Panicking - Booked trip for November, just found out wife is pregnant

We took our twins at ten weeks or so. It was an early December trip. The dr said it was fine but do check with yours. The trip was not really any different than being at home with them. Dh always says, "You parent here or you parent there." I think that's a good attitude. We did have a one bedroom at OKW. I remember that dd slept in the laundry room and ds in the huge master ensuite. Our eldest took the pull out.

We had a great time. They mostly slept at the parks and rides were the same at eight weeks as they were at a year and at eighteen months. Rider switch for the biggies, in our arms for others.

Having laundry was a godsend. We had baby supplies delivered by garden grocer. The hotel provides pack and plays. I had extra pillows rigged up to use as baby seats.

The extra clothing for mom and dad on the plane is essential. I did that until they were about three. At about four I got Sprite poured all over me during a flight. That wasn't fun.

You parent here or you parent there.

Well, you did it and it was fine, so I can't argue with your experience, but parenting a newborn (or newborn twins) at home for me was ALWAYS easier than going anywhere else. Even grandparents who had a crib, etc. Just the options for diapers, feeding, calming, toys, etc. were so much better at home than going anywhere else.

Also, at home, versus on vacation, you might get a little help every now and then from a grandparent, etc. So if the OP does not bring a helper, it is on two people to cake care of all the children. Even with my 3 kids who aren't babies, it is exhausting to be outnumbered on vacation. Also, at home, the older kids are easier to take care of...they can entertain themselves, feed themselves much easier than in a hotel room.

ETA: Also, at home, I'm not paying for an expensive Disney vacation and not making the most of it. Nor wasting my or DH's vacation time from work.
I don't understand the logic of "You can do this hard task here with better equipment and support OR you can do this hard task with less equipment and support AND you will have to pay thousands of dollars for that"


I have taken a two- year old twins, a kid turning 3, 3 year old twins, and a 4 year old, and a 5 year old. All those ages were "magical" in terms of wanting to meet characters and still believing. And my 10 year old barely remembers the trips when he was 3, 4, and 5 (if really at all, he says some things about the 5 year old trip). I'm not one to advise against waiting for an 18 month old because they won't remember, but really, you have time for your kids to still have fun and believe in magic OP.
 
We have five kids, and have taken kids both while very new, as well as when I was pregnant. I actually found it easier/better to take a newbie than to be pregnant. When you have a newborn, it is a lot of wearing/carrying them, and DH can help with that-when you are pregnant and hot and tired, no one can help you. If I was honest, I actually found the newborn far easier at WDW than the 18 month old! Now that age is work! I have stayed at GF with all of our kids and find the rooms tight (we had two rooms), we have had far more success staying off site at a condo where we had a kitchen, several bathrooms etc. especially with a newborn. If on-site is important how about renting DVC points? Also if you do off-site maybe you could bring along grandparents? or another caregiver to help out? We have done that and it makes a huge difference-the big kids get to stay longer at the parks and enjoy and the littles don't get maxed out as you can go back for naps/pool time when needed. Our youngest is now 3, so we are out of that stage now, but have no regrets about taking them to WDW when they were too young to remember it-I remember it, and those are some pretty awesome memories.
 
I think you have to do what works best for your family. The 8 week old might be very easy to manage, or she might be very difficult. You won't know until the time is upon you. I find truth in the "parent here or parent there" line of thinking, but it is true that you will have less resources while away from home and your large family in one standard room at the GF does sound quite tight especially if the newborn keeps others up (which is likely). At 8 weeks odds are she will not be sleeping through the night. My DS reached that around 12 weeks, and for some kids it takes years. My DS has actually always been easiest to manage when we aren't at home! Every baby is different. Ideally, I wouldn't schedule a trip at 8 weeks. If you can postpone a while, it is probably a wise choice (although your baby may not be any easier and might actually be more difficult to manage at an older age). Bottom line, there's no way to tell. If your pediatrician feels it is safe for the baby to travel, then it's just a matter of if you are willing to risk spending the money and vacation days on what could either be a stressful, less than enjoyable experience or a great trip.
 
