Cruisiing with Baby - what do you wish you had taken?

[~earthmama~]

Or what did you take that was a lifesaver?

[Julienatul]

On this last cruise watershoes!! My son got 2nd degree blisters from the baby splash park area on Disney. Who would figure the rubber matting to be that hot in that section. The dvd player was a lifesaver during dinner as was small bathtub toys to play with and easy to carry around.

[Baxter]

Our own baby food -- we sailed Princess and they assured us they had a variety of jarred baby food. Well, "variety" during that sailing meant one meat, one vegetable and one fruit. [Yes, we could have had them puree stuff for us, but the little guy was in a picky stage and wouldn't eat "real" food]. For any sailing after, we were always sure to bring some of their favourite things.

[missholly24]

Depending on his age, powdered pedialyte. Ours got a bug or had some bad milk. He vomited for a couple of days!! Medical was great and gave us pedialyte, but they only had a small supply. It was quite scary for a while. He couldnt keep anything down.

[RoadTripFanatic]

Or what did you take that was a lifesaver?

 

Infant Tylenol.

[NJfoodie]

We overpacked but in the end, some unexpected things were the right things to bring when we cruised in May w/ DS who was 14 months old.

 

Blow up pool - we had a small one (~3 ft diameter) that we used on the balcony as DS's bathtub. I had not yet introduced him to showers, and it was nice in the warmth of the caribbean to be able to give him a leisurely bedtime bath outside instead of trying to wrestle with him in the tiny bathroom.

 

Beach umbrella - I had been forewarned through cruise critic about one of our itinerary's stops that shade might be hard to come by on the private island's beach. There were a few cabanas for rent but otherwise there wouldn't be umbrellas. We wanted to make sure we had shade for DS so we brought our own. It turned out we were the only people on the entire beach who had an umbrella. We had so many other guests ask us where they could rent one and there weren't any for rent. We were really glad we brought along our own.

[DALSAL]

We overpacked but in the end, some unexpected things were the right things to bring when we cruised in May w/ DS who was 14 months old.

 

Blow up pool - we had a small one (~3 ft diameter) that we used on the balcony as DS's bathtub. I had not yet introduced him to showers, and it was nice in the warmth of the caribbean to be able to give him a leisurely bedtime bath outside instead of trying to wrestle with him in the tiny bathroom.

 

Beach umbrella - I had been forewarned through cruise critic about one of our itinerary's stops that shade might be hard to come by on the private island's beach. There were a few cabanas for rent but otherwise there wouldn't be umbrellas. We wanted to make sure we had shade for DS so we brought our own. It turned out we were the only people on the entire beach who had an umbrella. We had so many other guests ask us where they could rent one and there weren't any for rent. We were really glad we brought along our own.

 

 

What kind of beach umbrella did you bring? We are driving to the port, and Im wondering what type umbrella I can bring that might work on the balcony. We are on Spa deck or it will be uncovered, and I would like to find out or a way to use some type of umbrella while my gd plays in her little pool. Shes pretty fare, so I wont to keep sun off her as much as possible. Thanks. Dot

[Punchie]

We'll be sailing w/an infant in Jan, so thank you for starting this thread!

 

I did sail w/my older DD last Fall when she was 3. My lesson from that cruise is bring a first aid kid, neosporin, and children's tylenol. She took a spill and scraped her arm up something fierce. It became infected and she got a fever. They did have tylenol onboard, it it was in an incredibly small bottle and expensive.

[cantw8togo]

I was glad that we took along our favorite baby book that also had a section on first aid. It was reassuring to have something to refer to when something came up, whether it was sickness or just a new stage of development.

 

I second the recommendation to take along some pediatric medication. I would add children's Benadryl, powdered Pedialyte, Gravol and a thermometer in addition to the tylenol and neosporin. Ask your Dr or pharmacist for recommendations as some meds may not be suitable for the very young.

 

As well, don't take along too many toys, just the absolute favorites that aren't too big. There are so many new things to see and explore on board that the toys likely won't be played with that much. If your little one is a real goer and has a shorter attention span, then I may take a few more.

[Marksmom]

We cruised in March with DS, then just shy of his 1st birthday. I took bottled water, and bottled juice for port days. I also brought the Gerber smartsips (similar to milk) that don't need to be kept cold, for travel days and port days.

 

We went DS was mostly eating table food so food and milk on the ship wasn't an issue, but I did bring a lot of snacks (puffs, lil crunchies, yogurt melts) for him to keep him busy and pasta pick-ups.

 

We also had several board books and soft/small toys for him on the plane and while we were getting ready in the room.

 

We had a sun tent that we used in cozumel, it was 50spf. DS took a nap in it, zipped all the way up but had netting to allow a breeze.

 

I was so focused on being crafty and bringing all my different things to make the trip easy I forgot some basics like DS' bath products. I had also planned to bring a baby monitor so we could go in my parents room next door but forgot, it would have been very handy.

[ifiteverstopsraining]

We recently returned from an 8 night cruise with our 8 month old. In the end we overpacked as well!

We brought all his diapers, wipes, food, and formula. We also bought Mylicon, Tylenol, Saline Nose Drops, and Pedialyte just in case (fortunately we did not use them!).

We invested in an umbrella stroller that fully reclined, which was great as my son took most of his afternoon naps in it. The stroller took up minimal space in our cabin.

The blow up pool was used quite frequently as Carnival was pretty strict with the no diaper rule (even in the baby pool).

One thing we brought too much of - blankets and crib sheets. Our room attendent changed the crib sheet daily (sometimes twice if needed) so we didn't use our sheets from home at all. Also, I brought 5 blankets and certainly did not need that many. They took up alot of room too!

[addie19]

I will be taking half as many clothes next time! I've gotten good at rewearing things for myself, but have yet to perfect it for the little one--it's hard to do when his clothes take up so little space--I think, just three more cute outfits and then it'll be nine more before I know it!

 

I always travel with a mini-pharmacy anyway- so, I definitely recommend the meds, neosporin, etc. the pedialyte will be added though, didn't think about it before, but it certainly is helpful for kids or adults if you are sick.

 

we took a little bookbag with toys, crayons, games, books, cars, that kept him very happy.

 

juice boxes and snacks were a big plus too--we also took sippy cups and just filled them with the juice/lemonade/water on board.

 

the stroller was useful everywhere, especially on board when we didn't want him to roam around(he is a runner, and FAST and very good at escaping our grip!). my mom used the "leash" a lot when she watched him in port and onboard(he can get out of it now too). the stroller is also good for barricading the cabin door, as I've read on here before, since they can pull on the cabin door handle and get out quick when you least expect it. my son has been very determined at escaping to where he shouldn't be since he was able to crawl. mommy in pursuit is just too fun of a game for him. I hate that even the stroller in the way of the door won't stop him now at 2.5, he can drag it out of the way--maybe a tension rod placed up high might work for us now....hmmmm....something to think about.....

[~earthmama~]

Thanks for the great advice!