To take the baby or not ?

[ArielWannaBe]

We are going for a short trip in December for 4 days. Our baby will be 6 months old.

I really want to take her so that she can experience it, but I know she will only be 6 months and not even remember. It would be our first family trip ever.

On the other hand, my mom really wants to watch her and let us go alone. And I completely trust my mom with her and am okay with this.

Can anyone give me their advice or opinion? We dont know what to do!

 

[tigsmom]

Do what you feel in your heart is right. You will get as many different reasons for & against as there are people here posting.

If you take the baby know that it will not be your typical trip, you will have to work around the baby's schedule. And kids live in the moment, they have fun while they are there. It's the parents that memories are for at this age.

 

[ArielWannaBe]

I wish I could just talk her nana into coming with us! :ROFLOL:

 

[Master Yoda]

It will all depend on what you want to get out of this trip. If you want to hit the parks commando style and do all four parks in four days going on as many attractions as possible then do not take your child. If you are ready to slow things way down and take the trip at your child's pace then by all means take your daughter.

 

[shoppingnut]

You may want to take your mom up on the offer because at some point down the road those types of offers tend to dry up as kids get and grandparents get older.

 

[gwhb75]

I would say 6mos is probably a bit young. You'll spend a lot of time feeding,changing, etc. which won't be that much different than being at home. I would say take your Mom up on the offer.

 

[Coree]

I'd say you're the only one who can make the decision. We have taken DD every trip since she was born (she was 14 months for the youngest). Looking back, I know I couldn't stand the thought at the time of going without her, even though my parents offered. But now with a few trips since then under our belt, I would have been okay with leaving her that first time. I treasure the memories and the photos, but she certainly doesn't have memories of it and now I KNOW she'd never let us go without her so those "just DH and I" trips are probably over for a while.

 

[KC82271]

We did a 10 mo. old (who for being 3 months early, was really supposed to be 7 months old) and not only did she love it, she still watches her videos and looks at her pictures. "Look at me when I was just a baby and saw Baloo....." She's been back 4 times, but nothing compares in her eyes when looking at videos to the first trip.

Also, enjoy this one. She won't be telling you she doesn't want to do a certain thing. When it was nap time, I took her on a dark ride like Spaceship Earth and off to sleep she went! We just took our time and enjoyed it.

If I had to do it again, I would still take her!

 

[radioandy]

We took our 9-month-old. No regrets, but we also had a great time a few years before when it was just the two of us. Since you'll never want to go again without your child(ren), this might be a nice last trip for you as a couple.

 

[Iknewagirlnamed]

Honestly? Dont take her. Wait until she gets older and can actually enjoy and remember it. She probably will be grumpy and cry a lot (as babies do, no offense to yours in particular.) Plus you get alone time with your man and it will be very romantic

 

[slappy magoo]

If you take the baby, you will be on Baby Schedule, not yours, and the baby won't remember a second of it.

If you don't bring the baby, then everytime you see a happy baby on your trip, you're going to feel like a complete and utter s*** for not bringing your kid. Of course, everytime you see a miserable baby, you'll think you dodged a bullet.

Either way, you'll regret your decision to a degree. Which one will fill you with more regret?

 

[progroupie]

I'm all for babies at Disney World. It's such a magical experiance for the parents and I don't discourage it at all. But at the same time it depends on how far you're coming from, WDW is a pretty serious trip to make as your first family trip and if you haven't traveled much with the baby it would be a bit of an undertaking and you won't have any reference points for how the little one will handle it.

 

[captainkidd]

A thousand times over, yes. My twin boys are now 20 months old, and have been to Disney 3 times. Everybody always says we're nuts, but they always seem to have a great time. First time we went, they were just 5 months old. Here's a pic of them in the Magic Kingdom with their 1st Mickey ears:

Any questions?

