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Baby Care and First Aid

Kids and theme parks may seem like they’d go hand-in-hand, but visiting a major theme park with small children is no easy task. Proper planning can help your visit go a little smoother. Some disasters are avoidable, while others can at least be managed with proper damage control. Watch out for these common problems with young children.

1. Exploding Diapers

It seems to be a universal law of parenting that explosive diapers will inevitably happen when it’s most inconvenient. A really bad diaper explosion can ruin an entire outfit and stroller seat before you have a chance to realize what’s happening. The best you can do to prevent this occurrence is make an extra effort to remember to check for wet and dirty diapers while you’re on vacation.

If you fall victim to this disaster, you can minimize the damage quickly and efficiently by keeping some important items on hand. If you have diaper age children, you should always keep the following in your bag for a theme park vacation:

  • A complete change of clothes
  • Extra diapers
  • Plenty of wipes
  • Antibacterial hand sanitizer
  • A small towel or rag

2. Wet clothes

Splash MountainSplash Mountain

Theme park visitors can end up with wet clothes in a number of ways. Whether you’re caught in a storm, get drenched on a water ride, or turn around just as your child decides it will feel awfully refreshing to dump a bottle of water over his head, the results are basically the same.

An adult in wet clothes will be uncomfortable, but have the self-control to deal with it until the clothes dry. For a child, the same problem can seem unbearably uncomfortable. Wet socks in particular can cause chafing and blisters.

If you’re at Universal Studios or another theme park with body dryers, you have an easy solution available for just a few dollars. If you’re pushing a stroller around, lay a towel down on the seat before you leave so you’ll have one on hand for these situations. If you’re carrying a backpack, a towel is probably too bulky of an addition, but at least keep some dry socks in there.

When at all possible, you can avoid this situation by keeping cheap ponchos with you. In their original packaging, ponchos are extremely small and portable, so you can grab a couple for everyone in your party. Toss them on before water rides if you have small children who may get upset at getting drenched. If the skies open up, you can either wear the ponchos, or use them to cover the stroller and create a dry retreat.

3. Bathroom accidents

Flights of Wonder RestroomsFlights of Wonder Restrooms

If your child was recently potty trained, the hectic pace of a theme park vacation may wreak havoc on his or her bathroom routine. Be especially mindful of this potential problem and you can often avoid disasters.

It’s easy to lose track of time when you’re rushing from one attraction to another. Set an alarm on your watch or phone to remind you to take a bathroom break once every hour or two. Take young children into the bathroom and encourage them to try even if they think they don’t have to go. Keep ahead of restroom breaks instead of waiting for your child to tell you he has to go. By the time you get to this point, you may be too far from a restroom to make it in time.

 
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Comments

We have been taking our kids from 3 months old. One tip we used to us was to encourage toddlers to use the toilet, we used to say "one goes, we all go" to get them to try to go to the loo regularly to save on accidents. It worked well. My 11 and 9 year olds still remind each other. Lol

I would like to add to #1, Carry Gallon zip lock bags for dirty or wet clothes.

I had a bathroom accident when I was 10 at Disney . . . embarrassing. But I didn't want to stop enjoying myself to go to the bathroom!

In reply to by Aidan (not verified)

omg me too! Thanks 90s overalls fashion. It was on Christmas Day too! But I did get some nice pj pants out of it...

We are now well seasoned Disney people. On our first visit with kids we were at Customer Relations when the sky opened and dumped rain (LOTS OF RAIN) we have a child in a wheel chair and had a back/pack (diaper bag) filled with lots of extra diapers and changes of clothes including socks for both kids...unfortunately our diaper bag became completely soaked. All of our diapers were "pre-moistened" all big and puffy and we could wring water out of the spare outfits... NOW everything in backpack is in plastic grocery bags. Spare outfit(s) in one, clean diapers in one etc...snacks in zipper bags and maybe an extra zipper bag or two in case we don't finish a snack or meal that we can save it for later. The plastic grocery bag serves well in the event we have a used outfit that needs to be segregated from the other items in the backpack. Please share this info with everyone you know who is travelling to WDW with a diaper bag!!!

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