The first time I took my daughter to Disneyland, she was three months old, and I was very anxious. I was still timid about breastfeeding in public, and pumping required privacy as well, a difficult task in a crowded place like Disneyland, or so I thought at first. Little did I know that Disneyland knows a thing or two about children, even babies, and has fantastic resources for mothers.
I was first worried about where I could nurse my baby or pump privately so both my baby and I could be comfortable? Disney has plenty of places where such things can be done, with levels of privacy. For the utmost confidentiality, of course, there are the incredible Disney Baby Care Centers. The Disneyland Baby Care Center is located at the end of Main Street on the right-hand side by the Little Red Wagon, where they sell the corn dogs. The Disney California Adventure Baby Care Center is located in between the Cars Land and the Pacific Wharf near Ghiradelli’s Soda Fountain and Chocolate Shop.
I feel like Disney planned both locations near these particular food places for a reason. I could say that I’m offended that Disney would make such a presumption about us moms, but who am I kidding, one humongous corn dog and a Ghirardelli sundae, please! Inside the Baby Care Center, you can pump or nurse your baby in a quiet, dimly lit, private place in a beautiful soft rocking chair. You even have privacy from the other nursing mothers as all the rocking chairs are in a column facing the same wall, so all you see is the rocking chair in front of you.
They have highchairs with trays where you can feed your baby if they are at that solid food stage. They also have the only changing tables with table paper to keep things more sanitary, and they even have toddler toilets! You can even keep milk in their fridge and purchase any baby essentials you might need. It is an incredible resource for mothers that I highly recommend.
However, sometimes your Disney party is more on-the-go, there are lots of quiet out of the way places you can go to nurse while still being close by everything. There are usually hidden nooks around ride exits, bathrooms, and some restaurants where you can nurse. For the braver mom’s out there, you can nurse on the go on the train or even the Mark Twain Riverboat.
My baby, however, would not nurse while so much was happening, and we didn’t always have the time to stop at a Baby Care Center, so my savior was a little device called “Freemie.” It is a device that works with your breast pump so you can pump hands free and almost unnoticed in public. With this device, I could even pump in lines and also on some rides! Check it out below!
The only reason I say “almost unnoticed” is that the noise of my pump could sometimes give me away in quieter areas, and if you are wearing a tight-fitting shirt, it could look like you have a chest Madonna might have had. In my opinion, it was well worth the look and the sounds as most of Disneyland has enough background noise it would drown out the noise and wearing a jacket could cover my chest. With that problem solved, my baby could be bottle-fed anywhere and, more importantly, by anyone!
When in doubt, the Disneyland Cast Members are incredible and usually go above and beyond the call of duty to help. I hope you have a fantastic visit next time you go to Disneyland with your family and remember to take in all the magic!