Taking a 3 month old to WDW!! :O Am I crazy?!?!

[CowgirlUp89]

I am currently 7 1/2 months pregnant with my first child. And I absolutely LOVE Disney. I've been at least 8 times and I even managed to convince my then fiancé to take a Disney Cruise for our honeymoon and it was amazing!!!

Most of our family on both sides are planning a trip to Disney the first week of December with free dining. But my future lil Disney Baby won't be quite 3 months old, and I'm planning on breastfeeding.

Am I completely crazy? Or is it possible to have an awesome trip even with an infant?? And advice or tips are more then WELCOME!!!

 

[MSSANDRA]

Our family rule is 6 months BUT with both sides of the family going, a perfect weather and crowd time and LOTS of people to help....I would go. Nurse for sure and try to get him used to a really good baby carrier and try to wear him most of the time, wash your hands as much as you can and enjoy your trip!!!!!

 

[stayhomemom77]

Each of the 4 Disney parks have a beautiful baby care center where you can take care of all of baby's needs. And you can research them online before your trip so you'll know where they are should you need them more urgently than you've anticipated.

As one who nursed both her babies, of course one can do it anywhere with a blanket or nursing cape to preserve one's modesty but the changing stations and privacy of the baby care centers are too great to pass up, IMO!

If you think you (and baby) are up for the trip..plan to go. Just know that a baby changes the whole touring dynamic.

Good luck and congratulations on your upcoming little bundle of joy!

 

[Angel Ariel]

If you can wait to make the decision at all, it would be something to think about. When I was pregnant I was also thinking about taking DD to WDW at 3 months old (would have been October last year). I figured with breastfeeding and family we'd be good to go.

Fast forward to her birth, and she lost 10% of her birthweight because she could not suck at all (so could not latch to BF), we had to feed her with a syringe and teach her how to suck. I started pumping BM for her when she was 2 days old. I did everything I could think of to get her to latch...we worked closely with an IBCLC, looked for tongue tie/lip tie (none), used a nipple shield, did nursing vacations..nothing I did helped her nurse effectively. We struggled with her weight gain for the first 3-4 months of her life because of all of this. The trip we wanted to take was right at her 3 month mark, and I was just exhausted from the struggles. A WDW trip at that point would have been more stressful than fun.

So we put it off...we went when she was 8 months old instead. I was still pumping (exclusively pumped for her for over a year now..working on weaning her to soy milk now), but her eating and weight gain had stabilized. We went with family, who was able to help with her so that I could still EP through WDW. It was a much more fun, relaxed trip.

I'm definitely not saying or trying to imply that what happened to me will happen to you, just that all babies are different. While obviously we all hope that our experience will be typical, there's no way to know if it will be. If you can hold off on at least paying for the trip (if you can) until after your baby is born and you start to get to know your baby, it might be a good idea.

I know last year people gave me the same advice, and I smiled and nodded and I thought to myself "it'll be fine, there's no reason it won't be" - but I'm glad I listened and I did not have money down on anything!

 

[CowgirlUp89]

Thank y'all so much for all the advice!! We booked free dining with a pin we received so we've already booked and partially paid. But I would still have time to cancel if something did come up.

I'm starting to do a lot of research on bringing a baby in the parks. Like whether to rent a stroller, bring my own, etc... But I am hoping to keep him in my sling for the majority of the trip. I don't think I'll be one to nurse in public (even with a nursing cover. Lol.) So I'll def be using the baby stations.

I've been to WDW so many times I know what I'm ok with missing and what I want to see for sure. Thankfully my Mom and Mother-in-law are coming so I'll have plenty of help. We're are celebrating our first anniversary (Nov. 17th) as well so we'll have babysitters for our special dinner. Yay!!!

 

[POTCAddict]

I took my 3 mo old to Disney last year! I was also nursing and it was a lot easier than I anticipated We did visit the babycare center often, and joked that it was the baby's favorite 'ride'! Lol I had a ring sling and an ergo and they were invaluable to nurse discreetly. It's totally unrealistic to think you won't be nursing outside of the babycare center, though. Babies that young still nurse often because their tummies are still small and can only take a little milk at a time. Not too mention that there is a 3 mo growth spurt and with the heat (even in October) you want the baby to nurse often to keep hydrated. I had an awesome cover that my mom made and some nice thin blankets to cover and I STILL ended up nursing without a cover because I was hot or he was hot or we were in line and it was too difficult to keep the blanket on... you get the idea.

