Baby packing list

[soozles]

I’ll be cruising with an 8 month old next month. Am I forgetting anything? Or should I not take something? I’m sort of overwhelmed thinking of all the stuff he’s going to need. 

 

BENNYS PACKING LIST

Bottles

Formula-3 boxes

Baby food pouches -10

Baby spoons

Bibs

Sippy cups

Diapers

Wipes

Bottle soap

Bottle holder

Bottle brush

 

Swim diapers -3

Swim suits -3

Sunscreen

Sun hat

Sun screen

Swim floatie 

Bug spray

Baby powder

Diaper cream

Tylenol/Motrin/simethicone/teething tabs

Pedialyte

Thermometer

 

Onesies ?

Pajamas -7

T shirts

Shorts

Dinner outfits -

Sweatshirts

Socks

Pack and play sheets

Baby toys

Inflatable tub

Baby soap/shampoo

Headphones

Baby lotion

Stroller

lillebaby carrier

[DadPerson]

What cruise line/itinerary are you taking? Will you be flying to port, or driving? 

[soozles]

34 minutes ago, DadPerson said:

What cruise line/itinerary are you taking? Will you be flying to port, or driving? 

We are on celebrity Summit, 7 days to Bermuda. It’s 3 days in Bermuda, other days at sea. We will be getting a ride to the port, 

[soozles]

22 minutes ago, Heymarco said:

Does cruise line provide pack and play sheets?

From what I’ve read, they will wrap a flat sheet around the mattress. I’d rather bring my own fitted sheet because my son will pull yank and pull otherwise. 

[DadPerson]

Looks like you have a pretty comprehensive list. It is a lot, but at least the clothes are small. 

 

My kiddo didn’t go through anywhere near that much formula at that age, but she was also very enthusiastic about solids. You know your kid best, and it’s definitely better to have extra than to run out. 

 

I would add: 

 - a little thing of Vaseline and probe covers for the thermometer 

 - a whole bunch of ziplock bags for taking snacks from the buffet, wet clothes, an occasional dirty diaper, etc. 

 - baby monitor. Extra batteries if it uses them.

 - a pouch of puréed prunes, in addition to your other purées. Constipated babies are not fun. 

 - if your kiddo does pacifiers, bring a ton of extras

 

If you’re bringing a car seat and plan to use it at port, you might want a locking seat clip. Better than having to depend on a taxi having the right kind of seatbelt. 

 

Powdered Pedialyte is much easier to carry than the liquid. 

 

I brought a bar of laundry soap (Fels Naphtha) to do a little sink laundry. Unless you want to spend all day washing, you’ll still need to bring a ton of baby clothes, but it’s nice to have the option to wash your favorite onesie before the stain sets in. 

 

I’m not sure I would bother with a swim floatie. You won’t be able to take him in the pools on the ship, and I assume you’ll be focusing more on the beaches on land. 

[soozles]

44 minutes ago, DadPerson said:

Looks like you have a pretty comprehensive list. It is a lot, but at least the clothes are small. 

 

My kiddo didn’t go through anywhere near that much formula at that age, but she was also very enthusiastic about solids. You know your kid best, and it’s definitely better to have extra than to run out. 

 

I would add: 

 - a little thing of Vaseline and probe covers for the thermometer 

 - a whole bunch of ziplock bags for taking snacks from the buffet, wet clothes, an occasional dirty diaper, etc. 

 - baby monitor. Extra batteries if it uses them.

 - a pouch of puréed prunes, in addition to your other purées. Constipated babies are not fun. 

 - if your kiddo does pacifiers, bring a ton of extras

 

If you’re bringing a car seat and plan to use it at port, you might want a locking seat clip. Better than having to depend on a taxi having the right kind of seatbelt. 

 

Powdered Pedialyte is much easier to carry than the liquid. 

 

I brought a bar of laundry soap (Fels Naphtha) to do a little sink laundry. Unless you want to spend all day washing, you’ll still need to bring a ton of baby clothes, but it’s nice to have the option to wash your favorite onesie before the stain sets in. 

 

I’m not sure I would bother with a swim floatie. You won’t be able to take him in the pools on the ship, and I assume you’ll be focusing more on the beaches on land. 

Thanks for the tips! I forgot about the vaseline and baby monitor. I have one of those doggie poop bags attached to my diaper bag which I use for dirty clothes, dirty diapers, etc. 

 

and im definitely taking the powdered pedialyte instead of bottles. The formula we use comes in 600g boxes, and he tends to go through one box every 3-4 days, and id rather have extra formula than not enough for sure. 

 

We are leaving the car seat at home and will be planning on using the busses/ferries around Bermuda. Why no on the swim floatie? We are planning on going to the beach for a few hours every day we’re there. We use it in our pool and he loves it. It’s lightweight and folds up small. 

[DadPerson]

5 hours ago, soozles said:

Why no on the swim floatie? We are planning on going to the beach for a few hours every day we’re there. We use it in our pool and he loves it. It’s lightweight and folds up small. 

