Kids clothing for dinner

Hi. We will be on Freedom in August. This will be our third cruise with kids (the other two were on Celebrity) and about the 11th cruise for my DH and me. We plan to take our kids into the dinning room with us for early seating. We practice good behavior in restaurants and at home so I'm not concerned about that.

But, I am wondering about what we should all wear. Please tell that families are still dressing up for formal night! I love dressing up for formal nights.

For causal nights do you think my 1 year old DS can wear a nice shorts outfit? Or does he need long pants every night. I think we will plan on my 6 year old bDS wearing long pants every night. The four year old girl is easy - she will wear dresses every night!

The baby can wear anything. Babes in arms and kids in diapers can "get away" with wearing "baby clothes"...shorts, onesies, etc..., but not the 6 year old! A lightweight pair of pants and a shirt with a collar is the appropriate wear for the main dining room. He can wear them more than once...assuming no major spills! Don't buy him 7 pair of pants...he really won't need that many!

I agree at 1, you can get away with anything you would take DS out in public at home. We will be sailing with DS on Freedom for his 1st birthday. I plan to bring a suit for formal night and will be thankful if it escapes dirt long enough for pictures, but for the rest of the time I plan on putting him in cute little outfits. I would hightly doubt that anyone would notice, let alone say anything if DS is in shorts.

When you come back, would you please let us know how things went with the kids? I am especially interested in any tips you may find for sailing with a 1 yo.

I think a short outfit is fine for dinner for a 1 year old. I put my 2 yr old ina pair of khaki's and a polo type shirt for dinner and I got an adorable tuxedo off ebay for $12 fo formal nights. It looks so cute I bought another when he outgrew the last one.

My kids cruised once, 10 years ago, when my boys were 5 and 8 and my daughter was 2. She was easy... dresses, fancier for formal night. The boys did wear long pants every night, with polo shirts most nights and button shirts with ties for formal nights.

Now I am taking them again (in 3 weeks!) and they are more difficult. Well, the girl is still easy. She has no problem with wearing dresses or skirts or nice pants. They boys are complaining that I want them to wear long pants (my oldest wears shorts year round!) or pants other than jeans, and shirts with collars instead of just t-shirts. But they are old enough to know that if they want the good food and service in the MDR, they must conform to the dress code. :rolleyes: They both have tuxedos (they are in band) and I'm trying to convince them to take them on the cruise. My 15 year old is all for it... because he thinks he looks "hot" in his tux and wants to look good for the ladies. LOL!

My kids cruised once, 10 years ago, when my boys were 5 and 8 and my daughter was 2. She was easy... dresses, fancier for formal night. The boys did wear long pants every night, with polo shirts most nights and button shirts with ties for formal nights.

 

Now I am taking them again (in 3 weeks!) and they are more difficult. Well, the girl is still easy. She has no problem with wearing dresses or skirts or nice pants. They boys are complaining that I want them to wear long pants (my oldest wears shorts year round!) or pants other than jeans, and shirts with collars instead of just t-shirts. But they are old enough to know that if they want the good food and service in the MDR, they must conform to the dress code. :rolleyes: They both have tuxedos (they are in band) and I'm trying to convince them to take them on the cruise. My 15 year old is all for it... because he thinks he looks "hot" in his tux and wants to look good for the ladies. LOL!

It is easier at that age. Either dress up and eat good food with the family or fend for yourself in the buffet.

Be sure to check your local consignment stores and ebay for nice boys formal wear. For a couple of dollars I've been able to get basically new outfits for my boys (it isn't like they wear this clothing out - most times it's been worn once or twice). I've even gotten them shoes - face it, they don't wear this stuff except for special events or occasions so you are basically buying new.

And for the prices (suits or vests & tie w/pants for less than $12) I don't feel bad that my boys only wear the outfit once or twice and then I give or sell it myself.

You can also get some beautiful girls dresses!....but the shoes are a little harder....my girls tend to wear their nice shoes more often.

I think it's a good idea that kids learn to dress "appropriately" for certain occasions. As another poster commented....there are other options than formal dining if you choose.

So glad to see this question! I was popping in to ask something very similar.

We're sailing for 9 days in November with a 2 & 4 yr old. The 2 yr old is easy - she'll have lots of dresses with her (wear to dinner one night then wear for the next day) but the 4 yr old boy is a bit more challenging. Dressy short outfits probably won't work in the dining room for that age so I'm thinking a couple pairs of khakis and polo shirts.

We leave in a week and I am still hitting my head up against the wall with DS, 11 yrs old. I found black dress pants at Walmart for $12.00. The thing that I am stressing over is matching for the photo more than anything-UGH!!!! My DH is wearing black slacks and jacket. My dress has black in it, and DS will have black slacks too. The tie???? I want to just get him a RL button down and not worry about the tie. I have been to Macys and they dont have what I am looking for.

We have the shoes, belt, and pants. I do have a shirt, but I am still kind of looking.

Just sharing an old persons view of short pants and boys. They are appropriate for formal occasions. To quote "Mame" I should have never put him in long pants. That was a signal of adulthood. So if doing a old tradition of formal wear, short pants on male children up to about age 13 is correct. Now I am talking black shorts and a formal top. Not beach wear. But with a child as young as mentioned. Heck anything would really go. The fashion police even should understand infants.

Just sharing an old persons view of short pants and boys. They are appropriate for formal occasions. To quote "Mame" I should have never put him in long pants. That was a signal of adulthood. So if doing a old tradition of formal wear, short pants on male children up to about age 13 is correct. Now I am talking black shorts and a formal top. Not beach wear. But with a child as young as mentioned. Heck anything would really go. The fashion police even should understand infants.

This is true. We did the QM2 a few years ago when DS was 2. I dressed him in 2 short outfits for formal nights- a velvet sailor suit and a seersucker eton suit. My MIL was British and she just gushed over how wonderful he looked (as did everyone else on the ship.) My DH says he was dressed in khaki shorts, knee socks and blazers until he was 10 years old. That was when he finally put his foot down with his parents and moved to khaki pants.

I bought both my boys, ages 6 and 1, four piece nautica suits (shirt, tie, vest, and pants) from Lord and Taylor. I got them one set of matching suits for $26 both which was a great deal. I had to pay slightly more for one of my older son's suits.

I was planning for everyone to wear formal clothes on formal nights but I was thinking the one year old might wear nice short outfits on casual nights. Now I'm thinking I might put him in pants.

Speaking of little boys not wearing long pants...when I took my oldest son to Mount Vernon, Lady Washingtom told us that in her day little boys wore petticoats until age six. She said that the age of infancy went up to age six and it wasn't until they were six that they wore pants. My son who wasn't yet six at the time just couldn't imagine this!

We got suits from Sears for our boys, 5 and 7. There is a vest, long pants, dress shirt and tie. About $20-$25 each. They looked great in the photos, and we convinced them to dress up "like Dad". They were so pleased to look so good!

Don't forget to bring a light jacket for the kids...it can get a bit chilly in the MDR especially for us ladies/girls wearing sleeveless dresses...brrr! ;)

At that age anything goes