I love going during the Christmas season!!! We have not missed a year for the past 4! I was watching all the videos and looking at all the pictures. If I deliver end of November do you think it would be tooooo soon to take her???

You're talking to a person who took her eldest two when they were just a few weeks old.

BUT.

I only live 30 minutes away. No hotel. No long drive or long travel. And we could go for a short visit and go home.

Personally? I think the answer is yes, it would be too soon. Her immune system will still be rather fragile and having travelled with a little bit older but still young newborn - you either have to expose her to airplane germs or deal with the drive. I didn't listen to people who said the drive with a little infant would be horrific bad. I should have!!!!! I thought he would sleep. It was miserable.

I know that wasn't the answer you wanted to hear but that's my opinion mixed with some experience. ;)

Adrienne

My son was born in the beginning of November a few years ago and I still think that would have been way to soon to take him.

Its your baby and you will know if its too soon after he or she is born.

I brought my daughter to the park when she was 5 months old and everyone said I was "crazy". I don't know what they were talking about! She was awesome! My son was 5 so hubby and I took turns riding on rides with him and one of us stayed with her in her stroller. My mom came too so there was always someone to go on rides with my son or stay with the baby. I nursed her so I had bottles pumped ahead of time and ready to go for someone and when I needed to feed her I went to the Baby place or found a private spot and threw a blanket over me.

If you go, I would try to go when the crowds are light, not when its the busy time. But, like adrienne said, their immune systems are fragile.
Would you drive from the Bay Area? We drove and now that I think about it, that was tough. I can remember her screaming and we needed to pull over a few times so I could feed her. She didn't sleep as much as I thought she would.

IMHO: it is never too soon. :fez: (caveat - I don't have kids)

But I agree that you need to see how the baby is doing first.

My 4 year old was born on Nov 25th and I have Christmas pictures of him at Disneyland. But I also have Santa pictures with him at 4 days old.

I live 30 minutes from Disneyland so it was a short trip for us just to get a picture with the tree and with Mickey. All my kids were at Disneyland by the time they were 6 weeks old.

Even though you as the parent will most likely know your own children best, probably the best bet is after the childs first set of shots. Also if you have a good Pediatrician that you trust, ask them.

Our kids had all been to DL by the time they were six weeks old also and despite having been afflicted by Disney fever they were just fine.

i am due the middle of October and we are hoping to go for Candlelight the first weekend of December; crazy, I know, but he will be our 5th!

As an RN and with this whole flu epidemic going on, I would just be very cautious of subjecting a baby that new to the crowds. I am planning on keeping the baby in a sling; this is a great deterrent from people who inevitably want to put their germy hands on your brand new baby. When people can't see the baby, they will stay away!

We took our first trip to DL when our 3rd was 6 months, and our 4th DD went at about the same age! We do the car drive from No Ca and it was not too bad! Good luck and have fun! I wanted to add that I know how you feel; we were going every other month; the kids have not been since May:crying:

Our son arrived in the middle of November. We took him in January I believe. It certainly wasn't any earlier than that.

AdrienneK is AFK but I can tell you that asking a ped she trusts wasn't working for her, she has 2 in her family, neither were thrilled with the fact her sons went so soon...all 3 survived and are Disneyland veterans!

We took my oldest three when they were under 3 mos. However, I would be very cautious under 6 weeks. When Youngest was 4.5 weeks old, we took her to Vegas for a weekend getaway. (Private plane, quick trip.) At 5 weeks, she was hospitalized with sepsis. We have no clue if it was caused by an infection picked up during the trip.

If it was a quicky couple hours in the park, I'd probably say go for it. But having to drive down from the bay area, and the upheaval of the trip, you may find it is very wearing on you. Having had 4, I can honestly say I probably wouldn't have been up for it at under 4 weeks.

Although I did not take my son to Disney but I did take him to our favorite non disney park closer to home when he was about 6 weeks, after an OK from the Dr. My point was that all he is going to do is sleep so I pushed him in a Car seat/stroller combo and went back to the hotel for breaks throughout the day(we can walk to the hotel from the park). It worked out perfect. However we do vacation with my parents so my mom and my aunt(who goes with us sometimes) sat with him and my other son in kiddieland if I wanted to ride. And it will depend on how you and your baby is doing. At 3 weeks we had to put my 2nd oldest back in to the hospital for a week because he got RSV( a respiratory infection/virus, not sure which) and had to go into the NICU because he was so young, and was in isolation and I couldn't hold him only to change his diapers and feed him. It was very stressful! I can't imagine how parents do it with a REALLY sick kid. But now he is very healthy! Whatever you decide to do it will feel right to you and your family.