 

I don’t think of them as handling waves well - it’s easy for a small child to have waves go over their head, or to tip over. I assume you’ll be right there, and could get the baby upright before anything happened, but it wouldn’t be fun. 

 

People do talk about the wind or the waves to pulling a baby in a floatie away from you. It’s not going to happen as long as you have a hand on the kiddo, but you need to be more vigilant than you would in a pool.

 

For me, it wouldn’t be worth it, but my kid also isn’t crazy about them. If you think you might want to use it and it doesn’t take up much space in your luggage, take it! You might end up in a pool in port that doesn’t mind swim diapers, or you might want to try it out in the ocean.

[soozles]

1 hour ago, DadPerson said:

 

I don’t think of them as handling waves well - it’s easy for a small child to have waves go over their head, or to tip over. I assume you’ll be right there, and could get the baby upright before anything happened, but it wouldn’t be fun. 

 

People do talk about the wind or the waves to pulling a baby in a floatie away from you. It’s not going to happen as long as you have a hand on the kiddo, but you need to be more vigilant than you would in a pool.

 

For me, it wouldn’t be worth it, but my kid also isn’t crazy about them. If you think you might want to use it and it doesn’t take up much space in your luggage, take it! You might end up in a pool in port that doesn’t mind swim diapers, or you might want to try it out in the ocean.

I didn’t think about wind/waves. I think we’ll probably still take it since in the worst case, he can lounge on it on the sand, since it comes with a sun shade also. We’re taking so much stuff already, what’s another item?

[cabin4three]

Our eldest was a baby when he went on his first cruise, things that were really helpful (in addition to what has been posted above):

 

We packed our babies clothes in "1 full outfit per ziplock bag" .

Pegs to keep the curtains closed making it darker to help him sleep

A  baby reins/toddler harness as he wanted to try and stand and toddle.

Stacking cups - small enough to take with us, kept him amused for ages, used in his bath as toys too and could be sterilised!

Finger puppet book - there were times he needed to be kept amused,  muster drill, dining room etc

 

We had a great time, the cruise staff were amazing and always wanted to do anything they could to make him smile.  

[nascarcruiser]

You realize the baby can't use the pools?

[soozles]

5 hours ago, nascarcruiser said:

You realize the baby can't use the pools?

Yes I know the baby can’t use the pools. But we will have 3 days in Bermuda where we plan on spending a couple hours a day at a beach. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 7/20/2019 at 12:40 PM, soozles said:

Thanks for the tips! I forgot about the vaseline and baby monitor. I have one of those doggie poop bags attached to my diaper bag which I use for dirty clothes, dirty diapers, etc. 

 

and im definitely taking the powdered pedialyte instead of bottles. The formula we use comes in 600g boxes, and he tends to go through one box every 3-4 days, and id rather have extra formula than not enough for sure. 

 

We are leaving the car seat at home and will be planning on using the busses/ferries around Bermuda. Why no on the swim floatie? We are planning on going to the beach for a few hours every day we’re there. We use it in our pool and he loves it. It’s lightweight and folds up small. 

we used a floating ring with leg openings in the bottom starting at 5 months, so that worked well for us, especially in calm water.

baby monitor may not work on the ship. There are many threads about it - you may want to do a search. There is also a ton of "what to bring for the baby" threads, and it's pretty obvious that you've done a great job with your research. :)

 

Our thermometer is the temple touch, so no covers or vaseline are required. :)

 

What we do bring in abundance is Lysol wipes. We wipe every wipable surface on the plane and in the cabin. I'd also bring antibacterial hand wipes or a small bottle of sanitizer for LO's hands. He is in a crawling age (and "licking everything" as well), so his hands will be dirty all the time.

 

[becko2000]

We cruised with my son to Bermuda at 16 months, so I know that is a lot older, but this is what I would recommend/learned from our trip:

Take an extra swim diaper or 2:  They don't take up much room, you will likely only need 1 per beach trip, but if one gets dirty, you will want an extra.  I would take 2 swimsuits for him max: the one from day one would be dry by day 3 in Bermuda.

Diapers: They are EXPENSIVE on the ship.  We spent $35 on a package of 30 I think.  Overestimate what you will need, then add at least 6 more, haha!

Cabin:  Will your room have a dividing curtain?  If not, we used super strong magnetic hooks to hang a dark, thick fabric shower curtain around the pack n play.  It went around a long side and a short side, so when it was in a corner, he had a cozy little room of his own.  We also took a white noise machine (my son sleeps with one so we had it already, an app on your phone is another option).  

Stroller:  Umbrella stroller, anything bigger is going to be hard in the hallways.  

Diaper Bag:  I had a big backpack for days off the ship, and a small tote bag for on the ship with just a diaper, wipes, a small toy maybe for going to dinner.  You are so close to your room, you won't want to lug a huge bag all over.  

Lillebaby:  Don't leave home without this.  Very helpful in St. George if you go up there.  

Inflatable bathtub:  We had one and didn't use it.  We found out at our Pre-Cruise hotel in Boston that our son likes showers.  I hadn't even thought to try that ahead of time.  So I would try showering with him at home and see if he likes it, it would be one less thing to haul if he tolerates showers.  