My mom helped with my baby too, but there's a big difference between getting help with a new baby and leaving the baby to go on vacation. I think it might be difficult/overwhelming to pump enough milk to last the duration of the vacation too. I would highly doubt many people would leave an 8 week old for the purpose of going on vacation. I find it difficult to believe there are people who would even want to do that. At any rate, it didn't sound like an option OP was considering.
I left a 6 week old and a 21 month old to go away for a long weekend with DH. I felt bad for my IL's, because my 6 week only wasn't sleeping through the might've (my mom had the 21 month old). Everyone survived!
 
You parent here or you parent there.

Well, you did it and it was fine, so I can't argue with your experience, but parenting a newborn (or newborn twins) at home for me was ALWAYS easier than going anywhere else. Even grandparents who had a crib, etc. Just the options for diapers, feeding, calming, toys, etc. were so much better at home than going anywhere else.

Also, at home, versus on vacation, you might get a little help every now and then from a grandparent, etc. So if the OP does not bring a helper, it is on two people to cake care of all the children. Even with my 3 kids who aren't babies, it is exhausting to be outnumbered on vacation. Also, at home, the older kids are easier to take care of...they can entertain themselves, feed themselves much easier than in a hotel room.

ETA: Also, at home, I'm not paying for an expensive Disney vacation and not making the most of it. Nor wasting my or DH's vacation time from work.
I don't understand the logic of "You can do this hard task here with better equipment and support OR you can do this hard task with less equipment and support AND you will have to pay thousands of dollars for that"


I have taken a two- year old twins, a kid turning 3, 3 year old twins, and a 4 year old, and a 5 year old. All those ages were "magical" in terms of wanting to meet characters and still believing. And my 10 year old barely remembers the trips when he was 3, 4, and 5 (if really at all, he says some things about the 5 year old trip). I'm not one to advise against waiting for an 18 month old because they won't remember, but really, you have time for your kids to still have fun and believe in magic OP.
Someone upthread talked about being type A Disney planners. We are dvc members and go frequently. I suppose that changes how we look at trips. We enjoy the parks and activities but being at WDW isn't much different than being home. It is home. We don't get any help at home so I'm used to being outnumbered. I'm minimalist with gear too. So as people have said, every situation is different. Op needs to assess their approach to parenting and if this trip could be a lot of fun. I think it could be great. I was just so happy to be there as a mom of three.
 
I didn't read all the replies. But I will say that I went to Disney when I had a newly turned 2 year and my 8 week old daughter. I actually purposefully planned the trip while having a newborn because I was on maternity leave and didn't have to take any PTO time. I was working at a job where I really didn't get PTO, but I did get 12 weeks of maternity leave so for me this was perfect. Also, by 8 weeks post partum, I am usually feeling closer to "normal" again, compared to 4 weeks post partum where you feel like a zombie and your body still is adjusting.

Having an 8 week old at Disney was EASY. I have 4 kids now, and I've brought kids at basically all ages at this point and my daughter at 8 weeks old was the easiest out of all the ages, lol. I wore her in a wrap, and often nursed her in the wrap while we walked or on rides. It could get hot, but she was content in the wrap. Nursing made it easy.

2 year olds are freakin exhausting at Disney. I'd take my 8 week old to Disney over a 2 year old any day!!!!

Also the pictures I have of my teeny tiny baby getting kissed by Mickey are some of my favorites. I know she won't remember, but I always always will!
 


You would have to have a lot of things go perfectly for this to be a good vacation. Some of those things include no colic, no health issues for baby, easy and quick recovery for mom, an unusually good sleeper, a baby who nurses at average or better pace effectively (if your wife can nurse with the baby in the carrier, this will be easier, but still difficult if you have a baby who takes longer than average to drain the breast), a baby who arrives on or near the due date, and no illness from the parks.

