How do you pack for an infant?

[bananasforcruises]

We are leaving on the Jewel in a little over 2 weeks and now I am starting to worry about how much we have to bring. It will be 2 adults, 1 10-year old and 1 10-month old.

 

This will be our second cruise and first with an infant. We were on the Princess Cruise Line about 3 years ago and we didn't over pack because they had the self service washing machines and that was great.

 

NCL doesn't have the self service laundry so we need to pack enough clothes for all of us for a 7 day cruise. Should we pack a separate suitcase for the infant and put everything in the suitcase including diapers, powder formula, bottles, etc.?

 

We will carry some diapers in our carry-on and jars of baby food, We will also carry a can of formula in the carry-on and a bottle. We will also be bringing bottled water with us to make the formula.

 

Any suggestions will help.

[cb at sea]

10 months is hardly an "infant"...think "toddler"!

If you're flying, I would NOT pack all of baby's stuff in one case..if they lose it...you're screwed!

Cross-pack...a bit of everyone's stuff in every bag!

I would put all of the food-stuff into a bag of some sort with handles...the porters and baggage guys prefer that. You really don't need much, if any, water...the ship's water is fine. At 10 mos., a child shouldn't need sterile anything...they're probably sticking everything into their mouths at that age.! A few germs are GOOD for a body...boosts the immune system!

If you need laundry done, the ship will do it...sometimes, there are "bag" specials" all you can stuff into a bag...for a set price. Even if you have to have a few things laundered, it's a small price to pay! Babies make messes...and some sort of laundry may be needed!

[mymollysue]

Below is a link that lists what to bring. I don't know if I would go this crazy, but at least it gives you some idea.

 

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32276.asp

[Kerry's Girls]

As CB said, I would not bring bottled water for a 10 month old. The ship's tap water is purified. Pack diapers into the outer pockets of all the suitcases - you'll be amazed how many can fit and then they don't take up space inside. I also brought small toys on links that would clip to the stroller and high chair and a thermometer & baby meds.

 

Though NCL doesn't have self-serve laundry, they also don't have the formal nights that Princess does, so I found it kind of balanced each other because I was able to wear the same casual clothes a couple nights to dinner on NCL. The baby is the only one who will need completely different outfits for each day (probably more than one), but at least those clothes don't take up much space, so you can bring more than enough. Bring disposable bibs to try to keep their clothes clean as long as possible :)

 

Best,

Mia

[SuperCoolOne]

I wouldn't bother with bottled water either.

 

You could also start trying to switch from a bottle to a sippy cup now. Then you wouldn't have to worry about washing a bottle. They have plastic disposable sippy cups. I think it's like a pack of 10, with lids for 3 dollars.

 

As far as the baby food, will the 10 month old eat mashed up table food, or things like potato and oatmeal? If so, leave the jarred food at home and get soft foods on the ship or ask them for steamed veggies and such.

 

Bring more diapers than you think you will need and split them between the suitcases.

[YOWmom]

We packed most of the baby's stuff that would be "consumed" on board(including diapers, wipes, food, disposable bibs, sippy cups, etc.) in a large duffle bag, that could then be folded up and tossed into our suitcase at the end of the cruise, so we could travel a little lighter on the way home. Also to avoid the extra baggage fees on the airplane, we did the same on the way down, and then when we got to Miami, hit Target & Walmart to fill up the duffle before boarding the ship. Also, remember to bring some of those plastic bags made for dirty diapers - makes the room steward's job a little less unpleasant and won't stink up your stateroom in the meantime. :eek:

[jam82]

1. Bring a lot of zip locks.

2. Pack 'outfits' for baby in individual zip locks and label them by day. If baby is crying in the small cabin, then you don't have to remember where each piece of the outfit is. If a boy, bring a tux, if a girl, bring a fancy dress.

3. I'd bring water. It's a pain, but I just felt better about it.

4. Cross-pack

5. Bring more diapers, formula, wipes, food and clothes than you think you will need.

6. Bottles, bottle brush and soap.

7. Medicine kit for baby.

8. A couple toys/books.

9. Life jacket for tenders.

10. Stroller

11. Favorite teddy or blanket.

[GingerMa08]

I am here doing research for our 1st cruise with our daughter in September. She will be 18 months at that time. I want to echo the vote for cross packing. We took a vacation to Puerto Rico in the spring and one of our bags was delayed 2 days. I was so relieved that I had evenly distributed our clothes and items among the 3 suitcases. I had enough food and essentials for the baby to make it comfortably until the suitcase arrived.

[squidward]

I took my 10-month old on a Celebrity cruise last month, and loved it.

 

We did run out of baby wipes and formula, but had no problem finding them in Bermuda. I don't know if I agree with the suggestion of overpacking things (EXCEPT on a TA) because most port towns have stores with basic baby things available.

 

One thing you should definitely bring is baby's favorite DVD, or run out and buy one of those Baby Einstein/Baby Genius DVD's. They were a godsend when we needed to get ready for the evening and the baby got a little fussy. Our suite had a DVD player, but if you don't have a suite you could probably bring a portable and hook it up to the TV.

 

Now I've booked us on a 10-day cruise in February when DS will be 18 months and (presumably) mobile. I imagine it's much easier when they stay where you put them!:)

[dmr19]

Just back from our first cruise and all the kids had a great time. Mine are bigger now (10,7,4,2). Three of them were adopted internationally when they were infants. Packing for a cruise was very similar to packing for an adoption trip, with less stress and more fun.

