 cup of hot/warm water and put bottle in it until it was warm.
One thing that was the biggest lifesaver for us, keep in mind it was HOT, was a stroller fan from onestepahead.com
It just clipped onto her stroller and made her alot more comfy.
My DS, 3, used it once in a while too.
I am a strong believer in heading back to the hotel for a break midday. I think its only fair to little ones to get some down time.

Have a great trip!

 

[suncat73]

great info everyone. We are taking my DD in 10 days!!(she is14 months- so not so much a baby anymore) The info is really helping me too.

Does anyone know where I could find a listing of where the baby care centers are located at each park? Thanks!

 

[suncat73]

I found the listing of Baby Care Stations in all of the parks - here it is:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where are these Baby Stations?

Magic Kingdom -- at the end of Main Street, behind the Crystal Palace Restaurant on you way to Adventureland. It is tucked away in a small courtyard near the first aid station.

Epcot -- on the backside of the Odyssey Restaurant on the walkway from Test Track to Mexico. This is a very neat station as many times the workers from the Mexican Pavilion come over to relieve the cast members. It is great to talk to them about their travels and country while you are taking a break.

MGM-Studios -- just inside the entrance near guest services on the left as you enter.

Animal Kingdom -- near the Creature Comforts gift shop in the Safari Village on the left side of The Tree of Life.

 

[SnowWitch]

I'm watching this thread with interest. We will be traveling this summer with our 6 month old daughter. We took our 14 month old daughter last summer and had a blast!!! Our plan is pretty mucht he same as last year though. Up early take it very slow and mandatory naps for the girls for everyones sanity. Since we are going in June we will not use a sling because of the heat. Stroller with fan.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We took our daughter when she was 5mo and again at 1yo. I have some details and many photos in my TRs -- check out my siggie.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the Baby Care Centers -- take advantage of them, especially in the heat!

 

[Not so Dumbo]

We brought our DD6mo with us and she was the easiest of the kids by far.
She loved the front carrier and spent 80% of the time in it. I mean ate, slept, ect. Really only came out for diaper changes and mommy needs to rest her back time. Another advantage of the carrier is it makes life so much easier getting on the monorail and trams. No stroller to have to fold up or baby to have to wake up to fold the stroller up.
She went on everything with out a height restriction and the only time I had to take her out for a ride was on the putt putt cars. For some reason the CM told me she couldn't be strapped to me while we were in the car. To me it would seem she would be safer that way but who's to argue. Some of the rides like Snow white and Buzz lightyear have lap bars that engage themselves and that was a little tricky with her right in front of me. I had to lift her up and over the bar just as it was closing itself down to keep her from being sqeezed. She had a great time just taking WDW in. I made sure I always had a bottle on hand for when she was tired and need help falling a sleep. the only time I had to leave a show was during Nemo in AK. Other than that, she was great in Mickey's philharmagic, bugslife, honey I shrunk..., Lights Motors, ect. Noise never seemed to bother her. We only used the baby care centers a couple of times. Most of the time she was just wet when she needed to be changed and we would just change her in the stroller quickly.