Clothes for a 6 month old--Help!

[pugparents]

Hi,

 

We are traveling with our 6 month old in October, and none of the packing lists give an idea of how many outfits you need. Our cruise is 11 days, and we of course would like to avoid packing too many outfits, so what has everyone found they needed on their cruises?

 

Thanks!

[sas80]

Hi,

 

We are traveling with our 6 month old in October, and none of the packing lists give an idea of how many outfits you need. Our cruise is 11 days, and we of course would like to avoid packing too many outfits, so what has everyone found they needed on their cruises?

 

Thanks!

 

I WAY over packed for my 5.5 month old when we took him on his first cruise! You would have thought we were going to be on the ship for a month.

 

I suggest that you do the mix and match thing where you bring 4 pairs of pants/shorts and enough tops to mix and match, and try to steer clear of actually bringing 11 pieces of any one thing (pants or shorts or tops)

 

Let's see...for an 11 day cruise, assuming that the weather is going to be cool, I would probably bring 4 pairs of pants, 2 pajamas (one warmer, one cooler), 4 t-shirts, 5 nicer shirts, 3 bibs, 1 jacket, 2 pair of shoes (one sandal and one closed) and a travel size bottle of laundry detergent for any intermediate washings you might need to do.

 

Adjust according to overall trip temperature (i.e. are you going to the caribbean or alaska?) but try to mix and match as much as possible!

 

And, remember, don't over pack on the diapers or formula. Typically these items can be purchased in any port of call.

[Karita]

I am going on a 9 days cruise to the caribbean with a 11 months old and i am packing 1 outfit per day and 1 outfit for the evening, with 3 extra day outfits. There clothes are so small it doesn't take up much space, and for me personally i refuse to go on my vacation and do laundry, i can do that when i get home.

[Julienatul]

When we took our 7 month-old on a 7 day cruise, I took probably 10 outfits for daytime (in case of spilling or spitup), 2 pj's and maybe 6 dinner outfits. They were really small and didnt take up much space at all. The main thing to remember is to bring extra diapers and wipes. You can always wash clothes in the sink or shower with a little dish soap or baby shampoo.

 

Julie

[sas80]

See...I read the other replies and thought "wow, they way over packed!"

(just an observation ladies, not an accusation!)

 

Really tho, ultimately, it all comes down to your comfort level. On DH's first cruise I wasn't comfortable not taking the amount of clothes that I did. Now I am fine with under packing and washing things if I have to. You need to pack according to whatever makes you feel comfortable.

 

In our case, I knew that DS wasn't going to be "out and about" at night. He turns into a pumpkin if he isn't in bed by 7:30, so evening clothes were not necessary. This helped my situation.

[Rhealsmom]

Just returned with our 17 month old niece and way overpacked for our 8 day cruise.

 

We did a load of laundry (during nap time one day) and ended up coming home with clothes that were ready to go right into the dresser drawers again.

 

We cruised out of New York to the Eastern Carribean -- and spent so much time thinking about the warm weather -- that we forgot to pack for the cooler weather of New York in May --- so don't forget at least 1 set of long pants, shirt, sweater and/or jacket.

 

We also washed up the sippy cups, forks/spoons, etc. each evening, once we were back to the cabin - so a small bottle of dish detergent was a great tip for us.

 

Have fun.

[lolakat]

It really depends. Our first cruise with DD at 6 months we took an outfit for each day and a different outfit for each night. We WAAAY over packed. She did wear them all and mostly it was so we could take her picture. On our second cruise with her at 7 months I brought one outfit per day which was pants and a top plus about 3 sweaters. The clothes don't take up much room. It's the diapers, wipes, bottles, baby food etc etc that takes up all the space.

[twopugs]

Just got back from a 7 day cruise with a 7 month old and we took....

*8 rash guards shirts and 8 pairs of board shorts (I brought extras just b/c a wet baby and wet clothes don't go together...even in port we would change him out of the wet clothes for nap and then into new dry swim suits for more play)

*5 hats (always figure one will be wet and one may blow away:)

*2 pairs of sunglasses

*10 onsies and 2 pairs of soft pants (we normally used this for around the cabin, naps, and night)

*5 polo shirts for dinners and 3 pairs of nicer shorts

*5 fruit of the loom cotton t-shirts and 3 pairs of gym shorts. These were great b/c they are nice and light in the hot ports and we could change him into something cool and dry after the beach.

*Plenty of diapers and wipes. I guess alot of it dfepends if your child has sensitive skin. DS has to use certain diapers and wipes, so hoping that they would have them in the port of another country wouldn't be a good idea. We bought the space saver bags and packed our suitcases with those. Worked great on the diapers and clothes.

It really depends on the parent, but baby clothes are small and take up a tiny bit of space. I would rather have too much then not enough:)

[Destin Mom]

Tide To Go pen and a few of the small Tide single detergent for sink washing are also helpful. Our children weren't the cleanest of eaters though :)

[jam82]

My has cruised at 11 months, 14 months and will cruise again at 18 months. Last time I took two ourfits per day and three extras. We had more than enough. They best advice, which I read on cruise critic, was to pack each outfit in a ziplock. Thank you to whoever thought of this. It was great!!

[PattyW]

NCL has free self serve laundry - you have to pay for the detergent - so bring your own. That'll cut down on what you have to bring.

 

I also think it depends upon the child. My oldest would have been fine with very few clothes, however, we referred to my youngest affectionately as "the spit up King" until he turned one - he would definitely have needed two outfits a day (or 1,000 bibs) if you wanted him to smell like something other than sour milk at dinner.

 

Now that doesn't mean I would bring two outfits for each day - it means I would bring more laundry detergent. I don't mind doing laundry on a cruise - for some people it's the devil.

[mattmommy]

It also depends on where you are cruising. We took ds7 (when he was 6 months old) on a 7 night Disney Cruise.

 

We had two bathing suits (one would be drying while the other got wet)

pjs

He had a different sailor/nautical themed outfit for every day.

DISPOSABLE bibs

There was a formal night so he had a tuxedo onesie

There was a tropical night so we bought matching family outfits from Hilo Hattie.

Lands End has polo shirts you can match the little guy to daddy in. One pair of khakis. Again, it was pretty much for a family picture, appetizers and then off to bed he went.

2 hats

baby sunscreen

a few tees (we knew we'd be buying "My First Disney Cruise" and matching family ones).

a pair of sandals

a pair of dress shoes

maybe 2 pairs of dress socks.

little jacket

 

food (all in glass jars mind you--before plastic ones arrived)

formula

wipes

diapers--better to overpack these because ships run out and they are $$$

(besides more room for souvenirs)

a few water toys that he won't miss if we leave behind

a few toys from home

a beloved blanket from home

 

a few small toys from home

 

DCL lets you ship things and will be delivered to your room. Wish I knew about that back then, because we sure as heck ship things now.

[pugparents]

Wow, what a great response!

 

Thanks for all of your ideas. We're going to Mexico from SFO, so it should be warm. Our son also spits up a lot, so we will definitely bring detergent with us. It is nice that their clothes are small so even if we do overpack, it won't be as bad as overpacking for an adult!

[kat89447]

we loved the disposable bibs and used them often. Also, rooms can get cold at night so you might want to bring some warmer pj's. Another great tip I heard on the boards is to be sure to put up any blankets or loveys during the day so they don't get accidentally taken by the stewards when they change sheets.