Traveling with a 6 mo. old

[Lori77]

Hi! I was wondering if anyone has any travel tips for traveling with a 6 mo. old. We are staying at the Swan. Do you think this is a good choice? We cannot afford a deluxe for monorail this time. Any flying tips as well?

Thanks!
Lori

 

[MinnieSummer]

My tip for flying: Drug him!!! Kidding !!!! My biggest recommendation is to use a pacifier if he'll take one. The sucking motion helps to ease the pain in the ears as the pressure is equalized. If your baby doesn't use a pacifier try bottle feeding during lift-off and landing. Those two things always worked for me and I never had a crying, screaming baby and we flew a lot (She actually flew over 20 times before she was 18 months). The other thing is to take advantage of the early seating. Some people say not to but I tried it both ways and if you wait the overhead bins are usually full and you have to climb over people. By getting on first you can get everything situated and comfortable before the masses get on. Also request a window seat so you'll have something to lean on while feeding baby. Bring a baby blanket and a little pillow (for you). The blanket, when draped over baby will also keep you warm. I didn't use a car seat when she was that little I kept her on my lap and I was very comfortable doing so although I know other parents who aren't.

My tips for WDW: Bring a stroller, don't use one of there's as they are simply not comfortable for a baby. You don't need to worry about not being on the monorail. I stayed at many of the WDW resorts and used bus transportation all the time -- usually it was just me and my DD. I never had a problem getting on or off the bus and when I did I just asked someone to help get the stroller for me. People at WDW are usually pretty good about that kind of thing. I don't know much about Swan and Dolphin but I did enjoy the kiddie pools at the mods. I could sit her in them and let her splash around. She really enjoyed that. She also enjoyed the characters -- I have a great video of her at 6 months being snuck up on by Pooh who spun her chair around to face her -- everyone was laughing at the big grin on her face.

Okay tooooo long (I do that a lot) any other questions?

 

[WIDisneyFan]

My wife and I took our at the time 3 month old to Disney in June - based on that experience we would have the following suggestions;

1) Take things slow! A mid afternoon nap away from the crowds, noise, and heat was essential (the one rough day we had was when we pushed too hard)
2) Be realistic in what you expect to do - don't plan 2 parks a day everyday
3) Take advantage of the baby care stations for feeding and breaks - we only went to the MK and Epcot but found the baby care areas great
4) Bring your own stroller - and make sure it has a sun shade
5) Diapers and Formula are expensive in the parks - pack it / ship it to the hotel / or make a grocery stop

Have a great trip and feel free to drop me a message if you have any other questions

 

[MinnieSummer]

I forgot to mention that it is very important to keep baby hydrated -- even more so than you. I didn't realize how hot she was in her stroller all day and even though I fed her at her usual times she started getting very pink and when I went to check her diaper it was dry. She was in the beginning stages of dehydration. I ran to the care center and they gave pedialyte which brought her around very quickly. Every trip after that I kept the pedialyte with me and let her drink that as she wanted. It worked wonderfully.

Also, the playpens they give you in the hotel work very well. My only complaint is that they give you regular sheets to wrap around the bottom instead of a playpen sheet. I brought my own sheet from home and put it over the sheet they provided so the bottom wasn't as hard and the sheets stayed in place better.

 

[Lori77]

Thank you for the help! I am looking forward to going with him. I can't wait to get some pics of the characters and him!
Thanks again! It will be an adventure!

 

[bigD103]

if you do decide to take a baby seat you arent allowed to sit in an exit row or the row behind it so try and take that into consideration when bookin your tickets

 

[Amyality]

Traveling the Dis with a baby is easy! They typically sleep when they need to.

1. The Chico Caddy stroller is the BEST!!! Look it up. It reclines, has a rain fly, comes in cool colors, turns on a dime, is aluminum so its light, has a sun canopy, comes with a travel case. Its pricey for an umbrella stroller ($40 or so) but, ours is 3 years old and it still is in GREAT shape.
2. Fed him or her a sippy cup or bottle on the acent and decent on the airplane.

It's especially easy if you are nursing. There are REALLY nice baby centers at each park. I mean sugrically clean changing tables, dim nursing rooms, clean child size toilets, formula and baby meds for sale...very, very nice.

 

[TiggerStac]

I will second what others have said.

We went down when my son was 5 months old. I made sure to bring diapers, swimmies, wipes, formula, etc from home. I did purchase his baby food when we got down there, as they were not available in plastic bottles, as some are now, only glass. This will, also, serve as extra room for souvie's from your trip!!

I brought my baby bjorn with me and when we brought my son on rides, I would put him in that. He went on small world, haunted mansion, etc.

Bring your own stroller. They are comfy in it and the disney ones are not infant appropriate (at least I don't think so).

We were at CSR when he was this age and the stroller was great to have for walking around the large resort, as well.

Take plenty of pictures, esp if it is their first trip. I take tons of pics anyways, but one of my all time favs is of just me and my son in front of cindys castle. Hubby decided to rest that day and my grandparents came over to visit and go w/us to WDW, so it was a great trip w/my grandparents (and their last trip there).