To Take an Infant to WDW...

[tr-ray]

I know this topic has been presented probably a million times over, but I'm hoping maybe I could get a few thoughts...

DH and I saw the commercial for the buy 4 get 3 promo tonight, and we've started discussing the possibility. In actuality, we may not book until December when we have a better grip on our finances, but the even bigger question for us is whether or not we would bring our infant daughter with us.

We would ideally be travelling the first week of February (to take advantage of DH's birthday on 2/6), and our daughter would be just over 4 months old. When we do book the trip, we wouldn't necessarily need to make a decision about her right away, as she is not costing anything else on this trip (she'll sit on our laps in the plane).

But, for those of you who are experienced in such travelling, what are some of the pros & cons to bringing such a young infant?

 

[estherhead]

I love travelling with babies. I absolutely love it. So that is my advice. At 4 months old especially. They are happy & interested. They'll nap & eat anywhere. Bring along a favorite stroller and a comfy baby carrier and you will enjoy the world and more than likely be totally hooked on Disney & kids going together like peanut butter & jelly.

My advice would be to book now, however, as you can get your choice of hotel. Disney only requires a tiny bit down & they are easy to cancel and get a full refund.

 

[RadioFanatic]

I just did it with my DS in September when he was 7 months, and honestly, there were no cons. I loved watching him with the rides and characters, with a stroller, he was easy to handle, he made me step back and really watch and enjoy things I always was running too fast around for before, it forced me to relax in the afternoon when we went back to the resort for his nap, and I did dinners and things I never did before like Chef Mickey and Crystal Palace which I loved. I would totally recommend it.

 

[Yen Sid]

Both are little ones have been to Disney since birth, they loved it and so did we. There are advantages to taking little ones and that is called a midday NAP, that was so great going back for a few hours to nap and recharge, now they are almost 6 and 4 and nap is not in their vocabulary.

 

[#1 Pocahontas]

We took our oldest when she was 7 months and I have to tell you that it was one of the most enjoyable trips we have taken. We brought our nice stroller so she could nap in it as needed. I'm not a thrill seeker so she was able to ride everything that I did. She LOVED the characters, and the rides. She would smile at all the lights and statues on the rides.

The only con I can think of would be the busses. It was an absolute pain trying to lug the stroller, the diaper bag, and anything else we had onto the busses. But you would get that too with a toddler so you can't really put that much emphasis on it.

 

[ChillyWilleys]

To add to OP's question since I have the same one plus...What do you do about the sun? I have one DD who is so pale you can see her circulatory system through her skin. I'm expecting second and wondering how I could adequately protect a child from th FL son like that. I know to try and stay out of it and use umbrellas and all but I can't see keeping the child totally from the sun. Especially since I would like to get some use of the pools. So what do you do if the infant is less than 6 months and your not supposed to use sunscreen?

 

[tr-ray]

I love travelling with babies. I absolutely love it. So that is my advice. At 4 months old especially. They are happy & interested. They'll nap & eat anywhere. Bring along a favorite stroller and a comfy baby carrier and you will enjoy the world and more than likely be totally hooked on Disney & kids going together like peanut butter & jelly.

My advice would be to book now, however, as you can get your choice of hotel. Disney only requires a tiny bit down & they are easy to cancel and get a full refund.

Thanks for the info regarding the deposit... I had been looking at the quotes on WDW's site but I wasn't aware that you can get a full refund of the deposit if necessary...
I told DH that we should book now because of the hotel choices, but he's still very anxious about the $$.

And thank you all for your suggestions. Our last trip (pre-baby) was only 5 days, and I feel like we weren't necessarily 'commando' but we did have a schedule we followed and we ran all over the parks.

We'd be going 7 days with this trip, and I do think we'd be able to go slower.

Alright, more ammo to convince DH tonight!

 

[tiggertabi]

I will say that the changing rooms/nursing rooms are GREAT at Disney, and very nice for taking a break, with cold fresh water and nice changing tables. Each park has a baby care center and I love visiting them!