AdrienneK is AFK but I can tell you that asking a ped she trusts wasn't working for her, she has 2 in her family, neither were thrilled with the fact her sons went so soon...all 3 survived and are Disneyland veterans!

Yes but... One of them encouraged me to go on the stupid car trip with the newborn and one of them warned me not to and I ignored her then and look how well THAT trip went. ;)

Like I said - I went when they were little but I didn't do a long car trip and a hotel when they were little so that part sways my opinion. ;)

Adrienne

I don't know how soon the Christmas decorations go up but, have you considered going before she is born? You'll have to think about how miserable you are, how far you need to travel and what your doc has to day. I went 2 years ago while being 8 months pregnant. I was a little worried about it, but it was the most incredbile experience. I was able to look at everything from a different perspective. Normally we are running around getting everything in, but we were able to take it slow and do things we normally wouldn't do. It was a nice hoorah before my husband and I became first time parents. We've gone during the holiday season for the last 5 years, and there is certainly nothing more magical! I hope you can figure out a way to get there.

Probably some people who will disagree with me, but why not go the beginning of November before the baby is born? Sure, there will be rides you can't go on, but it would be that way with a newborn most likely anyway. You can take care of your withdrawls that way. :)

I think you could go if you know it'll be a different kind of trip than you've done before. Yes there will be crowds but that is easy to avoid with the baby. If you keep the baby in a sling or a bjorn and plan on being there for shopping, looking at decorations and spending time outside- your crowd exposure will be very limited. Your baby will probably get less germs there then inside Christmas shopping at your local mall or the grocery store.

My son was born at 36 weeks and we were told to keep him away from other people for SIX MONTHS. You know where he always got sick? The dr's office.

My favorite trick- everytime someone wanted to touch him I said "He's very sick and he's contagious, I don't think you want to get it." For whatever reason, that keeps strangers from wanting to touch and kiss your baby ;)

I completely know where you are coming from, but I personally think that a few weeks old is too soon for a long trip--especially in the winter. I agree that maybe it would help to see what your pediatrician thinks.

I think that spring would be a great time. Maybe april?

Anyway, good luck! :)

DD was 10 weeks at her first trip!

I'd say, if you are going just to walk around and enjoy the decor, put the baby in a Bjorn or a sling covered up well and go for it. I just wouldn't wait in any lines that could be avoided, don't stand in any crowds, and I'd wash hands excessively! Try to stay outdoors as much as you can and avoid enclosed spaces. I first took both of my kids when they were a couple months old, but mainly waited that long because I was feeling well enough myself to walk that long - and you may not be either, especially if you have a C-cection, then you should definitely think about waiting.

We flew to WDW a day or two before our daughter turned 1 month old. Of course, we had to take a couple of "practice" trips to DL before then to make sure we were happy with the strollers we bought to take with us. But those didn't -really- count since they were just for a few hours each.

And yes, both my kids were c-sections. You do need a bit of time to recover. THe first trip we took I was REALLY slow. The second trip I was slow. The week long WDW trip I was pretty much up to full speed but probably pushed myself too hard and got sick towards the end. Plus I have more problems with residual pain from my second C and I can't help thinking that pushing myself too hard (plus having a toddler) contributed.

Of course, she was my 2nd. We would never have dreamed of doing such crazy things with our 1st. If your going with just your family, I'm sure everyone will understand if you go at your own pace. I considered renting a scooter and decided before we went that I wouldn't need it, partly because I looked around DL and saw how horrible it would be to try to manuver. That said, if you decide to go and are in pain/feeling slow, don't push yourself too hard.

I am also wondering how soon is too soon, I planned our DL trip for Dec. 20th, My baby girl will be 5 months old. I also dont know if thats too soon? Or if I should expose her with the flu being such a high risk. But I am also having DL withdrawals since I was pregnant from Nov. until July!!! :) I definitely know how you are feeling!!!

I suppose the only way to truly find out is by checking with the baby's pediatrician. :)

Its so pretty and magical during Christmas time though!! Although to me its always magical and pretty!!

Going to the mall will expose her to the flu too so I say take her somewhere more fun than the mall and go to Disney!

I took DS when he was 6 weeks. It was OK, but I didn't get a lot out of the trip! Breastfeeding was tough for me at first and as a result I didn't enjoy the big rides I'd been missing during pregnancy (bouncing was bad!). DS slept in his stroller the whole time so we got very few pictures of him because we didn't want to wake him up. On the upside, we didn't have any trouble with people touching him. They just looked at him and commented on how little he was.