Traveling with a 4 month old - please reassure me!

[Clare]

My parents are retiring in January & want to take us on a trip to WDW to celebrate. They are paying for a large portion of the trip & because this is such a big deal, I didn't feel I could say no even though we will have an almost 3yo and a 4 month old at the time of the trip (late Jan. 2007). Now let me say that we LOVE WDW. We went on several trips before kids and have gone twice with DD (at 13 months and 22 months). However, under normal circumstances, I would never consider taking a 4 month old to WDW.

I will still be nursing exclusively at that time (with pumped milk in bottles as an option for restaurants, etc.). I plan to take advantage of the baby care centers & we will probably take 2 strollers instead of a double so if one child is needing to go back to the hotel we can do that easily. We'll also have the Baby Bjorn to carry the baby in if we want. We're staying at the WL & certainly plan to take a midday break for DD3 to nap and have downtime.

I think it will help greatly that we are going Jan. 30 - Feb. 4 so the weather will not be hot. I'm not sure I would attempt taking a 4 month old into FL August weather.

So.........I'm needing some reassurance and tips from folks who've been there, done that. What can you tell me?

 

[MATTERHORN]

Gosh, with 4 adults there, you will be absolutely fine! That is still a great age where the baby is just happy to be held or in the bjorn, and you have 4 people to switch off baby duty with so you don't have to carry all day! I do Disneyland (granted not as big, but still 2 parks) with my three alone all the time, this year with DD5, DD2 and DS 2months and had a great time.

I am also exclusively nursing and it is easy to discreetly do it on a few rides so that the older kids are having fun while he's eating. Small World (back row), Pirates and the train come to mind! Also one of my favorite spots to nurse is the Tiki Room, I just sit against the back wall and it works great!

We have been three times since DS was born at 2, 3.5, and 7.5 months, and the first two were way easier than the last! Now he wants to get down and crawl around which is impossible, so it's actually nice when they aren't mobile yet!

Have a great time, I think it's smart to take two seperate strollers since you have enough adults, and you are right that it will be much easier in the cooler weather. In June when we went to DL, it was way too hot to wear the baby in the bjorn on me! Just go with the flow and you will probably find that the baby is the easiest one to deal with


Andrea

 

[annielous]

When we went back in December DD had just turned 5 months. She spent 100% of her time in the baby bjorn. For naps I turned her inward and the rest of the time she spent outward enjoying everything around her. Even for rides I just kept her strapped in. Worked perfectly! As for the baby care centers they are wonderful. Very nice and clean and have whatever you may need!

 

[kiddisney]

i agree - with four adults this should be okay - we were going - my husband and i with our three kids - one infant and two older - for a week - and he ended up having to stay home for half the week - and we were fine - we only used the baby center once (because the older kids didn't want to spend the time there - but wdw is so family friendly that i was able to let the kids do almost everything that they wanted to - and the baby was great - being that small he was able to be fed during shows - parades - etc - and we were able to spend all the time in the parks - just bring a little baby water with you because it does get hot for the baby and he/she will need as much hydration as possible - with four adults - you can actually use the baby centers - but this is a special trip so your parents will want to spend a lot of time with you and you can do this w/o having to separate

 

[Harvestmooner]

The first time we went to WDW my son was 4 months old. It was fine, I was breatfeeding(with no pumping). The baby care centers are great!! My son spent alot of time in his stroller and slept right through most of his first trip.
Go and have fun and celebrate your parents retirment!!!

 

[Clare]

Thanks everyone for your reassuring words! I guess I just listen too much to people around me who say "You're doing WHAT?????" when I tell them we're going with such a little one. No one understands a trip to WDW like folks on the DIS.

The more I think about it, you are all right of course. I'm sure the baby will be more content and easy to handle than the 2 year old! She's very good and has always been an easy kid, but still, she's 2

 

[amarberry]

My DD's first trip was when she was 4 months old and it was a breeze. She has also been at 14 months and 18 months. We had a great time watching her reactions and excitement on the last two trips, but the first trip was definitely the easiest. I was nursing exclusively (she is my first child, so I was a little nervous about nursing in public) and I found WDW to be very nursing friendly. We primarily used the baby care centers, but I was very comfortable nursing her on rides, secluded park benches, corner of a restaurant, etc. Have a good time!

 

[glass slipper girl]

I haven't taken an infant yet but we will be bringing a 4 month old in January too. We will also have an "almost 5 year old" and a 6.5 year old. I thought the same thing that with cooler weather it will be easier. I plan to nurse as well and will just feed when I need to. There are plenty of options on slow moving rides and in shows as well as out of the way benches and corners of restaurants (just ask for a booth against a wall if at all possible) and the baby care centers that you shouldn't have a problem.

I think you'll have no trouble at all, especially with 4 adults!

Have fun!!!

 

[dsneygirl]

We're planning on taking our 3 month old in Oct. We've also got some odd looks but everything I have read on here says it is very easy to do.

 

[Ariel8676]

Ahh going with little ones is so much fun! My girls are 4,3 and 8 months and we started taking them when they were all about 2 months old(my 8 month old will be going on her second trip to WDW in a few weeks ).
I also breastfeed exclusively ( no pumping), which makes travelling SOOOO much easier than dragging bottles along, but if that is what you are comfortable doing than go for it . I just try to be as discreet as possible(well most of the time anyway )..i use a nursing cover, i don't care if anyone knows what i am doing, i just like to be covered up..if Brynn doesn't want it though than too bad..lol..
Other than that i would just say take it easy, make sure the baby gets out of the stroller, or whatever carrier you may have(i wear a slingor use a Mei Tei), and stretch for a while. Oh and take LOTS of pictures..lol If you have any questions please feel free to PM me...

 

[PA Princess]

I just want to agree with what others have already said. We took one dd at 4 months (trip was planned before we even knew we were pregnant, and we did not want to disappoint ds5 and ds6...so off we went). We found traveling with a young baby lots easier than traveling with a toddler. I also nursed exclusively, and I found WDW to be a very easy place to nurse in public (not something I had much reason to do at home). Have a wonderful trip!