Calling all Moms of Infants...how do you manage a 3 month old while TS dining?

[lawgirl]

My baby girl will be 3 months old when we go in Sept. We have reservations at the following:

-Ohana brunch
-Cape May brunch

-San Angel Inn dinner
-Liberty Tree Tavern dinner

So my question is first for the "resort" restaurants, can we take in her infant carrier/car seat and just put it on the table or under the table or in a chair?

And for the park restaurants, what is the best thing to do? I have a Baby Bjorn carrier which I used alot with my son when he was her age. I don't mind carrying her the whole time we eat ( I did that with him a couple of times). But are there other options? I don't want to take our $200 stroller and infant carrier into the parks bc Im afraid of it being taken. Do they make any kind of portable infant carrier for tables? I know we can't take her stroller in the restaurant, right? Or can we?

Thanks for all of the help!

[Mickey'sGirl]

Take your baby in her carrier. The highchairs can accommodate the carrier when they (the highchairs) are turned upside down. Trust me.... it works!! :thumbsup:

And honestly, I would not worry about your stroller at the parks. We made multiple trips with a very expensive stroller when our youngest was little, and despite having it relocated in the stroller parking at times, there was never, ever an issue.

Parents are asked to park strollers outside of the restaurants.

[lawgirl]

Thanks for the info. When you took your stroller to the parks, did you also take the baby carrier too? We have the Baby Trend travel system, and I love having her protected in that infant carrier whenever we go out to eat or go anywhere.

Im guessing we can't take the infant carrier on rides, but at least we could take it in the restaurants.

[LAURA.WDWLOVER]

We took our grandson when he was an infant and we were able to bring the stroller in. They accommodated us by putting us against a wall so that the stroller wasn't an issue. Good thing since he slept through the whole meal.

[magicofdisney]

Whenever my infant/toddler was asleep in his stroller, the restaurants always accommodated the stroller. I don't think it will be an issue. And I think you and the baby would be MUCH happier with your own stroller. We too have always taken our own in and never had a problem.

[Tri Minnie]

We were just there in June with a 3 month old. We used a few different options for eating at restaurants. On occasion we did bring a stroller into the restaurant, both at the resorts and in the parks. We asked if it would be okay and were prepared for them to say no. However, we were easily accommodated. Our stroller was a reclining umbrella that we were mostly using for an almost two year old. It was nice though to be able to lay the baby in it at the restaurants.

Mostly though I just wore the baby in an Ergo carrier or sling. Since this was how I was carrying him throughout the parks, this worked really well for us. With two other little ones we chose not to take our infant carrier, as we found it just too cumbersome.

[Kairi_7378]

You've gotten some great advice! I wouldn't want to bring an infant carrier on a ride but it would be fine in the restaurants.

Some restaurants do not allow strollers into the dining area. However, the CA Grill made an exception for us last year when they saw that my son was sound asleep when we arrived! If you are concerned about the places for which you have ADR's, you might want to call the restaurants directly to confirm.

[phlo8810]

They have always accomodated us with strollers and allowing them in restaurants. Also I have many times brought our expensive stroller into the parks and never had a problem. The first time it got moved to the stroller section I thought it got stollen!

[BrerGnat]

Don't worry about the stroller, no one is going to take it. At WDW, $200 travel system is NOT an "expensive" stroller. I've seen strollers at the parks that are $1000+. That is crazy...those DO get stolen.

I'd bring the Bjorn with you at all times. It will come in handy for waiting in lines, holding the baby while you are eating, etc.

At restaurants, I'd probably recommend a combination of the Bjorn or just holding the baby and taking turns with another adult. Eating would actually be a good opportunity for the baby to be out of a carrier and stretch, look around, etc. If she/he is sleeping when you arrive, they should have no problem finding you a table that would accommodate the stroller.