Hints for a toddler with "special needs".

[Pandot]

Hi.

 

Sorry I have read copious threads on children and cruising etc.

 

This is a topic I am pretty sure that I haven't seen:

 

What tips do you have for me for keeping my toddler out of everybody's way?

 

My 2 year old son was recently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. He is not a typically acting two year old - think terrible twos only can be worse. He is not a monster - he is generally happy and can sit for 20-30 minutes for dinner without extra entertainment (which we are always planning on having with us), is a great eater, loves to be moving in a stroller, loves to run. He generally plays well and usually quietly... however, if tired or mad, his tantrums can be loud or last a little longer than 2 minutes. Would I normally even think of taking him on a cruise right now - No! However, it is my sister's wedding and the WHOLE family is going so there is no one with whom to leave him. I am selfish enough to want to attend my sister's wedding.

 

So far we have made the following plans to avoid disaster or annoying other cruises:

 

We have a cabin with a large balcony, where, depending on temp, will put a pool for him. We are planning on feeding him room service most nights (is Celebrity which has a full dinner menu in room service). We also have select dining while my parents (and the rest of the large group) have late sitting. Family members have offered to watch James after he eats, while we eat, before their dinner. To keep our dinners short, we will probably have our apps delivered with his dinner in the room and merely order mains and dessert at dinner.

 

We will be joining him in interesting kids club activities (as is the policy for under 3) and have appropriate plans for him while we are in Bermuda.

 

We will be working really hard on scheduling a babysitter for the one late dinner we need to go to (my sister's wedding).

 

We will also be bringing my ipad, a dvd player with lots of movies, lots of coloring books and stickers, and my sister is getting him a new "toy" everyday in his backpack.

 

Other than what I have listed above, any ideas for making this a smooth trip for everyone?

 

Thanks,

 

Andrea

[Essiesmom]

There are numerous threads here and on the cruise line boards from people who have special needs children.

One of the things that was noticed by one person is that little quirks that their child had were not present during the cruise, possibly because the subtle motion of the ocean calmed the 'inner them'. EM

[B_Mc]

Sounds like you have a GREAT handle on things! You said he's a great eater but maybe still consider bringing favourite snacks? I bring a few dry, packaged snacks for DS just so something is familiar from home.

 

Same for bedding, pack familiar items. Will he be sleeping in a crib or bed? On RCI the bedding they provided for my 10 month old was ridiculous so I was very glad I had packed his usual sheets and blankets!

 

Hope you have a great trip!

[cantw8togo]

Hi.

We are planning on feeding him room service most nights (is Celebrity which has a full dinner menu in room service). We also have select dining while my parents (and the rest of the large group) have late sitting. Family members have offered to watch James after he eats, while we eat, before their dinner. To keep our dinners short, we will probably have our apps delivered with his dinner in the room and merely order mains and dessert at dinner.

 

Thanks,

 

Andrea

 

Unless things have changed since we sailed on Celebrity five years ago, just be aware that room service dinner isn't available until they have prepared and served it in the main dining room at the first service; and it may not arrive at your room until approx. 7:00, or later depending on how busy they are. If your DS normally eats before this time, you may want to have a late afternoon snack or bring a stash of crackers or other snacks to tide him over until dinner. You may be able to order something off the standard room service menu earlier, but the full dinner menu is available only on the same timetable as the MDR.

 

If you do decide to wait, early evening is a nice time to explore the ship a bit as there are few people around to worry about bothering. Most are either in the dining room or various bars and lounges.

 

Otherwise it sounds like you have things under control. I'm sure you'll have a great trip and congratulations to your sister and future BIL.

[mymollysue]

We just got back from our cruise on The Liberty of the Seas. Our 2 year old DD is autistic. She did beautifully. She LOVED the nursery and pool and beach. They had play areas set up everyday which she enjoyed. This was her 3rd cruise and she really has adapted well to them.

 

Seek out whatever children's programming they have. Also, you may want to look into transferring your reservation to Autism on the Seas. They really help you along the way with all of the needs for your child: priority boarding, separate muster drill, seating arrangements for dinner, contacting the kids clubs. They also give you a social story and name tags for your child.

 

I would also say to try to keep your child on a similar schedule as at home re: sleep, meals. Of course things will be different, but just have some constants in there.

 

Good luck and any questions, just ask.

[WeatherGeek]

I think you have a good handle on things. We took our ASD DD on her first cruise at age 2.5 and other than one thing, she had a great time. That one thing was that we had gone with an inside stateroom because I was not comfortable with her around a balcony and we're not in the room much without the balcony so I couldn't see getting an OV either...being in the inside room with no windows caused her to flip out every single time we'd go into the room. We finally found 3 days into it that the only way to soothe her was to put the TV on the bridge report channel and turn all lights in the room off except for this one particular one. Once we started doing that, she was fine with being in the room, but she would freak out again if we turned the TV channel or a different light on. You never know what may trigger a meltdown in ASD kids - we certainly never thought that would be an issue and we came prepared for every scenario possible!

[Pandot]

Thanks so much for the feedback.

 

I am not too worried about him having a difficult time with the new environment - he (unlike many children with ASD) does well in new environments.

 

But we are travelling at an off peak time, on a cruise ship that is primarily adults, with an active toddler, who looks older than he is, and has some extreme behaviors every once and awhile.

 

I appreciate all your input and hope that things will go well.

 

Happy cruising.