Tips for Disney with a 1 year old--no wet blankets please!

[brandylouwho]

My all time favorite sunscreen is Clinique. It feels like a creamy lotion that you rub into your skin as opposed to a slimy solution that sits on top of your skin. When I am too lazy to go to the mall to buy more, then we use Neutrogena (and sometimes the Walgreens knock off)--the dry to the touch stuff.

We are all very fair skinned in my family. These work great.

 

[Monkeyfeet]

Forgot to add this link: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=/index.php It will tell you the safety of skin products and the cancer risk factor of the ingredients. With sunscreen, especially for little ones, it is best to use a barrier. That is a sunscreen that sits on top of the skin. Anything that sinks in, well think about it....it goes into your body. Ew. I love California Baby because while it is a barrier, it does not stay greasy on the skin. I do admit that it looks slightly white on the skin though.

 

[kohlby]

We use California Baby sunscreen. It's very expensive but due to my son's eczema, it's all he can use. Plus I love that it's safer than the others.

I've been with a 2 month old, then again at 9 months, and just returned from a trip with an 11 month old. (But I have other kids as well). 9 months was much easier than 11 months, but 11 months was managable. I'd strongly suggest going on the almost a year side rather than over a year side. The reason is that they get more wiggly. My second child was content in the sling all day at 9 months in Disney. But by 15 months, she wasn't happy unless she was exploring constantly. My current baby was content in the sling at 9 months as well. But at 11 months, I had to work times in to let him crawl around.

We don't do ADR's since my kids struggle with restaurant meals at home. We did counter service except for one sit-down meal. It was challenging due to all the kids - but mainly the 3 year old. Babies are usually easier than 3 year olds in Disney! (This was our third visit with a 3 year old overall between the two oldest kids, so it can't be that bad if we keep doing it!)

My daughter wouldn't nap in the sling as a baby so we brought a stroller that reclined flat. My oldest used the stroller otherwise. But for this last trip, my daughter really wanted the stroller the entire time so 24 lb baby was in the sling the entire time. Little 100 lb me did fine carrying him, but it was a bit awkward when he napped in the sling. I only used the Sea World baby care station this time. I used them in the other parks when my daughter was a baby but it wasn't worth it to search them out this time. (By 6+ months, many babies are distractable nursers so even if you're comfortable nursing wherever, whenever, babycare stations can help with that).

The drive: It was a disaster when my daughter was 2 months old due to problems with dairy. A 7.5 hour drive was 15 hours! My current baby doesn't do well on long drives but did great thanks to a carseat that is so narrow that I can nurse him with us both still being in seatbelts. He's in a Sunshine Kids Radian 65. It's the first carseat that I've ever been able to lean over and nurse a baby safely in. (I'm short - many taller and/or larger chested women can probably nurse safetly with other carseats).

 

[harleyquinn]

Thanks for all that info....super helpful!!

 

[mousireid]

Just be careful what type of sunscreen you use. We love California Baby, even on ourselves!
When we had our first child, we researched what type of sunblock was safe to use for our baby. We found that products with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide were the safest. Both of these ingredients rest on top of the skin, rather than getting absorbed into the skin. We also read that any SPF rating above 30 is unnecessary as they aren't actually more effective but contained more chemicals that could actually be harmful. Finding products that met those conditions were much harder to find than I expected.
PABA: This is not widely used anymore, but just in case. Many people are very sensitive to this ingredient and can end up with red, itchy skin.

Benzophenone (benzophenone-3), homosalate, and octy-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate): These chemicals are bad news because they have shown estrogenic activity in lab tests. Oxybenzone is aderivative of benzophenone and it is linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. According to the CDC 97% of Americans are contaminated with this widely-used sunscreen ingredient.

Parabens (butyl-, ethyl-, methyl-, and propyl-): Parabens are common in sunscreens so avoiding them may prove difficult. They are preservatives that have estrogenic qualities. They have produced abnormal hormonal effects following on laboratory rodents, particularly male, resulting in decreased testosterone levels and other abnormalities. They have also been found to accumulate in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer.

Padimate-O and Parsol 1789 (Avobenzone): While on the surface of the skin these chemicals appear to prevent UV damage but when absorbed into the skin they can actually damage DNA. There is evidence that the sun’s light may cause these chemicals to become reactive and cause free-radical damage when they’re absorbed. I find it alarming that pediatricians often recommend these very ingredients.

In general if you want to know which sunscreens are usually loaded with the bad stuff….oh just the easy to find ones like Coppertone, Banana Boat, Avon, Nivea, Neutrogena, The Body Shop, etc. Also even some of the ones that appear to be more natural like Kiss My Face or Aveeno have some pretty nasty sunscreens.

I am only trying to be helpful and it is just my opinion. Sorry if I offend anyone!