worried about disasterous trip with my baby About This Page:

[slgrimes]

my youngest will be 21 months old when we are in disney in september. she's a sweet baby, but high maintenance! we took a weekend trip to the beach this past weekend and it was a nightmare. not sleeping, crying, not napping, clinging....so now i'm terrified that disney will be a disaster and more stress than fun!

any tips or suggestions to help us have a good week with our three kids in tow (5, 3 and 21 months)????!!!!!

thanks,
stacy

[Colexis Mom]

Take lots of breaks, go at the kids' pace, have snacks with you to prevent meltdowns, and bring your own strollers!!

[eff051102]

I would make sure to keep the same sched. as they have at home. Go slow and
don't plan on seeing everything. Make sure you have your stroller and eat some
of the same things that you do at home.

[jagmom08]

I was wondering the same thing about my trip in October with my almost 4 year old and 2 year old. Sometimes they can be so great when out and about and other days, its a complete disaster.

[home4us123]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Take lots of breaks, go at the kids' pace, have snacks with you to prevent meltdowns, and bring your own strollers!!

That sounds good to me...

[Mileese]

I agree. lots of breaks and similar food/drink, bring there fav. stuffed animal and remember, a lot to see at Disney, so sometimes that will distract them. also, the Baby care Centers for some quiet time at the Parks, or our favorite, those out of the way niches and some bubbles and snack!
have a wonderful time

[disney_duke]

Wow, those are just about the same ages as our 3 little ones! And we've done WDW twice now, with the youngest being 7 mos, and then again at 22 mos. You'll be fine!!

I was in the same boat with my DS (the youngest). I knew it would be a hassle and a pain (literally), but I did whatever I had to do to keep him happy, and then everyone else had a good time. By this, I mean: holding him almost all the time (the pain part), and letting him eat pretty much whatever he wanted so he'd be happy. I also had to keep really good track of his toys every minute because he always has to be holding a car/train/ something. So I always had extra toys/snacks in the diaper bag for distraction and he did really well.

He is very clingy, and I knew this would affect me, so I just went along knowing full well that he would be with me 24/7. We ate all meals with him on my lap, and if we weren't walking with him in the stroller (standing in line, resting at a bench, etc.) he wanted to get out of the stroller and I'd hold him. Some days my arms were shaking from holding him so much! His nap schedule was totally messed up, but he took about 3-4 small naps per day in his stroller or on my shoulder, so it all worked out in the end. At night, he mostly slept in the pack-n-play, but I had to hold him until he got really sleepy first and then put him down.

Practice again with a long day trip somewhere (zoo, outlet mall??) where it's similar with walking/stopping/walking and see how it goes. I can see how a day at the beach would be boring for that age (but we're going on a beach trip next month!).

Distractions that worked were bubbles, light up toys, fruit snacks, new small toys. And don't expect it to be a relaxing trip for yourself because it's not. It's totally a working trip!! Because when your youngest is conent, you know the older ones will be whining about something!!!

[ArielsMomto2]

Lots and Lots of since I've never traveled with one that young but Marnies' advice sounds about right to me.

[coastgirl]

The youngest mine were was 3, not the same thing, but have to say they were sooo exhausted by everything around them, it wasn't that bad. Also, yes, a comfy, familiar stroller...dd took some real power naps while we toured, and woke up ready to start over. Maybe rent a Disney stroller, or do you have a double? Ds, at 5 and 6, needed a stroller sometimes too, and it made for much happier kids if they could rest or snooze when they needed it.

[coasties]

Our DD was 27 mos. her first trip and it was not too bad.
We just went at her pace ( our oldest was 8 at the time)
keep some goldfish crackers handy and feed the ducks by the rose garden at the castle, or at your resort. We stayed at CBR and the ducks became a morning ritual LOL
We took advantage of all the water "spots" ( totem poles in adventure land, misters in tomorrowland , jumping fountains in EPCOT etc...)
We kind of followed her lead and saw it through her eyes which was really fun.
took the mid day break
We made sure she knew we were taking turns ( one attraction for her one for her big sis).
If we did a baby swap we took her somewhere she wanted to go after that. It was/ still is important to my DD to know what is coming next and to feel like she has some control over the situation.
If she was cranky we would choose a fairly quiet attraction like the train in MK or spaceship earth just so she could decompress
All in all it worked out fine.
ENJOY!!

