A question to parents/grandparents traveling with 4 y.o. and packing

[Ravens girl]

This coming April we will be trav To WDW with our then 4 year old grandson. We will be staying off property. It's been a while since I've had to pack for a little one. I tend to over prepare. What medicines should I bring? I'll bring children's Tylenol and plenty of bandaids. What things do you wish you'd packed?

 

[TwinkleKS]

If you are staying offsite you can always pick things up at a Walgreens / CVS. We have needed Pepto or Imodium before for our littles if you want to pack ahead (or at least know what his parents prefer).

 

[Tink_83]

Thermometer! This past time DD was running a fever (well I think she was based on my non scientific kiss the forehead method). also a basic first aid kit. You can go to Walmart or somewhere like that to get the generic items. I personally always keep bandaids, antiseptic packets, antibiotic ointment, and anti itch cream in my purse (little one use packets). Oh and wet wipes!!! Never leave home without them!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Tink_83, Wet Wipes are indeed so handy. I always carry some. I want to put out here that both the 99 Cent Only Store and Dollar Tree sells them and in the boxes indivudually wrapped. Dollar Tree also has the pull out kind.

Raven's Girl, have a fantastic time with your grandson

 

[The Hunchback]

Be sure to bring a complete change of clothes into the park each day for your little one. My 7 year old got so excited and over-hydrated, well you can guess! A largish plastic bag for the wet clothes helps too.

Not actual medicine but mint flavored candy can ease a stomach rattled by rides too.

 

[Ravens girl]

Thanks for the suggestions. A thermometer is now on my packing list. Of course wet wipes will be in my park bag. His parents (my DS and DDIL) are still working on the potty training thing, I'm hoping by the time we travel, diapers will be a thing of the past. Extra clothes are a great idea. I'll be prepared if he wants to play in the water play areas. And now mints or ginger will be added.
Thank for all the great ideas.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Thanks for the suggestions. A thermometer is now on my packing list. Of course wet wipes will be in my park bag. His parents (my DS and DDIL) are still working on the potty training thing, I'm hoping by the time we travel, diapers will be a thing of the past. Extra clothes are a great idea. I'll be prepared if he wants to play in the water play areas. And now mints or ginger will be added.
Thank for all the great ideas.

one thing that helped with grandkids last year was packing in a Ziploc bags with complete outfits. just grab one or 2 extra bags for park bag depending on how training is going plus you also have a place to place dirty/wet clothes. also add water shoes to park bag as shoes are required for water play areas. have something to mark your stroller to help you find in the sea of strollers in stroller parking. I would not plan on balloon as they are not allowed in AK

 

[Thing 1]

Things in case he would get a stomach virus. Happened to us when DS was four and we were not prepared. We needed tash bags, paper towels, extra PJs, underwear, clear drink and plain crackers. If you go winter and it's cold.... extra gloves. It was COLD one trip and somehow the same DS lost like 5 gloves. Toys to play in the room are important to us. We all need a little down time and when he was little, have a few things to play with gave me a little bit of down time too. One trip we got the fill the box MR Potato Head and fill yourself lego container and he played with those a ton during the rest times. We also always took something for the bath tub. A couple toys or soap crayons or paint and he would play a bit while we got things r day for the next day

 

[Ravens girl]

one thing that helped with grandkids last year was packing in a Ziploc bags with complete outfits. just grab one or 2 extra bags for park bag depending on how training is going plus you also have a place to place dirty/wet clothes. also add water shoes to park bag as shoes are required for water play areas. have something to mark your stroller to help you find in the sea of strollers in stroller parking. I would not plan on balloon as they are not allowed in AK

I'll definitely use the packing in ziplock bags suggestion. It'll save time in the morning deciding what to wear. Crocs will work as water shoes. Maybe streamers as stroller marks?

 

[Ravens girl]

Things in case he would get a stomach virus. Happened to us when DS was four and we were not prepared. We needed tash bags, paper towels, extra PJs, underwear, clear drink and plain crackers. If you go winter and it's cold.... extra gloves. It was COLD one trip and somehow the same DS lost like 5 gloves. Toys to play in the room are important to us. We all need a little down time and when he was little, have a few things to play with gave me a little bit of down time too. One trip we got the fill the box MR Potato Head and fill yourself lego container and he played with those a ton during the rest times. We also always took something for the bath tub. A couple toys or soap crayons or paint and he would play a bit while we got things r day for the next day

We'll be staying off property and will have a washer and dryer so extra clothes shouldn't be an issue. I'll pack an extra set of clothing in the park bag.
Bath toys are an excellent idea.
It looks like I'll need to start a packing list.

 

[monorailsilver]

Benadryl-from allergies to bug bites.

My medicine list: Tylenol, Advil (liquid if can't swallow a pill), Benadryl, epipen, zyrtec, vitamins, nose spray.

Moleskin already cut.

 

[Smittolis]

If using Benadryl and other allergy medicines, just make sure you have already given it to them prior to going so you know how they react to it. It is a common side effect to have young children hallucinate and such when taking allergy medicine, Benadryl being one of the biggest culprits.

I personally use 'packing cubes' that are color coded for each of my 3 kids, each has a change of clothes just in case, as they are color coded it is easy to pop your hand in the bag and pull it out. They are really light and obviously reusable.

As for medicine? As a few have stated i would take the usual pain medicine, Tylenol, Children's ibuprofen (this is good as its an anti-inflamatory), I would also make sure you have plenty of moisturizing lotion, band aids for small scrapes, this will go hand in hand with some anti-septic spray for the same, We also take some 'bite soothe' spray, just in case they get a bite from an insect and need some anti-itch, get a good fan for them to use to keep them cool, i personally have cooling pads in our stroller to help along with some other cool inventions to keep them cool! Cooling towel is also a must given the heat, and one thing i hope you don't need is soothing sunburn lotion!

Kids are really resilient so you'll be surprised at how well they tolerate things at times! I have also found that if there is anything i ever forgot then Disney actually has a good selection at most of the stores and definitely at the hotels etc...

With all that said, I am not sure how finicky they are being at bag check with regards to the various medical items these days!?! Anyone have experience recently?

 

[DopeyDame]

Benadryl-from allergies to bug bites.

My medicine list: Tylenol, Advil (liquid if can't swallow a pill), Benadryl, epipen, zyrtec, vitamins, nose spray.

Moleskin already cut.

Definitely run things like Benadryl, zyrtec, and nose spray by the parents before using. (And obviously an epipen is only an issue if there's an allergy and doctors prescription) Kids all react differently to those medicines, and I wouldn't be comfortable with my parents giving it to my kids for the first time.

For my kids, we usually bring advil, bandaids, neosporin, and some type of itch cream. And absolutely a thermometer. We ended up buying one in a gift store one trip with my daughter. Not fun to have a very sick kid and be wandering around a gift shop looking for a thermometer.

 

[Ravens girl]

It looks like my son and daughter-in-love are coming with us! I'll still be the one doing a lot of the packing and planning. I'll add Benadryl to the list. DS has allergy problems.
Cooling towels are now added to the list.