All of those conditions could be met. You've heard that this has worked out for some. I wouldn't do it. The concern about illness would top the list of reasons why. Babies that young still have to be hospitalized for fevers and have spinal taps for diagnosis. If you by chance have never seen or experienced colic, I wouldn't recommend figuring out coping mechanisms while on vacation. The stress of not sleeping, trying to soothe the baby, and feeling horrible that I was ruining the vacation of those in adjacent rooms sounds horrible.
 
We took our 14 week old DS and it was a great trip. He did have all of his initial shots by then, so I felt pretty good about it. We stayed at the CR for that trip and had plenty of room for the 5 of us.
 
I am in the same boat as you and I am bummed. My husband and I were going to get annual passes, so we had three trips planned in March, late September/ early October, and Christmas break. I was shocked to find out I was pregnant a couple weeks ago. My OB did ok my March trip even though I'm high risk, but there's no way I will be able to do the fall trip or likely December. My baby will be somewhere around 4-6 weeks and although I think it would be physically fine to manage, I can't put my baby at risk at that age. I was just there from 11/30-12/6/16 and I am not exaggerating when I say about 90% of Disney World was sick. Everyone seemed to be coughing. Even if your baby gets their 2 month shots before going; cold, flu, and RSV season will be in full force and they will not be protected from that. We already rented points for AKL club level and I was beyond excited for that (we usually stay moderate as well), so I understand the disappointment your wife is facing. In my situation, I am planning on letting my husband do the trip without me since we can't get our money back. If you decide to continue with the trip, it can be done, but consider modifying the trip to limit the baby's risk of exposure. Try to limit the baby's time on buses and in the parks. Plan a more slow paced trip.
 
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I haven't read all the comments, but I have read a few.

Coming from a mamma to four, I personally would not come to Disney with an itty bitty newborn baby. Those first few weeks, I'm still trying to get adjusted with another child to care for, trying to catch some sleep when I can, and nursing ALL THE TIME. The first thing is, I couldn't imagine trying to get up for an ADR or to make park opening after up nursing baby half the night. Second thing is, nursing during the day. Those first two months of life, all my babies have spent most of their day and night nursing. It would not be pleasant for me to try to keep a newborn fed with breast milk, and at the same time enjoy the trip. Plus, the other little one will need a great amount of parental help throughout the trip too.

I think everyone would enjoy the trip once baby reaches six months or older. In fact, we are Disney bound here this Sunday with a six month old.
 
You know your family and your situation best, but I would have been in NO shape physically to be able to do this when DD was 8 weeks old. She had colic and I was just physically depleted. Also consider that if a C-section is necessary she may not even be cleared by the DR yet, and walking that much may not be a good idea.
 
Honestly the 18 month old might be harder than the 8 week old! I took my DS at about 10 weeks but it was for a one day visit for the Halloween party.We were in the park from 4pm until midnight and I think he slept the whole time practically since he was in the carrier. Could I do this day after day for a vacation? Not sure. We just came back from DL and he's going on 18 months and that was harder because he wanted to walk and frolick and what not and not be in the carrier and then he wasn't tall enough to ride some of the rides his sister could who's 7 so that made things harder.

I think being outnumbered by the kids with 2 under 2 might be overwhelming but you'll always be outnumbered. My one advice would be that if you are going to keep your reservations or explore other options for lodging make sure that it's refundable. As other people have mentioned, things can happen, babies can be colicky or cranky and being able to cancel if need be or if your wife isnt up to a trip after birth will be beneficial. For that reason, I wouldn't advice renting points because they are almost all non refundable or you pay lots more to have a point protection plan. I would also maybe buy tickets later or maybe buy one of the adults less days in case there is a day that the newborn needs more rest so it doesn't feel like you're not getting your money's worth if your wife or you take a day off instead of going to the park. My other concern would be health too both that you're wife is recovered and that the baby isn't exposed to too many germs. But I'd just follow the advice of your doc like others have suggested.
 
I agree it depends a lot on the baby's temperament which is wildly unpredictable. My son had colic and screamed like his arms were being ripped off every single night from 5PM-10PM. There was nothing you could do but survive the five hours. This lasted from 3-14 weeks. The only silver lining was he cried so hard and hardly napped during the day, he slept through the night at 10 weeks. At 8 weeks he he was only up once. He's six now, mellowest kid ever, and we are still traumatized- lol! I feel like we would have been kicked out of any hotel we stayed at.

