Is 7 months too young for a cruise?

[Leafpeeper]

I've been getting strange looks from people when I mention that we want our twin granddaughters to join us for a family cruise in January. They will turn 7 months a week after our cruise. Some people think they are too young.

 

I raised my 3 children going on winter vacations every February so it seems perfectly natural to me. My DD will bring lots of disinfectant for their cabin and our cabin and be sure to make our rooms as germ free as possible. We have both booked adjoining balcony cabins so we have more room and can open the slider for fresh air every day. We plan to take turns with the babies so we can all have alone time to kick back and relax. We will keep the babies away from crowded public areas as much as possible, but we know just going for doctor visits expose babies to germs at home so it is impossible to live in a germ free environment.

 

I know my DD and SIL can use a real vacation after the past year carrying twins and going through the exhausting first few months after delivery. The babies are finally sleeping thru the night and are becoming fun at this stage, so I think that it would be a fun cruise if we all pitch in. Of course, Grammy loves spending time with the babies and would rather have them onboard than leave them at home. My DD and SIL would never leave the babies at this early age, so either they go with us on our cruise or they stay home with the babies.

 

What do you think?

[FinallyConvincedDH2Cruise]

Heck, I took DD to Disney World at 9 weeks, go for it! If you are looking to take a relaxing vacation with your DD, this is the easiest time to do it! I took DD at 7 months to Washington DC, 8 months to Atlanta, 10 months to San Francisco, 14 months to Disney, it was easy, just packing is a pain with baby food and diapers.

 

Now that DD is older (almost 3) it is actually much harder, at 26 months she threw a temper tantrum and threw-up all over me on a plane... She wants to walk everywhere (very, very slow)... Or she runs off... A toddler can only sit for so long in a restaurant... This summer DH had to run 3 blocks in NYC back to the hotel to get her Bitty Baby when we were out to dinner with friends... We have to pack a week's worth of clothes for Bitty Baby and bring it everywhere we go... And I have a very well-behaved easy kid! :p

[cb at sea]

If you want a "family" vacation, then a cruise is a good one! It won't be the "romantic getaway" that it would be without kids, but hey--you're doing a "family" thing!

There's no need to keep your kids "germ-free"--it can actually make their immune system turn against their own body, if they don't have some germs to fight off!

Only on a very few ships will the babies be allowed in any of the pool areas--on most ships, swim diapers aren't allowed. Some ship's have a special area for swimmies--check before you book, if that's important!

You will have to bring EVERYTHING that you will need for the trip--they don't sell diapers, wipes, food, etc... for babies!

A cruise is definitely doable and with a helping set of hands, it can be fun for all!

[sunflower girl]

I would do it. I took my Dd at 10 months and had a great time.