New Mom

[SimplyAddicted]

Hey everyone. I am a new Mom to a 1 mo. old baby girl! Due to the pregnancy and everything being so crazy, I haven't taken a cruise since December 06 and I am going thru some serious withdrawal. :D I am thinking of taking a cruise in Sept. when my daughter will be 6 mos old. My husband wants to take a cruise, however, he is very nervous that she will be too young and a lot to handle on a cruise.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions as to a good cruiseline to travel with an infant? Also, any tips/thoughts on how to make it easier?

 

Your responses are much appreciated!!!

[Baxter]

We first cruised with our daughter at 8 months. We loved it, and would do it again in a minute. But do not expect an overly relaxing vacation. We sailed on Carnival, who doesn't provide baby food. She wasn't really into eating her solids at that point, so we had to worry about going to a store once we landed, securing food, and schlepping it onboard. I was exclusively pumping, and there were no fridges in the room on the ship...the purser's desk was wonderful about storing the milk for us, but one of us was continually running back and forth to get milk, or drop off milk. We traded off nap time and bed time, so one of us was always in bed at 8pm (not that there was ever any argument about that). We loved the time together, and she is a very social child, so she liked to ride around in her stroller and visit people.

 

It was a lot of work, and a definitely change from cruises pre-LO. But we enjoyed it.

[notentirelynormal]

We just did a 12 day Australia cruise with my 6 MO grand daughter. It was great for her. We took her stroller and car seat and she slept when she needed to. She was a snap. The rocking of the ship seemed to help her sleep as opposed to bothering her. What to take, however, was the problem. Since we also had my 3 YO grandson who was recently potty trained that was even more stuff. My DD took enough diapers for the entire ship, and put her formula in every suitcase in case one got lost. We had the diaper bag, bottles, blankets, the entertainment stuff, the medicines, etc. etc. I wanted to laugh at my SIL (but didn’t) because at times he looked just like a pack horse. She took to heart the “don’t leave home without it”. Granted we were in a foreign country a long way from home and the last thing she wanted to do was need something and have to spend time looking for it.

[SimplyAddicted]

I am glad that you have both had positive experiences. I love the idea of packing formula in every suitcase. I am breastfeeding now, but plan to start introducing formula when I go back to work so the refridgeration thing won't present a problem.

 

Keep the suggestions coming! Thanks a bunch!

[Onessa]

Congratulations!

 

We've traveled with our DD (now 12.5YO:eek: ) since she was six weeks old. First cruise was at about 5MO.

 

Infants are probably easier than toddlers. And 6MO is such a wonderful age. They don't seem quite so fragile, they are more aware of their surroundings, and are a bit more predictable -- once they get to the full crawling / walking stage, they can take a bit more out of you on a trip!

 

I nursed - unless I was at work, I never pumped - so that part is easier. My BIL and his wife could not nurse, but their DD was on a powdered formula that they could mix at will.

 

Spluge for the extra bag on your flight and pack a box of rice cereal and a food mill. On our last RCCI trip with our niece (who was then 7 MO), the assistant waiter would actually take the mill and puree cooked veggies.

 

DH and I have never been a big one for the bars, shows or casino, so walking on deck with an infant, playing in the cabin, splashing in a blow-up pool was as much fun as we ever could have wanted.

 

Go, have fun with your new family!

[CruizinMom2c]

We took our 8 1/2 month old in the beginning of Feb on a 3 day cruise..and he was great!! No problems at all...he was crawling at the time and cruising furniture....so every so often we would go to a small place and let him crawl around.

 

 

We brought a lightweight stroller so he could take naps while we were around the ship...and that was the best thing ever to bring! He was able to sleep in the stroller comfortably while we were at a 8pm show...then after the show we went to the room and transferred him to the crib with no problems.

 

 

 

Everyone on the ship were very nice and the staff were definitely helpful. We had a great time the whole trip!

 

 

Now we are going on a 4 day cruise next week..and our son is 11 months old....he is a full blown walker and has been walking for 2 months..so I definitely forsee this being a harder trip...but we are going to make sure to let him walk around as much as possible but also use the stroller too (luckily he still loves the stroller).

 

 

 

Good luck on your trip...I am sure you will have a great time!

[hooked-on-travel]

At 6 mos you'll just be starting solids (that's the current ped. suggestion, so I'm making an assumption here) so you won't need the food mill for grinding up adult food. But if you do, make sure you use the food mill before the trip. We made our own food at home, but used the blender. Then I got a food mill for a land trip we took at 8 1/2 mos. She wouldn't eat any of it b/c it wasn't smooth enough for her, so we carted around the food mill for nothing. Anyway, my suggestion is that don't take anything new (like a food mill) that you haven't tried before the trip.

[sharktums]

6 months is a great age! It will be a lot easier to cruise with a 6 month old then a 9-36 month old!

 

We took our 9 month old on a cruise in December and it was a blast! Sure it wasn't the same as before but it wasn't too much extra work!

[rebeccalouise]

i agree that it won't be a huge deal cruising with a six month. Babies, especially nursing ones are less apt to become ill from other passengers. Secondly, unless she is crawling, she will be content to sit in a high chair, stroller, etc.

 

Also infants don't have separation anxiety like older kids- so if you cruise Celebrity there is incabin sitting available (limited, so sign up early). That way at night you and your husband can take advantage of the onboard activities.

 

I cruised with my then 6 month old on Celebrity and was thrilled with the staff. They are more than happy to help. In the buffet they will carry your tray for you and come over to offer you refills etc. It is my favorite line with small kids.

[sdfamily]

When we traveled when my DS (now 18 months) was not mobile, I purchased an Infantio (I think...) portable bouncy chair from Target.

 

At 6 months, they live in those bouncy chairs. It's small enough to pack in luggage and if you are starting rice cereal you could use it as a high chair. At 6 months, they are a little too wobbly to put in a regular high chair.

 

Also, we had an Ergo baby carrier. It's great for excursions and much more packable than the normal back pack.

 

I envy you, we are taking our first cruise with our 3 DSs (9, 7, and 20 months) in June. Traveling with a toddler is a nightmare (we just did a 2 wk RV trip), but life is short and you just have to deal with it......;)