 

[GrammyJudy]

We went when my grandson was 4 months old and he was great. Definitely bring your own stroller so you have it at resort also. Most days he fell asleep in his stroller. My daughter had a front carrier but only used it a couple of times. We were 3 generations too so papa and I would stay with the little one whole parents went on some rides. All in all it was a great trip...he even went in the pool. Have a great trip and best of luck with your birth.

 

[Angel Ariel]

If you go the rental stroller route, City Minis are great strollers for WDW (Kingdom Strollers, Orlando Rental Strollers, Apple Strollers). With a 3 month old, I would probably bring something like the Snuzzler (esp. since it wouldn't be too hot to use it in Dec) to help with head control if you go with a CM rental stroller. The CM is rated for newborn use without an insert like that, but since you're going in Dec it can also be some added warmth for your LO (even in March, DD wore long sleeves/thick tights because it was colder than we anticipated it being, esp. with wind!).

The nice part about renting from one of the companies above is that they deliver to your hotel and pick up from your hotel. You'll have your stroller all day every day while you're there, so no need to worry about getting back to the resort without one.

 

[Dbk8784]

I took my son in June. He was 4 months old at the time. He was great. He napped in his stroller most of the time. He had some cute photo ops that were beyond precious. It sounds like your going to have a lot of help with you so I say go for it. Have fun and don't stress about it. I was so worried but we had a great trip. The only problem I had was my son HATED the pack and play. The mattress was super thin and he refused to sleep on it. He would sleep in his stroller or in bed with me. It wasnt ideal but we made it work.

 

[DanieD0909]

I took my 3 month old last December... It was a breeze! We had a great time... She is a very alert active little one so when she was up we tried to do rides for her and she loved it. Small works was her favorite and she had a great time with the characters at crystal palace for breakfast. We rented a car which I think made things easier. We kept extra supplies in the trunk so we knew we only had to go to the parking lot instead of all the way back to the room if there was a "crisis"
You will have a blast!! I did not use the baby centers at all...the seemed very inconveniently located but we were doing formula. We had every intention of breast feeding too...it didn't work out and she lost a ton of weight and so we bit the bullet and switched to formula. It seems to have worked out in the end??!? Hopefully

Good luck - you will have a great time!!

 

[cel_disney]

I took my 4 month old and HIGHLY recommend it! I will reply back later with more info!!!

 

[CourtneyL]

We took DD when she was 4 months. She did pretty well, although she did manage to catch a little stomach bug while we were there. It was nothing serious, just frequent diaper changes for a day or two.

We flew and bought her a seat on the plane to use her car seat. However, we wanted to book the airfare in advance when it was cheaper, but she wasn't born yet. We wound up booking an extra seat for one of us and then adding DD as a "lap child" after she was born. We used her car seat in the extra seat that we paid for.

 

[bostonminnie]

We first took our son when he was 6 months old and had an amazing trip! I could see it being stressful if we were trying to run around and do everything in the parks, but we were fine going at a more relaxed pace. I think taking a 3 month old is definitely doable, and what a fun memory for you and your whole family! Congrats on your baby

 

[irky416]

We took our 3.5 month old in July and had a great time. We used the Baby Care Centers but they were sometimes out of the way, so we ended up feeding and changing her elsewhere most of the time.

Just take it at the baby's pace and you'll be fine. We didn't ride much and only went to the parks 3 days, but we still had fun.

 

[Greenfield1984]

We went with our 2.5 month old last November and it was a fantastic trip! It was just DH, myself and our 3 DDs (5, 18 months, and 2.5 months). It was definitely a MUCH slower pace than we were used to, but that was the combination of having 2 infants to take care of.

I couldn't breastfeed so DD was on bottles and it was super easy to feed her wherever we were. She was in my wrap basically the entire trip, all day long and I could just feed her in that while walking through lines or being on rides. If you'll be BF and will only want to do so at the baby care centers that will take up a lot more time... they're not very central in the parks so every 3 hours or so you'll need to walk over to it, nurse, then catch back up to your group. But that's fine, it gives you time to enjoy the details at Disney

Also, December is a great time of year to go because as I said, I wore the baby all day long and never got too hot because of it. Had we gone in August I never would have been able to do that.

As long as baby and mommy are both healthy and up to it, I say go for it! Even though she was so tiny it was amazing watching her take in her surroundings on the rides (she loved it's a small world) and I loved how the characters interacted with her. I have a priceless picture of Tiana holding her

Expect to go at a slower pace and you will have a great time!