[ferrazalves]

I´d suggest to keep the routine as close as possible. My initial trips with my DD was a kind of "war", and we planned to keep the routine inclusive in her dietery. We cooked the soup she had at home and freeze everthing. I took that in the airplane in a special package so it´s arrived frozen yet and everymeal we prepared the food. We did that until she get used to different food. However it was a nightmare, a lot of luggage....

[PA_TravelGirl]

We are taking our 3 year old DD and turning 2 DS while we're there so I totally understand what you are worried about. I am worried about the same thing. We took a family "vacation" this past April and I couldnt wait to go home. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the kids will be so entertained and tired at the end of the day that they will let me sleep past 5:30 am! Seriously though, this time I am going into it with a diffrent attitude. If I have to leave for naps, fine. If I want to get a sitter to go out with DH, fine. If kids hate the rides and we hang at the pool, fine. I am going to try to be as laid back as possible (this is a little hard for me). The good thing about Disney is that there are screaming child probably just about everywhere, so just know your not alone.

[SARH7]

As far as sleeping at night goes...I think almost all babies have trouble when they're in a new environment...so it's always expected that the first couple night will not be good.

My ds will be 20 months in October when we go. I am worried too...but I'm going to try and do some things ahead of time to help. We recently did a day at a local amusement park...and I learned some valuable lessons.

- I will bring one of his stuffed animals so that will help him sleep/take naps.
- We will take lots and lots of walks in the double stroller that we will use in Disney and lots of those walks at nap time to he gets used to sleeping in it.
- About a week or two before the trip, I will put him down for naps and even bedtime at night in his pack n play so he gets used to sleeping in that before the trip.
- Get him used to the harness (baby leash) that we bought so he can have some freedom when walking around WDW.

We took him last year when he was 9 mo...such an angel at that age!! But one of the things we did then and we will do again is bring a blanket to clip onto the the shade of the stroller and drape down, covering him. It kept out the sun and the distraction. I think I might even buy some fabric from Joann's...something darker, but gauzy so it hopefully won't get too hot underneath.

[Fanessa4]

My DS was 19 mths when we went and believe it or not, very few meltdowns. There is SOO much distraction to keep him entertained that he will be fine. My son is VERY clingy and if I am even out of the room he loses his mind, but surprisingly he was fine there.
If you notice him getting a little "annoyed" take a break and just let him stretch his legs. We would sit and eat a dole whip or mickey bar and just watch him dance to the music or look at a cricket, . Then after about a while we would say get in your stroller and he would just climb in , yah, I know!! My son had a blast and I would definately reccommend getting the balloon at the END of the day. For all those poor souls I hit with my stroller, i apologize, mickeys mylar head was in my way.

Sleeping in the hotel was not an issue cause he was soooo exhausted he literally just crashed. lol
Now one thing to keep in mind, characters, my son was TERRIFIED of them. I know we all want those adorable photos with the characters but dont push it. Our first character visit was Mickey and I ended up getting my hair yanked because he was soo scared. poor thing. So after that experience, we just watched DD meet them. Now he was fine with the face characters like cindy,jasmine but not the others.

Overall, you know your child and when he will have a meltdown, just be super proactive and your vcation will be one to remember. If not, thats always another great reason to go back!!

[saremca]

When ours were young, like someone else already mentioned, we took our cues from the youngest child. When he/she had had enough of the park and needed a break, we left and went back to the resort for nap/swim time. We made sure to have snacks available, and tried not to overdo things. As far as sleeping, if one of them was having a tough time, my DH or I would sleep with them which for my kids was helpful.

Just do your best to take cues from the baby and I think you'll be fine. They tire out much faster, and are just generally restless and clingier than normal when they're out of their usual environment. Good luck!