Nervous about traveling with 4 month old

[Pharmgirl123]

My husband and I are planning a Disney trip at the end of Feb with our 4 month old. This will be first time we travel with him and I’m so nervous!

We are doing 3 park days- 2 days at MK and 1 day at Epcot. We are staying at a 1 bedroom villa in GF. Should I rent a crib from an outside service or are the Disney cribs fine?

Any tips on traveling with a baby this young? I am bringing his stroller but I’m thinking of leaving his car seat at home since it’s bulky. Plus his stroller fully reclines so he can easily nap in there. My only concern is how do we get from the airport to Disney? Is there a car service that offers infant car seats?

What about dining reservations? I made all our dining reservations as a party of 3. Will they let me bring the stroller inside or will my husband and I have to carry the baby the entire time?

 

[NJlauren]

So I haven’t done Disney with a baby quite that young, but we traveled with both my kids at 3 months. To visit family in Florida. Also we did WDW at 9 months with one and 14 with the other. But for context we did Paris and DLP with one at 9 months.

Mears has car seats, I can not 100% recall all the options, but they are really helpful, call them and let them know you need an infant car seat. Make sure your really clear on this.

At WDW I think they usually have pack n plays for the kids to sleep in, we almost always ended up cosleeping with our kids when traveling. I remember once at 3 months I ended up on the floor and she was on the bed. but that’s going to totally depend on each person.

Do you baby wear? If not I highly recommend giving it a try, it’s a life saver especially in Feb of it’s not extremely hot, again my opinion, but I loved babywearing. Especially at Disney, hands free baby sleeps, was great for us.

The stroller at restaurants is going or vary, on occasion at WDW when I had a sleeping child they would let the stroller in but they really prefer no stroller, it takes up a lot of space and some restaurants don’t have the space for them.

Happy to answer anything else if I can.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

So I haven’t done Disney with a baby quite that young, but we traveled with both my kids at 3 months. To visit family in Florida. Also we did WDW at 9 months with one and 14 with the other. But for context we did Paris and DLP with one at 9 months.

Mears has car seats, I can not 100% recall all the options, but they are really helpful, call them and let them know you need an infant car seat. Make sure your really clear on this.

At WDW I think they usually have pack n plays for the kids to sleep in, we almost always ended up cosleeping with our kids when traveling. I remember once at 3 months I ended up on the floor and she was on the bed. but that’s going to totally depend on each person.

Do you baby wear? If not I highly recommend giving it a try, it’s a life saver especially in Feb of it’s not extremely hot, again my opinion, but I loved babywearing. Especially at Disney, hands free baby sleeps, was great for us.

The stroller at restaurants is going or vary, on occasion at WDW when I had a sleeping child they would let the stroller in but they really prefer no stroller, it takes up a lot of space and some restaurants don’t have the space for them.

Happy to answer anything else if I can.

I agree not a lot of space for strollers unless sleeping as strollers can not be in way of CMs or guests walking and can not block another table ie in between tables. also can not block exits. very few restaurants had infant highchairs years ago do not know if this has changed but we ended up passing our 4 month granddaughter around during meals a lot but it was easier with our group of 14

 

[katied]

When I took my kids at that age, we always had a baby Björn or something similar. There are so many times you need to park the stroller, not just restaurant, and each slept just as well attached to me… plus, for many rides, like Pooh, Small World, etc, you can ride while they are still strapped in.

we were also happy with the resort pack n plays at DVC… no issues on our end. I did pack my own sheet for one.

DS went 6 times before age 2 ( including at 5 months). DD went 2 times before 1. We had a great time always, and never took a car sea.

 

[KristaZ]

I brought my son for his first trip at 4 months in May. I've only ever seen pack n plays at Disney Resorts - I know some have cribs, I just wouldn't count in it if that's what your LO really needs to sleep in. FWIW, I do think GF tends to have regular cribs, but again, no guarantee. My son sleeps in a pack n play at home, so it's never been an issue for us.

I highly recommend a good baby carrier. You can wear on pretty much any ride without a height requirement and it helped us a ton since my son hates being in the stroller most of the time.

We found we could bring the stroller into most restaurants when he was that small (now that he's bigger and can fit a regular high chair they're a little stricter - but we've always been allowed to bring it if he's a asleep). They were pretty understanding that he wasn't going to be able to sit in a regular high chair. O'hana was the only restaurant I remember that trip that wouldn't allow us to bring in the stroller.

We've used Mears for a private car service and they were able to give us a car seat without a problem. We've also used Mears Connect and just held him on the bus.

Honestly, 4 months was the easier trip we've done with him because he wasn't moving around too much yet so he wasn't anxious to crawl or run around anywhere! The hardest part for me was keeping up with a pumping schedule (I EP'd).

 

[Pharmgirl123]

Thank you everyone! I’m feeling a bit better. My son isn’t used to sleeping in a pack n play but I can start practicing from now.

I do have a baby carrier and plan to bring it along. It’ll definitely help on the rides.

Regarding airport to Disney, I’ll reach out to Mears. It sounds like they are my best option!

 

[Anna131517]

I assume you’re flying. I personally like getting the baby it’s own seat on the plane and bringing the infant seat on. That way baby can sleep comfortably and is secure in case there’s turbulence. If you don’t want to do that then you can also use a car service to get to and from the hotel and request an infant seat. However, you won’t be able to use a taxi/Lyft while you’re there if you go the car service route.

Bring a baby carrier to carry the baby in lines and in restaurants. You’ll get used to holding a baby and eating. Have the baby rest on your lap and left arm and eat with your right, or vice versa if you’re left handed. Or take turns holding the baby with your husband.

The hotel will provide a pack and play. Try to mimic the sleep environment at home. So if you use white noise at home then do that on vacation.

Bring a baby thermometer, baby Tylenol, and saline nose drops just in case. There’s nothing worse than scrambling to get stuff on vacation when you have a sick child.

Finally, be realistic. You may have shorter park days with a baby and that’s OK. Enjoy!