We took a baby monitor, but we had family in the cabin next door who were willing to listen once he was asleep if we wanted to go to a show/grab a drink.  If you don't have a balcony or other family, you won't have a use for this.  

 

Things you might think about:  A couple of plastic things for beach toys, we took a dollar store sand shovel and a plastic cup and he was as happy as a clam.  

You know your kid best, but I didn't need new PJ's every night.  I would take 1 sweatshirt for cool areas on the ship but not multiple.  

We really didn't use toys much at all, he was so busy looking at everything and everyone, I would pack light on that one.  

We took gripe water as well, it helps with various tummy issues and has ginger which is soothing.  Just something to consider.  

 

We LOVED Bermuda for our son's first cruise, it was so nice to be in the same port and not be in  a rush to get back each day.  I felt less pressure to get off the ship the moment we could each day because we had so much time to be flexible.  And this ship's staff were incredible and nice and helpful!  Hopefully you will have a great time!

[soozles]

Thanks for the advice becko! My son is majorly teething right now, so he’s basically a drool machine. That’s why I’m erring on the side of taking extra clothes, as it is at home I change him multiple times A day, he has a habit to spit up or drool all over the place where the bib isn’t. My son might be 8 months old on the cruise, but he was born 2 months early, so developmentally he’s more on par with a 6 month old. Besides, my whole family was so excited about him going on his first cruise that he’s got a ton of sailor outfits and shirts with anchors that he has to wear. 

[becko2000]

On 7/23/2019 at 6:30 PM, soozles said:

Thanks for the advice becko! My son is majorly teething right now, so he’s basically a drool machine. That’s why I’m erring on the side of taking extra clothes, as it is at home I change him multiple times A day, he has a habit to spit up or drool all over the place where the bib isn’t. My son might be 8 months old on the cruise, but he was born 2 months early, so developmentally he’s more on par with a 6 month old. Besides, my whole family was so excited about him going on his first cruise that he’s got a ton of sailor outfits and shirts with anchors that he has to wear. 

Oh I totally understand about the clothes!  Both the drooling and the cute boat things!  I even found a pair of scuba diver pjs at a garage sale before we went and he had to have them to wear on the cruise, haha.  And then we had to take tons of pictures of him in the cute outfits, my husband just rolled his eyes!

[dnjackson630]

I found this list online. I'll be adding some of the things the other posters have mentioned. Especially the crib sheets!

kids-packing-list1.pdf

[soccer5042]

Great list! I found this forum really helpful as we will be taking the same exact cruise next month.  Is there anything you wish you had taken but didn’t? Any other tips you learned during the cruise? Hope you had a wonderful time!

[WillowHaven]

On 7/23/2019 at 4:30 PM, soozles said:

Thanks for the advice becko! My son is majorly teething right now, so he’s basically a drool machine. That’s why I’m erring on the side of taking extra clothes, as it is at home I change him multiple times A day, he has a habit to spit up or drool all over the place where the bib isn’t. My son might be 8 months old on the cruise, but he was born 2 months early, so developmentally he’s more on par with a 6 month old. Besides, my whole family was so excited about him going on his first cruise that he’s got a ton of sailor outfits and shirts with anchors that he has to wear. 

 

I'm taking my babe on his first cruise in a couple weeks. He will also be 8 months and was born 6.5 weeks early. 

 

He is a *very* heavy drooler, way more than my first two. I have started using two bibs together and that seems to help. I put one that has a water resistant backing on the bottom and I use a nice absorbent one on the top. I like the burpy bib style because it's so big and protects his clothes. My frustration with them is that the drool just soaks right through, thus the reason for the second bib. The ones I found I think are called "collar style"? They go all the way around, again protecting clothes better. 

[soozles]

On 8/10/2019 at 7:28 AM, soccer5042 said:

Great list! I found this forum really helpful as we will be taking the same exact cruise next month.  Is there anything you wish you had taken but didn’t? Any other tips you learned during the cruise? Hope you had a wonderful time!

We’re leaving next week, so haven’t gone yet. But the closer it gets the more scared I get. 

[soccer5042]

On 8/11/2019 at 5:48 PM, soozles said:

We’re leaving next week, so haven’t gone yet. But the closer it gets the more scared I get. 

I am sure it will be a great family trip and your little one will love it.  Enjoy!

[soccer5042]

On 8/11/2019 at 5:48 PM, soozles said:

We’re leaving next week, so haven’t gone yet. But the closer it gets the more scared I get. 

hope you had a wonderful time! Did the baby monitor work?

[soozles]

On 8/27/2019 at 12:59 PM, soccer5042 said:

hope you had a wonderful time! Did the baby monitor work?

 

I actually was really dumb... I took the parent monitor but I forgot the camera that’s in the baby’s room. So basically ended up not working. But we were on celebrity, and the balcony doors would stay open on their own, and his pack and play was right near the balcony door. So I would let him nap and sit on the balcony with the door open a touch so I could still hear him. 

 

Though usually i ended up falling asleep when he did, cause the pillows are so comfy and I love it when I have a bed to myself and can just stretch out.