Packing for a baby

[Jennilee17]

Hello everyone! We just had a beautiful baby girl in March. We have booked a cruise for April 2013 which means when we board our little girl will be just over a year old. What were some items that you packed for your young kids that helped make the cruise easier and more enjoyable for you and your little one. I will take as many suggestions as you can give me. I have become pretty good at packing light for our trips, but now that was have a baby I am worried about what to pack!

Thanks for all of your help!

[cb at sea]

Most cabins have showers...not tubs. Bring an inflatable tub...useful for the pool deck, too, as diapered children aren't allowed in pools, except on a very few ships with a "baby splash" area.

Bring all the diapers/wipes and other "baby" paraphenalia that you need. The ships don't sell much, if any, baby stuff! Same with baby meds....you'll want to bring anything you MIGHT need...nose drops, rash creams, etc....you will have a hard time finding baby stuff!

At 1 year old, food shouldn't be much of an issue...the ship has lots of "soft, mashable" foods and they can puree for you, if needed.

You'll have a great family vacation...just go with the flow....oh...and book a balcony, so you and hubby will have someplace "to be" while baby is napping or down early for the night!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Umm... packing light with a child... I don't think so.

-Umbrella stroller
-Carseat? You have to think how are you going to travel on land without one.
-Diapers and wipes for entire trip (not sold onboard/ in a pinch may get one from the doctor's office)
-Pull up diapers if the ship has a dedicated baby pool.
-Bottles, soap to wash them and a bottle brush.
-Jars of food that your child is eating unless your child is eating 100% table food (some cruise lines will provide you with jarred food but the options are limited- usually you have to order in advance/ talk with the your cruise line or travel agent)
-They provide cribs but you may want to bring a small crib comforter and familiar stuffed toy. Comforter works well at night when walking around the ship or open decks.
- Pool and beach toys. Kid love plastic cups, buckets and water toys.
- A beach blanket for beach days (ship provides beach towels)
- a swimvest for when you want to take baby in the ocean
- Bring your laptop to play bedtime music and DVD's. My son loved Baby Einstein and Elmo at that age.
- Energy, kids at this age are usually walking and worse, crawling.

[ComeSailWithME]

Congratulations!

We are sailing in September with our son who will be 13 months at the time. I have been spending LOTS of time researching EVERYTHING because I am so worried about, well, everything

Here is our packing list for him, so far:
• baby sunscreen
• baby shampoo/body wash
• first aid - infant Tylenol, infant Benadryl, saline spray, Band-Aids, Neosporin, baby nail clippers, nail file, ear drops, cortisone cream, insect repellent wipes, thermometer, tummyache remedies, vitamins, swim ear drops, pedialyte powder
• laundry soap sheets & sink stopper
• bottles/sippy cups, infant silverware, dishwashing soap in small container and bottle brush (to wash in your room)
• Tiny Diner Tray to make meals a little easier to cleanup
• Disposable Bibs
• Blue painters tape (to tape drawers and fridge closed!)
• Playyard sheet
• Umbrella Stroller
• Binder Clips (to clip blankets to stroller, to keep balcony blinds closed)
• Rain stroller cover
• Baby carrier
• Bubbles
• Blow up pool and sand bucket & toys (to fill up pool from main pool water and for playing in pool and on land beaches)
• sealed snacks to take ashore
• beach blanket
• beach sun shelter
• disposable changing pads
• travel lysol spray
• travel size pack of disinfectant wipes to wipe down room and toys that he drops
• nightlight/flameless candle for bathroom
• soft sided cooler to keep water and milk cold
• electronic device to play movies for airport, waiting around, nighttime, etc
• car seat

[ComeSailWithME]

We are buying some items there - like the inflatable pool, sand toys, cheap new toys that we won't mind leaving behind and possible horizons milk since it doesn't need to be refrigerated. It is my understanding that the ship does not have whole milk. Currently, he is still breastfed but I hope to wean by then and we do all organic, so we will likely pick some of that up to carry on.

What are your ports of call?

[flhokie]

I see a lot of people mentioning that the ship will puree food for little ones. Don't count on this 100%. Some cruiselines might be willing to do this, but some may not. Family friends sailed on RCCL last year and assumed they would do this (they had done it on an earlier RCCL cruise for their older child), but they were told onboard that they absolutely would not. They were told that RCCL had changed policy on this because of safety. They said that they can't guarantee what was/wasn't in a blender previously and because of food allergies, etc. it was not something they were able to do any longer.

If traveling with a child that is still on purees it would be a good idea to bring some on board with you or pre-order from the cruiseline (I saw this option offered on the website for my upcoming RCCL cruise).