 

[Angel Ariel]

OP - if you decide to give nursing in public (NIP) a shot, WDW is a very friendly place for it. I had never really pumped in public until going to WDW, but even that I found fairly easy. I had a nursing cover, so no one saw anything at all. My mom made a cover for the pump itself as well, so it wouldn't be obvious. It was an Ameda Purely Yours, which operates on batteries as well so I didn't need to find a plug.

I was definitely nervous, but I sought out areas that really didn't have a lot of people. Here's some of the places I found to sit down and be discreet:

I found a secluded sitting area up some stairs above the ice cream cart across from the rafts to TSI near Splash and Thunder Mtn, inside Innoventions (an out of the way bench at the back, near the exit that faces the Imagination Pavilion), a bench near Restaurantosaurus at AK (near closing time, so park was dead), a quiet bench near Muppet Vision in DHS - and beyond that, I ended up pumping at our meals. Especially at CS meals, it was very easy to find a table in a back quiet corner. If I was allowed to sit down before getting food (sometimes yes, sometimes no - depending on crowds), I sat and set up while family ordered food for me. As I said earlier, even at the TS restaurants the noise was ambient enough to cover the noise of the pump so that I could barely hear it myself, much less anyone else.

EPing experience at WDW and tips

And obviously that was with a pump which is a lot more cumbersome to deal with than nursing alone would be - especially if you have a great ring sling or soft-structured carrier like the Ergo or Beco.

Oh, and one BIG tip - drink a TON of water if you're nursing! I thought I was drinking enough when we first got there, but my output plummeted 2-3 days in. I had a 22oz water bottle that I attached w/a carabiner to a mommy hook on the stroller. I filled it probably 3 times/day or so, plus other drinks I'd get at meals. I was drinking as much as I did at home (if not a little more), but I didn't factor in how much more my body was using being out in the parks/sun all day long.

 

[cel_disney]

My DD was 4 months old when we took her - we normally go in September but I didn't want to deal with a real tiny baby in the scorching heat so we postponed to early December. DS was a new 4 and it was his 5th trip to Disney.

We are pretty intense park people - and we didn't really let having DD with us slow us down much! We rented a baby jogger double stroller which was perfect for both of them.

The weather was variable (ranging from 32 to 70 during our trip) so we just wore alot of layers.

My favorite thing to wear was the target brand 'something and Gilligan' maybe? Nursing tanks...I layered them under my clothes so if I was going to NIP I didn't show any belly skin (or belly fat!!!). I nursed in some rides (Ellen's energy, backlot tour, muppets, philharmagic) as well as various places in the park - including some that are really public (like cosmic rays) without any dirty looks or accidental exposures!

I was nursing by DD still got one bottle of formula a day. We timed her bottle feeding to be when we were near baby centers because her formula required me to heat the water in the bottle. That meant that I was nursing when we were not near it! And that was fine!!

I brought a small changing pad and used various restrooms to change her (and maybe once in the stroller but that was not easy enough to gross people out by doing it).

I have also traveled with older infants and toddlers and the 4 month old was far easier than the others! No food or spoons to bring along, very portable and not yet fully regimented that she needed to nap at certain times or in a crib, and still light enough to hold when needed (we used an Ergo carrier in a hip hold most of the time - she was a good sitter and already crawling a bit by them and loved to look at everyone).

Have a GREAT trip!!! It's totally doable and even still fun!!!!

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Just wanted to chime in to say that this thread has been super helpful...we are thinking of taking our baby in Nov when she is 3-4 months old. OP, I wouldn't put money down until you have the baby. Like others have said...there are too many variables until she is born.

 

[cel_disney]

I did buy DDs plane ticket before she was born...that was a trick and a half! But I didn't want to risk her not being able to sit with us on the plane so I bought it 6 months before our trip with everyone else's...

I think if you are getting a Disney package you have until 45 days to get money back so I would book that at a minimum to not miss out and you can always cancel if its not in the cards. For us, we decided that alot of things would have to be very wrong for us cancel our trip!

 

[CowgirlUp89]

Thanks again for all the advice!!!! I'm def considering it all. I am planning on buying some nursing camis so I won't risk flashing anyone with my baby fat. And I also have a nursing cover that I am def gonna use. I know Disney's layout like the back of my hand so I shouldn't have a problem finding a secluded area. Can't wait to get some pics of him with some characters!!!