Young infant at WDW

[ilisa]

I know this topic has been done to death, so please bear with me. My husband and I are planning a soccer tournament at WDW in May (we have a soccer tournament organizing and consulting business). We will have a new baby, 3.5 to 4 months old. We have talked about leaving him with family and just taking our 3 year old, but aren't really comfortable with leaving him for almost 2 weeks, especially so young. But, I am not quite warmed up to the idea of taking such a young baby. I did see the thread about a baby at Disney and am comforted by all the people who took such young infants. My question is, what rides can an infant go on? Of course we will do the baby swap when needed, but we don't want to do it all the time. Any advice? This will be my 20th visit there, but only my second with kids and my first with one so young. Thanks.

 

[Disneymommie]

lET ME REASSURE YOU THAT IT WILL MOST DEFINITLY BE WORTH IT TO TAKE THE BABY. mY 1ST DAUGHTER WAS 9 MONTHS WHEN SHE FIRST WENT AND MY SECOND DAUGHTER WAS 3.5 ALMOST 4 MONTHS. tHE BABY CAN GO ON A LOT OF THE RIDES. mOST DO NOT REQUIRER ANY HEIGHT OR AGE. WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A FEW BUT EVEN THOSE YOUR 3 YR OLD PROBABLY WILL NOT BE ABLE TO GO ON. tHE ROLLER COSTERS AND SPLASH MOUNTAIN ARE ABOUT IT. mOST OF THE mAGIC kINGDOM IS GREAT AND FOR THAT MATTER A LOT OF ePCOT IS ALSO WONDERFUL. a FEW THINGS TO CONSIDER, WHEN WE BROUGHT THE YOUNGEST AT 4 MONTHS OLD WE had here in her car seat / infant carrier. We had a snap and go stroller: a light weight fram that adjust's to fit most infant seats. This was great because we could carry it right onto most rides and not desturb the baby if she was sleeping. Another thing to consider is a light weight baby sling. Not the NOJO or others found in stores, we got one on the internet from recomendations from this sight(it was 2 yrs ago so I do not remeber the exact name of the sight(the nursing mother or something of that sort) It was a very light weight mesh sling that saved our arms a lot standing on lines. (we used it with our 3rd child) Again if the baby is sleeping she could stay comfy and asleep in the sling if not in carrier. I would not leave the baby at home. BRING HER!!!! if you would like feel free to email me we have been to disney 5 times with our 3 kids from the time the first was only 9 months. I have lots of tips. MOUSEEARSCM@aol.com

 

[Kermit]

I agree that the baby can go on basically anything the older child can go on. Most of the rides are very slow rides. The scenery is more exciting than the actual movement of the ride. It's hard to explain if you've never been, but it's fun without being scary at all.

If you're comfortable having the baby around all those people, you'll be fine. I would be a little concerned about the heat in May. A small baby gets overheated easily. You'll need to plan for lots of breaks. The beginning of the month would be much better than the last part because of heat and crowds. It's still very warm at the beginning of May, but less people means less heat when standing in lines.

 

[ilisa]

I am feeling a bit better now after reading your replies. I guess in all my visits, I just never paid attention to what an infant could do. We will be going in the middle of May since we have to be there over the dates that Disney assigned us for the tournament. I am not worried about the baby being around crowds, especially after 3 months. So, this could actually work out after all.

 

[susy]

I'm in Fl and I think mid-May might be okay. Crowds and heat will make a difference. I would go out early in the mornings, go back to the hotel for lunch and nap and go out again later. Maybe bathing the baby before putting him down for a nap or before you go back out again might help keep him comfortable. I would also discuss the trip with your pediatrician. He or she can tell you whether to give the baby a little water or not (to keep him hydrated). You'll be able to tell from his urine , if he's okay. I would also consider getting a two room suite (like Doubletree or HIFS) or one of the Home-away-from-home Disney resorts. You will be more comfortable having a little kitchen and the extra room for the kids to go to bed early or just to stretch out and relax after a long day. Have fun planning!

 

[ksdave]

We just went this past May. We arrived on May 21st and the crowds were pretty much non-existent. It didn't get bad until the weekend (Memorial Day weekend). Due to alot of kids being in the last week or two of school, you won't have to stress the crowds in mid-May.
Also, to us, the heat wasn't bad at all. It was actually hotter back home in Kansas than it was in Orlando that week.

 

[josierac]

Just remember that infants under 6 months old cannot use sunscreen, talk to the doctor about this. Make sure that the baby is protected from the sun and maybe buy the clip on fan that they have for strollers to keep him cool.

 

[catwho]

We've taken a baby to WDW before and didn't regret it. We also had older children at the time so we were able to do babyswap on alot of rides (haven't seen anyone mention that yet here) It allowed our older girls to go on the rides twice and the parents switch watching the baby. I second (and third and fourth) the sling idea. It came in *very* handy especially when baby needed to breastfeed. If baby got a bit too warm we (baby and I) would head over to one of the well maintained Baby Stations and sit in the air conditioning and nurse while Dad took the girls to go do something mom wasn't interested in (Speedway) With the sling I could nurse all through the park. One afternoon with our second child, my dh took our oldest to go do some ride and I was sitting in the hot sun nursing the younger. A CM came over and offered me a chair inside Crystal Palace (it was almost dead that weekend) and even brought me a glass of water to drink. Talk about unexpected! I was cool and still able to see our meeting spot while I nursed in comfort (or would that be luxury?)

And when your baby is older and looking back at pictures of him/herself with all the characters it will be a special magic that will make them that much more excited about going to WDW again! My kids love to look at pics of themselves growing up with "The Mouse"