[B&Z's Mom]

Originally Posted by flhokie

If traveling with a child that is still on purees it would be a good idea to bring some on board with you or pre-order from the cruiseline (I saw this option offered on the website for my upcoming RCCL cruise).

Good to know, but the OP is talking about a 1 year old, who won't be eating puréed foods. Most foods for a 1 year old can be mashed wi a fork or cut into small pieces with a fork and knife. If I were you I'd keep bf'ing until the trip, because it is so much easier than the alternative, but that's just me . If you do choose to wean, I'd go straight to a cup, again they are easier to clean while away.
ComeSailWithME gave a great list. What I did before traveling with our little guy was be really observant about how many diapers, wipes, snacks etc he used about 2 weeks before we left and packed accordingly. Anything essential in that week was packed too, so that you dont forget anything essential. Sometimes lists are great, but my 1 year olds were rather unpredictable and I found it easier to use the lists as a suggestion as to where to start. I too (still) travel with a fully stocked child friendly first aid and medicine kit, it has come in very handy over the years.
I never travelled with a 1 year old, but found the baby carrier very helpful with our 2yo, especially in the airport and places that are not stroller friendly. Definitely bring the car seat, it's essential!

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Bottle/Sippy cup either way you'll need to bring soup to wash them.

[Cruisin' Chick]

If you're traveling to your embarkation port, get there at least a day ahead of time (which is recommended by many of us, no matter the ages in your group) so you can shop for anything you didn't have room for in your suitcases. As others have stated, don't count on the ship having items such as diapers, etc. Bring along any medications as the infirmary might charge you (a lot) for any you need.

[rubygigi]

Originally Posted by B&Z's Mom

Good to know, but the OP is talking about a 1 year old, who won't be eating puréed foods. Most foods for a 1 year old can be mashed wi a fork or cut into small pieces with a fork and knife. If I were you I'd keep bf'ing until the trip, because it is so much easier than the alternative, but that's just me . If you do choose to wean, I'd go straight to a cup, again they are easier to clean while away.
ComeSailWithME gave a great list. What I did before traveling with our little guy was be really observant about how many diapers, wipes, snacks etc he used about 2 weeks before we left and packed accordingly. Anything essential in that week was packed too, so that you dont forget anything essential. Sometimes lists are great, but my 1 year olds were rather unpredictable and I found it easier to use the lists as a suggestion as to where to start. I too (still) travel with a fully stocked child friendly first aid and medicine kit, it has come in very handy over the years.
I never travelled with a 1 year old, but found the baby carrier very helpful with our 2yo, especially in the airport and places that are not stroller friendly. Definitely bring the car seat, it's essential!

Would a car seat be essential on a western Caribbean cruise when we are mainly doing beach days? DS is no longer in the infant bucket seat, he's in a giant convertible seat.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

I just held my baby ( I know, I know) but other people feel that it is wrong not to use a car seat. This is one of the reasons traveling with a little one is not ideal.

I did travel with my then three month old on NCL and the tendering experience was scary! Make sure that you have a life jacket on your little one in the tenders. They can be really bumpy, scary rides.

[B&Z's Mom]

Originally Posted by rubygigi

Would a car seat be essential on a western Caribbean cruise when we are mainly doing beach days? DS is no longer in the infant bucket seat, he's in a giant convertible seat.

Depends on how you plan on getting to the beach. DS2 was in his Britax Marathon on our last cruise, which was a western Caribbean itinerary. He was in it while touring Roatan and to the beach in Costa Maya. We used a coach bus in Belize which did not have seatbelts, thus no need for the car seat.
Convertible seats are not the easiest things to travel with, but it is definitely possible. With a little planning it can even be enjoyable

[cruzinlisa]

Bring plenty of diapers and wipes. My dd, who usually has one dirty diaper per day (ocassionally 2) had 3-4 dirty diapers a couple of days. Bring a small stroller. I brought the travel system stroller because I had intended to bring the infant bucket seat (dd was 15 months but tiny). Changed my mind in the parking lot of the hotel about the carseat, but only had the big stroller. It was too big for the doorway of our room.

[Jennilee17]

Thank yall so much for all of the info. I hadn't thought of half of that.

As for getting to port early, I live in Austin and the port is Galveston so its about a four hour drive, do you still recommend that I get there a day early?

[Livemad]

Wonderful List!

Thank you so much!

[cruzinlisa]

[quote=rebeccalouiseagain;34245128]Umm... packing light with a child... I don't think so.

Ha Ha, I was thinking the same thing.