 

Here are a few suggestions for baby:

1. Try the bottles with the disposable lining. No bottle cleaning.

2. Infamil makes formula in individual packets. No measuring. Just add water.

3. Bring all the baby medicine you might need. I heard that the gift shop doesn't carry baby medicine. (I don't know for a fact that that is true. I packed our own and luckily didn't need it.) Include pedialyte in individual packets.

4. Forget disposable bibs. Bring a real hard plastic bib with a gutter. Baby Bjorn makes them. They are a godsend. We call it "The Sheild." Keeps her clean and cuts down on the embarrassing mess under the highchair at restaurants.

5. Bring comfort snacks. My kids loved those baby stars and fruit gummies from Gerber. You can probably find Cheerios on the buffet.

6. For fun, bring bubbles and a blow-up pool. We used ours on the balcony, but you could also bring them to the pool deck. Baby pool toys.

7. Can he still fit in a snugli? It might be nice to wear him around. He might even sleep through the shows.

8. Sunscreen, baby hat

9. Extra memory card for all the pictures you will take.

10. For water, if you don't want to use tap water, you could request a big pot of tea from room service every morning. Let the water cool down, and you have clean, pre-boiled water for mixing formula. And you could have a cup of tea.

That's all I can think of for now. Have a wonderful time!

[PattyW]

Those are all great ideas. We traveled with an 11 month old and we brought bottled water, and a large can of formula, etc. We were able to buy them in our departure port the day of departure, so it was not so much to lug around the airport. Even though we did use Playtex bottles with the disposable liner, we still had to wash the caps, rings and nipples. We brought a sample size of dish detergent and washed them in the sink in the evening. We packed disposable bibs too to cut down on dirty clothes.

 

Our child was primarily on pureed/3rd stage food when we boarded, but we used the variety of foods available to her (that I didn't have to cook!) went a long way to help transition to "real" food that week. Nothing like being able to sample eggs, oatmeal, pancakes and french toast all in one meal. She had a great time trying the food.

[RoadTripFanatic]

We are leaving on the Jewel in a little over 2 weeks and now I am starting to worry about how much we have to bring. It will be 2 adults, 1 10-year old and 1 10-month old.

 

This will be our second cruise and first with an infant. We were on the Princess Cruise Line about 3 years ago and we didn't over pack because they had the self service washing machines and that was great.

 

NCL doesn't have the self service laundry so we need to pack enough clothes for all of us for a 7 day cruise. Should we pack a separate suitcase for the infant and put everything in the suitcase including diapers, powder formula, bottles, etc.? We will carry some diapers in our carry-on and jars of baby food, We will also carry a can of formula in the carry-on and a bottle. We will also be bringing bottled water with us to make the formula.

 

Any suggestions will help.

If you are flying as a previous poster mentioned divide the baby clothes/supplies into different suitcases. If it's all in one suitcase someone will lose it. Trust me. (I had to wait an hr on my "lost" suitcase when we cruised when I was pregnant with DD. No cruise ship is going to have maternity clothes for me to wear! LOL!)

 

Do you use tap or bottled water at home for the bottles? If you use tap at home I would continue and use tap on the ship. The water is just fine. I would pack extra diapers if you are brand specific or you do not want to mess with hunting for a place to buy diapers in port. I usually overpacked by about 20 diapers and extra wipes. I did not want to run out!

 

As for washing the bottles in the sink I would bring a small bottle drying rack. It will make your life easier than to worry about them falling over in the bathroom. LOL! The water is hot enough on the ship that you could sterilize anything with that stuff! Also make sure you bring a small blow-up tub for shower time. It will make clean-up time a lot easier.

[outforfun]

Does anyone know if Carnival offers milk on their room service menu? Also do they provide coolers for your cabin if you have an infant? First time traveling with an infant.... Lots of questions...:)

[rin1]

Does anyone know if Carnival offers milk on their room service menu? Also do they provide coolers for your cabin if you have an infant? First time traveling with an infant.... Lots of questions...:)

 

I believe that you can get the mini-bar cleared our by your steward and use that as a fridge. At least that's my recollection (and that's what we're planning on doing).

[Tggrtoes]

Yes, Carnival room service has milk. It's also available almost all the time on lido. We were there one night and they had already put it away (it was late) and one staffer had no problem going into the kitchen and finding it.

 

Our steward cleaned out our mini bar for us and we kept our sodas and milk in there. However, if memory serves, it's a cooler not a refrigerator, so it's not designed to keep milk at very cold temp. (this is same as most hotels) We never kept the milk in there very long. I've heard other people bring those colapsable coolers and ask their room stewards to keep it filled with ice. The cooler was plenty cool enough for our sodas and the short time we kept milk there.

 

On diaper/wipe packing... we checked out ports before going and planned a Walmart trip mid-way through our itinerary and picked up more diapers/wipes. It was kind of fun actually to check out the cross-cultural walmart. :p

 

Oh - haven't traveled on NCL so don't know if they have Cheerios. Know Carnival does, but Princess did not have it when we went with our infant son. It was a major bummer as I was planning on it for snacks/breakfast. But, DH went to Lido every morning and brought back breakfast - lots of soft choices for DS to try.