Formal nights and baby

[Glittercat]

So how does one dress an 8mo. baby boy for Formal Nights? Are they welcome in the dining room? Our five and a half year old daughter is pleased to be attending in her very nice new formal dresses. Our little fella though, well, he is just a bit too wee for most nice clothing. I did manage to get one adorable suit but in a 12mo. size so not sure if it will fit. How do others handle this?

Do you keep your baby with you? Will other passengers look huffy? I'm not that worried, just curious, and in this a bit clueless.

Smiles,

~Rebecca

[kevinsmom]

Rebecca,

I have taken my son on two cruises so far, one when he was 16 mos and one when he was about 2 1/2. i dressed him in cute little button down hawaiin shirts and khaki shorts or sometimes a "dressier" kind of t-shirt, like a pocket t. your son is very small and whatever he is in, he will look adorable. and no one will say anything to you about his dress. We didn't have any problems w/bringing him to the formal nights, when he got fussy, one of us took him walking around the ship, so as not to disturb the other diners. i am sure you will have a great time. by the way, Gymboree and Janie and Jack both have really cute coordinating outfits that would be great for the cruise. have fun :)

Gina

[98Charlie]

Kevinsmom has it right.

 

At 8 months it really doesn't matter.

 

Of course, for a laugh, you could take him to the onboard tux rental for a fitting:p

 

Will someone get huffy? Only if you would insist on staying at the table if he gets fussy and starts crying. But, you have a plan for that.

 

Go. Enjoy.

 

Charlie

[Bigerr19]

We took our then 6 month old son on Adventure last month and on formal night he had khakis, dress shirt and sweater vest. We were never able to find a suit in his size before the cruise, but this worked out well.

 

He sat in the dining room with us every night and it didn't bother anyone. If he started getting fussy, I walked outside with him for a few minutes. The waiters loved having him at the table and many passengers would talk to him as they walked by our table (we were near the dining room entrance).

 

Rebecca, I say take your son to the dining room and enjoy your dinner.

 

Here's a picture of my son with my father-in-law from the first formal night:

 

[crusinmama06]

Oh find him a cute little sailor suit that they make for little babies! And yes, we did take our 7 month old (at the time) to formal night...no problems at all.

[wuzupnyc]

How do you keep the baby in the high chair/entertained that long? This my great fear of dining the main room.

[crusinmama06]

How do you keep the baby in the high chair/entertained that long? This my great fear of dining the main room.

 

That depends on your child's personality/temperment. Do you take your child out to dinner in restaurants with no problem? If yes, then no worries. The formal meal isn't that much longer than any other meal in a restaurant. :D

 

There is so much going on around the table, my kids never had any problems staying entertained. And the servers really do make an effort to interact with the kids.

 

Just make sure you are at the early seating. The late seating meals are probably later than the baby's bedtime.

[Bigerr19]

How do you keep the baby in the high chair/entertained that long? This my great fear of dining the main room.

 

With our son, there was usually enought going on in the dining room to keep him entertained, but we would attach one of his stroller toys to the high chair. He also loved playing with the menu each night, that would keep him busy for a half hour or so. We would also feed him right after we ordered dinner, then he would be fed by the time our dinner came and he would usually be fine while we ate.

 

We had late seating, which was closer to our regular dinner time coming from the West coast.

[bangzoom6877]

When my son was 4 months old, we took him to our friend's wedding. We searched and searched and finally found a suit for him at Burlington Coat Factory. We looked in every kids' store you could imagine before finally finding something there. It was size 3-6 months. Definitely worth checking out.

 

My son is now 18 months old and coming with us on his first cruise in 2 weeks. We are now in search of a sailor suit for him for the formal night. If I can't find one on Monday when we go shopping then I will buy him a suit or a shirt and tie with vest and khaki pants will also be fine.

 

As for dining time, my son loves to eat while we eat, and he is at an age that he can feed himself most of the kids' menu foods (PB & J, grilled cheese, burgers, fries, chicken tenders, etc.). So we will do what we normally do in restaurants...order his food when we order ours, break it up for him into appropriate-sized pieces and let him eat as we eat our food. For us, ordering something he can feed to himself works better because then he doesn't get cranky while we eat. If I order him something I have to feed to him the whole time, then by the time I get to eat mine he will be finished and get very antsy. That's how my son is...every child of course is different. We find this to work in restaurants so we will do the same on the cruise. I am also bringing the Gerber Fruit Puffs because my son, as I said, likes to eat while we eat, and they are only 25 calories for half a cup. So he can munch on those if he finishes his meal before we finish ours. We also do this at restaurants and it works well. The servers also are wonderful with children and try their best to keep them entertained, especially if they see an unhappy child. They like to keep kids and parents happy!

 

Enjoy your cruise,

Bonnie

[Glittercat]

I just wanted to say thank you for the replies! I've been out of town, and internet range for a bit, so I had no idea anyone had answered. *blush*

 

Our little guy had quite a growth spurt and is now in 6-9 month clothing, so dressing him, is easier now. He is also eating stage 1 baby food, and chewing Baby Num Num's, as well as nursing, so dining sould be fine. :)

 

Bigger19 the photo of your son and his grandfather is adorable!

~Rebecca

[crusinmama06]

My son is now 18 months old and coming with us on his first cruise in 2 weeks. We are now in search of a sailor suit for him for the formal night. If I can't find one on Monday when we go shopping then I will buy him a suit or a shirt and tie with vest and khaki pants will also be fine.

 

Look at this from ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Baby-Boys-Nautical-Sailor-Suit-18-24-Months-Clothes_W0QQitemZ290005677145QQihZ019QQcategoryZ57786QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I get so many cute cruise clothes for formal night from ebay. So I did a search and found alot of sailor suits. So cute! Almost makes me want to have a boy. :D

[shellie100]

Look at this from ebay!

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Baby-Boys-Nautical-Sailor-Suit-18-24-Months-Clothes_W0QQitemZ290005677145QQihZ019QQcategoryZ57786QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

I get so many cute cruise clothes for formal night from ebay. So I did a search and found alot of sailor suits. So cute! Almost makes me want to have a boy. :D

 

I almost exclusively get cruise stuff from ebay (for my son). I even ordered a couple of totally adorable things on ebay for my soon-to-be-born little girl, for our upcoming cruise. I did buy a little captain suit for my son and am eagerly awaiting the package.:D

[luvmy2redheads]

I have taken my boys on a couple of cruise so far and am going on one in Nov. I now have 3 redheaded boys ages 8,4 and 7mo(will be 11 mo when we cruise) Anyway as suggested go to ebay or a local childrens boutique they make TUXES for as little as 3 months of age they will set you back about $35.00 to $50.00 but it is so worth it!!! I take all my boys in matching tuxes and the pictures are priceless! And the staff makes such a big deal about them so dressed up. And who can be rude to or say rude things about a baby that is all dressed up in a tux? The only advice I have tho if you do get the tux is to take extra money for pictures that my friend will set you back a few dollars. Trust me on the Tux I can't stress it enough you will not be sorry!!!! And they do make them in 6 to 9 mo size!

APRIL :cool: