He is cute to us, but probably not to everyone else

[Host CMLA]

I look forward to seeing your changing avatars, too cute!! Keep it up!

I will! This current avatar with his fist in his mouth was him eating his first cracker. He crushed it up into tiny pieces and shoved his fist into his mouth. Hmmm...reminds me of my DH. LOL

[newmexicoNita]

I will! This current avatar with his fist in his mouth was him eating his first cracker. He crushed it up into tiny pieces and shoved his fist into his mouth. Hmmm...reminds me of my DH. LOL

ok, time is slipping by: 5 months now? Golly he is so cute!!!! NMNita

[goldmom]

We cruised with our kids from the time they were 2. They are now 21 and 25. I think that it's great that you're being so considerate of others. I remember that we used to let the kids bring a toy or coloring book to dinner. Something quiet, video game-no sound. We'd also play things like I Spy and Geography. It was great quality time with them, but not always easy, especially when you want to be considerate of other passengers. We didn't have the luxury of free-style back in those days. But it was a great way to teach manners and gave them a chance to experiment with trying different foods as they could always get something else. My son at age 5 was eating escargot! Anyway have a wonderful cruise and enjoy each stage, it goes by faster than you think.

 

Cecelia- One trick my pediatrician told me was that when they're still on the bottle, give them a bottle during takeoffs and landings. It helps relieve the pressure in their ears. Enjoy!

[Host CMLA]

ok, time is slipping by: 5 months now? Golly he is so cute!!!! NMNita

Six months actually. Almost 6 1/2! Funny...he's getting older and I'm getting younger.

 

Goldmom...I thought of that too and I'm going to try it.

 

Thanks for letting me talk about Nathan a little bit. :D

[IMACRUZRNOW]

I think that the reason small kids cry on planes, is their little ears hurt from the pressure of take-off. I can feel it in mine, so imagine what it feels like to an infant.

 

Ask your child's pediatrician for advice.

 

Barb

 

Barb and Cecilia, Yep on the ear thing. I tried a pacifier and bottle to keep his ears open also gave him...hmmm...some kind of cough or cold medicine to relax him (per pediatrician's order).

 

His problem is that he was tired and wanted his crib...that's the only place he liked to sleep.

 

And Cecilia...we are fairly regular travelers, so by about 2years old, both boys had flying down. And by 4 I could enjoy a relaxing, in-flight glass of wine again!

[NJGRANNY]

We may be the only "retired" couple who would be happy to sit with a family with young kids. Not every night, of course, but we enjoy children - more since we don't have total resonsibility for any. :-)

 

We got a big kick out of watching the young children eat at their special buffet on the Dawn. They seem to really enjoy it. (As do some adults, who come to swipe french fries and cookies. :-)

[ImpulsivePuppy]

i didn't know about a buffet for kids! is it closer to the ground?

[Hikini]

i didn't know about a buffet for kids! is it closer to the ground?

 

Yes, there is an area (on the end closest to the pool) where there is a mini buffet, along with mini tables and chairs. Tables and chairs the size of those you would find in an elementary school. The buffet section is of that same size and has burgers, hotdogs, fries, mac n cheese (I can't remember what else besides the cookies.)

 

I think it's a great idea for kids. We have seen a number of adults sitting there when the other tables are full, but we didn't see any children who were without a place to sit as a result.

 

Have fun!

Hikini:D

[NJGRANNY]

On the Dawn, the kids swimming area has little kid-sized lounge chairs, too. It's adorable.

[silkhair1]

The child buffet is great. Every morning for breakfast there is muffins with frosting and sprinkles, waffles, pancakes, fruit, yogurt, hashbrowns. Always kid friendly food. It was great!!!!!

[ImpulsivePuppy]

omg, ben is going to love that~~!

[Cruise_More_Often]

Oh, IP, I sure hope I'm wrong (for your little puppy's sake), but I don't think the Sun has a kid's buffet. Does anyone know for sure?

[momofmab]

I don't recall seeing a kid's buffet on the Sun :confused:

[newmexicoNita]

I don't recall seeing a kid's buffet on the Sun :confused:

It was there when we sailed in April. It is toward the ship not the outdoor area. Well actually everything I guess is toward outdoor one way or the other. I wish I could better explain it, maybe someone else can. NMnita

[halos]

What a considerate parent you are, IP. Enjoyed this post.