 

[mbc35]

For me, the biggest pro of taking an infant to WDW is that you won't have to worry about damaging the bond between you and the baby. Leaving a 4 month old? For 7 days? For a non-emergency?

I haven't yet managed to find a polite way to word how I feel about that.

At that age, the baby is likely to sleep a lot, either in a snugli or in a stroller. In many ways, I'd say the snugli is better because you can go on many rides with the baby sleeping in the snugli, whereas you can't take the stroller on.

I'm guessing you are bottle feeding. I'd prefill a couple of bottles with water (the Florida sun will probably warm them up to about the right temp) and then mix in the formula when it's feeding time.

I used the BabyCenter at DisneyLand, and liked it, but in general I like to just take care of the baby where we are, rather than hike over to the BabyCenter for every bottle or diaper change.

 

[Tiffanie]

We brought our four month old last February for his first trip and it was great! We brought his stroller and a carrier, which he spent a lot of time in. He just went along with the flow, slept in his stroller or carrier, didn't give us any problems. Brought along enough formula and diapers, restocked the diaper bag every morning. The weather was unusally HOT last February when we were there, up in the 80's, but he wore his hat to cover his face since he couldn't wear sunscreen yet, and he was fine. I'd go! And you will have a great time! We are bringing him back for his second trip this February - great time to visit - low crowds and great weather! Have fun!

 

[tr-ray]

I agree the baby carrier is probably a really good idea...

We'd definitely bring a stroller too, though. I wouldn't want to rent one, because the Disney ones wouldn't be good for her since she's so young.

Luckily some of the days we're looking at, Southwest is offering $59 flights!

I am bottle feeding, and I suppose that's half the concern, but not necessarily. I'm thinking we could order diapers, wipes & formula from Garden Grocer or something to that effect.

This is making me feel better about the entire situation, as I wouldn't want to leave my daughter for that long, anyway!

 

[disneymoon0606]

Our DD will be 9 months when we go, but I would have brought her at 4 months! Just wanted to note, though, that she was not sleeping a ton during the day at 4 months, but that shouldn't make too much of a difference in WDW.

I agree that you should bring a baby carrier (along with a stroller). But make sure you find one you're comfortable with BEFORE you go There are many different kinds out there, so try a few and see which works the best for you.

Also, I would think that 4 months would be a particularly easy age because you won't have to deal with feednig solids/snacks. Just have formula pre-measured and fill the bottles with water ahead of time (or bring a few water bottles) and you'll be good to go.

As per the question about sunscreen: I think part of it depends on how old the baby will be. You should talk to your pediatrician. Ours said that if she is going to be in the sun - if it can't be avoided - then put the sunscreen on her and wash it off as soon as we can. We also bought a sunshade extender for our stroller from babies r us and it works wonderfully. I highly recommend it.

HTH!

 

[DjdBrit]

Travelling with a small baby is a piece of cake compared to a toddler (IMHO). Especially a young baby who is going to nap alot. As long as you are prepared with things to use for shade, blankets, umbrellas whatever and think smart about your days it will be fine. I nursed all my 3 kids and found travelling to be so easy.

As for sunscreen talk to your Doctor first but mine always told me "while we don't always encourage you to use sunscreen in babies under 6 months I would rather that than deal with a babay with a sunburn". There are times when I had to use it with each of my kids We Moms always seem to know whats best.

Good luck planning and enjoy your trip.

 

[gweeptrish]

But, for those of you who are experienced in such travelling, what are some of the pros & cons to bringing such a young infant?

We've taken our daughter at 4 months, 14 months and 18 months. I have to say that 4 months was the easiest. She was still exclusively nursing so I didn't carry anything but diapers and clothes for her. She was light enough to carry about in a sling all day so we didn't bother much with the stroller. She didn't seem to find all the hustle and bustle nearly as overwhelming at 4 months as she did once she was a toddler. I can't think of any drawbacks comparing to taking her when she was older. I'd never even consider leaving a 4 month old for 7 days so I don't have any opinions about the advantages of leaving her with relatives instead of bringing her.