I like the idea of renting offsite if you do go (or renting points for a villa- but renting is non refundable.... risky, so through Disney if you can swing it). If your tickets are non refundable... I'd look into these options.

I'm not sure the rules with two kids under two... but would the baby push you above the room occupancy at the GF?
 
Wait until baby is 6 months. I think that is a perfect time to go. Most likely sleeping thru the night, not eating solids yet, nursing less frequently, had all their shots, happily engaged turned around in a carrier watching all the sights/sounds but will still take two solid naps. I would still get two rooms or a suite though. Trying to get 2 kids under 2 asleep would be tough and the older kids shouldn't have to always be quiet to keep peace. I think I would feel the worst for those two. They aren't old enough to go off on their own yet and 8 weeks and 18 months are tough ages to leave with one parent, especially at the hotel room. So unless you have them both in the stroller and one is sleeping, it would be tough to take off with the older kids to do rides and not feel like you are overwhelming the other parent, especially the sleep-deprived mom.
 
When we went down our youngest was six months. It was a lot easier than we thought it was going to be. Both of our girls slept through the night fairly quickly. I think the hardest part for us was the air travel. Also, I totally rocked one of those harness things for most of the trip. I wore my her in front of me. It made getting through crowds much easier than the wife could pushing the stroller with our oldest. Flu season would scare me, but, we had two NICU babies.
 
I would check with your pediatrician, of course, but I can see the point that an infant still in a carrier might actually be less likely to get sick than an older baby because they aren't mobile and touching everything. Personally, I probably would have been too nervous to do it, but I tend to run nervous. - Trust your chosen professional on this one.

I think a lot of whether your group would have fun or not depends on whether everyone will be resentful of the slower pace and what they can't do with the baby along, and whether you have the flexibility to split up sometimes to meet everyone's needs.

And if you plan it, definitely buy trip insurance in case something with the birth goes unexpectedly!
 
We took our daughter when she was 8 weeks old, and our son was 2 years old, and we had a great trip. I checked with her pediatrician beforehand and she was fine with us taking her. I mostly wore her in a carrier around the parks. The part that made me the most nervous was the plane ride, but luckily she slept the whole time.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
 
We took our daughter when she was 8 weeks old, and our son was 2 years old, and we had a great trip. I checked with her pediatrician beforehand and she was fine with us taking her. I mostly wore her in a carrier around the parks. The part that made me the most nervous was the plane ride, but luckily she slept the whole time.
Good luck with whatever you decide!

But OP also has a 9 and 12 year old that will not want to go the pace of an infant and 18 month old. They will want to go on the more adventurous rides and will need a parent with them for every ride always leaving another parent with the 2 young ones. That is a lot to juggle for a new mom. I feel like there will be guilt and stress trying to please everyone and she will be exhausted. I mean I love Disney and I love bringing young ones there but 2 under 2 AND 2 tweens while 8 weeks postpartum? That is tough.
 
But OP also has a 9 and 12 year old that will not want to go the pace of an infant and 18 month old. They will want to go on the more adventurous rides and will need a parent with them for every ride always leaving another parent with the 2 young ones. That is a lot to juggle for a new mom. I feel like there will be guilt and stress trying to please everyone and she will be exhausted. I mean I love Disney and I love bringing young ones there but 2 under 2 AND 2 tweens while 8 weeks postpartum? That is tough.

The 9 & 12 year old don't need a parent to ride every ride with them. Yes, they need them to get into the parks, but they could go ride something by themselves while mom & dad sit outside with the babies. Honestly OP, as long as their are no issues/complications with birth etc., I really don't think the 8 week old or mom is going to be an issue...it's going to be the 18 month old lol...but ppl. do it every day (myself included). The older 2 could and should actually be a help as they're old enough to help out with the family/know how to behave etc.
 

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