 

 

I totally agree!! :D

[momofmab]

That would explain why I didn't see it, NMNita - we spent waaayyy too much time at the waffle station :)

[Texas2804]

Last year we cruised with our DD she was 2yrs old. We ate in the main dining room every night with her. Though she did like kid's crew she would have rather have been with us and that suited us fine. The waitstaff in the dining room treated her like a princess and she loved all the attention, and we never had a problem with her wanting to leave early or fussing during dinner. I do have to say freestyle dining is a must with children and even though we didn't have the same waitstaff each night whoever we did have never seemed bothered that we had a child at out table and always treated her so special. She still talks about the "cruise ship" and asks when can she go back.

[Deb in Cali]

IP as others have stated you are on the right track.

 

I have a dining experience to share. Our oldest was 15 months old as we headed to Montery CA for a much needed long weekend away. We drove the three hours to the coast and skipped lunch on the way. We arrive in Montery around 4 PM, and we are starving. We see a resturant near Lover's Point called the Tinnery, that looked almost like an upscale Dennys. So we decide that would be a safe place to dine with a toddler. To add to the situation, I was dressed in a pair of levis, a sweater and tennies, not exactly dressy attire.

 

We walked in and the hostess immediately grabbed two menus and motioned for us to follow her. I knew that I was in trouble when I sunk into the plush carpet after stepping off the tiled entry. I turned to my DH and he shrugged, like what do we do now? This place is A LOT more upscale that it looked from the outside. So sheepishly, we are seated.

 

Two other couples see us being seated and motion for the check. NOW I'm really feeling in over my head. The waiters made a huge deal about David. They treated him like he was their favorite customer. We ordered fish type dinners with a side of zucchini for David.

 

David was the PERFECT dinner guest. Just after we were served the major domo came over to comment that "obviously this child enjoys fine dining". We had to choke on our reply, but did manage to agree with him. How little did he know that previosly, David's favorite fine dining experiences had been McD. As we prgressed in our meal, taking our time, David dined on rice pilaf, zucchini, potato, dinner rolls, scallops, shrimp, crab, and halibut. My David was doing such a nice job of polishing off most of his daddy's sampler plate, that Ben thought that he was going to have to order another, just to get himself some food.

 

One of the couples that had orginally requested their check upon seeing us enter, stopped by our table on their way out. They just had to commend us on our well behaved baby. By the time we had finished eating everyone on staff and many of the other guests were totally enamored with David. Then, practically everyone on staff had to come out to say good by. We paid our bill and left with many on the staff waving "bye bye".

 

As we reached the parking lot, we starting cracking up. Well, we dined in several nice resturants that weekend and Mr. David for the most part was a fine diner.

 

As we head home, we were worried that we had created a monster. That he would be expecting every dinner to be at a 4 star restaurant. :eek:

[Elcruzer]

We are senior citizens and were recently on the Crown. There were quite a few children and most were well behaved. We were surprised that there were quite a few babies and toddlers in strollers aboard and for the most part they were also no problem. However there were several that were constantly crying and I blame it mostly on the parents. There was one little girl out on deck in the hot sun sitting in her stroller with no shade awning and no hat and no water and of course screaming.

In another incident while flying on a long flight from Europe, there was a child about 1 yr strapped in her seat, who cried most of the time. Her mother did not pick her up and walk with her. Finally after many hours, a woman seated near by asked the mother why she doesn't pick her up. The child stoped crying immediately when picked up and then the mother also discovered that the baby had a dirty diaper. Some mothers are just now considerate of their child's needs.

[Mekamax]

As a couple with no kids I can say that everytime I'm in line anywhere - like the post office etc. I look for a child because they are so fun and have funny faces as they look around and always strike up a conversation with the parent. I love kids and find them adorable BUT not if they are screaming their heads off. If I can help, like make funny faces and talk to the child, I will (although some parents don't like you to want to help) but I would not want to sit through a dinner or a plane with a screaming child. Actually I wouldn't want to hear hubby constantly saying stuff about it... :) :) It is nice that you respect others. I wouldn't mind at all sitting at a table with a baby or child BUT if they started screaming or throwing a fit I would expect the parents or one parent to take the child out of the restaurant. I of course know this is not possible on a plane... :rolleyes: Thank you for your consideration but really the main complaints about children I have are when they are unsupervised and it suddenly becomes my job to watch them. One instance was when I followed a probably not yet two year old with a diaper around the pool toddering on the edge of the concrete. He/she was half way around the pool before a man came up and grabbed the child and looked at me like I was going to kidnap it. Seriously - how stupid to let a small baby walk around a pool!!!! Anyway. Have fun and realize a lot of us love kids as long as they are not screaming... :) :) Debbie