 

[mickey7879]

Take the baby!!!!! We took our son when he was 7 months old. He had soooooo much fun!!!!! We already knew we were going to be on his schedule, so that wasn't a shock to us. No big deal. There are lots of rides that your little one will be able to go on and the ones she can't, you can do the baby swap on. Our son LOVED It's a Small World. His head turned from side to side and up and down so many times looking at all the dolls. He didn't want to miss a thing! He absolutely loved Chef Mickey's too! I was scared with the only reservation we could get not being until 9:30 pm, but he did wonderful! We only had to give him a bottle and the characters did the rest of the entertaining for us! I don't regret a second of bringing him!

In fact, we're in Melbourne, FL right now on our vacation and are heading over to Disney with our son who is now 15 months old. We'll get to spend 2 1/2 weeks in Disney, showing him everything......taking our time of course!

 

[GatorGambit]

We are going for a short trip in December for 4 days. Our baby will be 6 months old.

I really want to take her so that she can experience it, but I know she will only be 6 months and not even remember. It would be our first family trip ever.

On the other hand, my mom really wants to watch her and let us go alone. And I completely trust my mom with her and am okay with this.

Can anyone give me their advice or opinion? We dont know what to do!

We will be taking our daughter when she is 6 months old in May (she is 2.5 weeks old right now ). I already expect that commando touring is out of the question. I think it just comes down to accepting that you will not be able to do it on any kind of schedule but baby schedule. It also comes down to acknowledging that they won't remember a thing...we're going as a post-pregnancy vacation for us, not necessarily for the baby!

 

[GrumpysWife]

We took our infant son (along with his 3 yr. old brother) twice this year - when he was 5 mos. and when he was 7 mos. and he had a wonderful time! You obviously will have adjustments in how you spend your time (child swap is fantastic), but it is worth it when you see your child's face light up at some of the wonderful experiences at Disney. He will not remember the trips, but that just means we need to take him again! :sohappy:

 

[mroman]

We just got back from our first trip with our son (he's 14 months old). After asking other people's advice I have to say a couple of things.
First off, I don't regret taking him for his first trip so early but I don't think his next trip (or ours) will be until he's probably 3 or 4 years old. He had a good time more so on rides rather than any shows (like Finding Nemo the Musical, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, etc.) He loved seeing the characters as well as getting to play in the various play areas by the Pooh ride and Toontown Fair.
Being that he's so young it's a tiring experience for him and you MUST set lower expectations for your trip when you go. I had thought that our son would have enjoyed everything as much as we did but that just wasn't the case.

If you go at your child's pace and don't expect as much as a typical trip without child then you'll enjoy it much more. Now that this first trip is under our belt I'm anxiously awaiting when he's older so he can enjoy it more.

 

[Todd L]

I just got back from a week at Disney with a 3 year old and it was a lot of work. We took him down to universal when he was 1 and it was much easier because he was content to sit in the stroller .
I know that my wife would never go for it and if I somehow talked her into it she would be riddled with guilt and not enjoy herself anyway. Thats a really hard call. Good luck and have a great trip.

 

[MagicMinnie]

We are going next Christmas with a 7 month old,a 4 year old and our eldest who is 12.
We went with eldest DS when he was 4 and it was great,you find you adjust and develop your own routine.
If you are happy being flexible it is great

 

[bbbfamilyinsf]

wdw is VERY baby friendly

as everyone said, the decision is all about how your family travels ... but I will share my experience - our 2 yr old has been to disney 3 times (next week will be his 4th trip). we're not necessarily disney crazed people but we have found that all of the parks are so baby friendly that it is a great place to get away with the kids (we have 2).

if you decide to take the baby, check out the babycare centers centrally located in each park. they all have private quiet spaces with rocking chairs for nursing moms (that was me for 2 of the trips), high chairs for feeding little ones if you have started solids, a play area and/or big tv with disney videos playing for the rest of the family to relax while you take care of the baby -- and most importantly, clean changing tables with all of the needed supplies (extra diapers, wipes, antibacterial soap & wipes). if you run out of anything, the centers are stocked with diapers, wipes, baby food and formula. on our last trip, I was breast feeding the little one and potty training the older one - the clean, uncrowded bathrooms were a godsend!

with older kids, you may decide it is a good place for you to escape with the baby while your husband hits up another ride with the older ones.

so, if you enjoy travelling with your little one, I say go for it!