 

[blessedby3]

I agree they are very easy at that age. We took DD(now 1) at 3 mos this past Jan. It was great and she was so good, and we have great photos and memories. She enjoyed the shows a lot and got to ride lots of rides. I dont think there are any cons- at least for us. We always travel with all our kids no matter what the ages. I agree with PP also that a baby is much easier to travel with than a toddler or preschooler.

 

[gweeptrish]

To add to OP's question since I have the same one plus...What do you do about the sun? I have one DD who is so pale you can see her circulatory system through her skin. I'm expecting second and wondering how I could adequately protect a child from th FL son like that. I know to try and stay out of it and use umbrellas and all but I can't see keeping the child totally from the sun. Especially since I would like to get some use of the pools. So what do you do if the infant is less than 6 months and your not supposed to use sunscreen?

I used California Baby brand sunscreen. It's one of the very few that's safe to use on a kid that young because it's a barrier sunscreen instead of a chemical one. It's a thick paste that's a pain to apply, but it's safe for a 4 month old.

 

[Colleen27]

To add to OP's question since I have the same one plus...What do you do about the sun? I have one DD who is so pale you can see her circulatory system through her skin. I'm expecting second and wondering how I could adequately protect a child from th FL son like that. I know to try and stay out of it and use umbrellas and all but I can't see keeping the child totally from the sun. Especially since I would like to get some use of the pools. So what do you do if the infant is less than 6 months and your not supposed to use sunscreen?

It isn't cheap, but we've used sun blocking clothing when we've had occasion to have a very little one out in the sun. I order from Solartex, but there are a number of brands that make SPF50 baby clothes. We're a family of very fair redheads and blonds, so sun protection is a major concern.

 

[Colleen27]

I know this topic has been presented probably a million times over, but I'm hoping maybe I could get a few thoughts...

DH and I saw the commercial for the buy 4 get 3 promo tonight, and we've started discussing the possibility. In actuality, we may not book until December when we have a better grip on our finances, but the even bigger question for us is whether or not we would bring our infant daughter with us.

We would ideally be travelling the first week of February (to take advantage of DH's birthday on 2/6), and our daughter would be just over 4 months old. When we do book the trip, we wouldn't necessarily need to make a decision about her right away, as she is not costing anything else on this trip (she'll sit on our laps in the plane).

But, for those of you who are experienced in such travelling, what are some of the pros & cons to bringing such a young infant?

We haven't done Disney with an infant yet (DD's first trip will probably be in May when she's 10mo), but we never put our travel plans on hold just because we had a baby. Infants are extremely portable, especially young infants! You have to take things a bit slower to make time for feedings and diaper changings, but that's no big deal IMO. And there's something to be said for getting kids used to travel from a young age; my older two are great travelers and I think it is largely because we've been traveling with them on a regular basis since they were babies.

I wouldn't even consider going away without my child at that age. It just seems like so long in the eyes of an infant, and I know I'd be going out of my mind missing her. My youngest is 3 months old now, and in that time we've only been away from her for one dinner and a movie date and one day when DH needed me on the jobsite while the olders were in school. And that full day was about at the edge of my comfort level at this point, although part of that is because she's still nursing exclusively.

 

[tr-ray]

At this point we've decided to take her!

I was really upset however, when I called Southwest regarding infant fares for them to quote me at $350! Our adult fares are only $450 TOTAL.

So, we will bring her carseat, and just hope that there is an open seat... If not, she'll lap it.

 

[gweeptrish]

At this point we've decided to take her!

I was really upset however, when I called Southwest regarding infant fares for them to quote me at $350! Our adult fares are only $450 TOTAL.

So, we will bring her carseat, and just hope that there is an open seat... If not, she'll lap it.

Their infant fares are discounted off their full-price tickets, that's why.

You will find that unless your flight is really full, you won't have any trouble getting a seat for her. When you board, pick a row with 3 open seats and take the window and aisle seat. No one in their right mind is going to choose to sit in the middle seat next to an infant unless there is literally no other seat on the plane.

At four months I was more comfortable having my daughter on my lap anyway. At 18 months I was starting to wonder what the @#$& I was thinking.