Traveling with almost 2yo in regular room. Tips/tricks for going down for bed?

[Ducky'sMom]

Hello!

So myself, my husband, DD13, DS1 (23months technically) will be at POFQ for about a week. Hubby will be attending a conference for 4 of our 7 days, but will likely be around at most bedtimes. Any advice on helping LO go down at night?

Usual routine at home is bath, then bedtime story while being rocked (still working on being completely night bottle/sippy weaned). He has a sound machine and a puppy that does his night music.

I've seen some tips like making sure crib (renting to ensure we get one) is against a wall and putting a sheet over like a tent, though it might be distracting to him. I might send DD and DH out of room for the first night while I get him down, too. Thoughts? I'm also bringing his lovie (the backup one) and his crib sheets so it feels more familiar.

 

[Aimeedyan]

I'm not sure how helpful this is but when we stay in hotels (which is a lot....), we always put the pack n play or crib in the bathroom area. We put the Hatch on the counter, covered the nightlight so it would be dark, and would rock him standing near the crib.

If it didn't fit in the bathroom, there was usually a space tucked behind the wardrobe that was semi-dark. We put the Hatch on the floor between us (tv) and the crib. We would sit quietly on the bed scrolling on our phones until he was sound asleep and then flip on the TV, go out on the balcony, etc.

Thankfully, he is usually pretty darn exhausted when we travel + puts himself to sleep well.

He's outgrowing travel cribs so our world is soon going to change drastically!

 

[nancipants]

Does he have any experience sleeping elsewhere, either at a family member’s house or at child care? If not, prepare for him to fight bedtime more than usual. If he’s used to falling asleep in his own room by himself, I would recommend having everyone step into the hallway or bathroom (or balcony!) while he falls asleep. If not, turn off the lights/TV and try to keep as quiet as possible. My son did okay falling asleep at the Dolphin and the Fort Wilderness cabins, but we had separate space to hang out in (balcony and separate living room, respectively). We recently stayed at a nearby Marriott and it was my son’s first time sleeping at a hotel in the pullout bed. He took a long time falling asleep the first night and woke up crying in the middle of the night. Second night was better but when he woke up he cried until I got up with him; usually he’ll hang in his bed for awhile until we get up. We brought his sound machine, kept the room as dark as possible, brought his blanket/Pluto doll. We tried to keep the same routine as usual with some exceptions; we gave him milk in the middle of the night when he woke up crying, which we never really do.

 

[Ducky'sMom]

Does he have any experience sleeping elsewhere, either at a family member’s house or at child care? If not, prepare for him to fight bedtime more than usual. If he’s used to falling asleep in his own room by himself, I would recommend having everyone step into the hallway or bathroom (or balcony!) while he falls asleep. If not, turn off the lights/TV and try to keep as quiet as possible. My son did okay falling asleep at the Dolphin and the Fort Wilderness cabins, but we had separate space to hang out in (balcony and separate living room, respectively). We recently stayed at a nearby Marriott and it was my son’s first time sleeping at a hotel in the pullout bed. He took a long time falling asleep the first night and woke up crying in the middle of the night. Second night was better but when he woke up he cried until I got up with him; usually he’ll hang in his bed for awhile until we get up. We brought his sound machine, kept the room as dark as possible, brought his blanket/Pluto doll. We tried to keep the same routine as usual with some exceptions; we gave him milk in the middle of the night when he woke up crying, which we never really do.

Yes, he's slept in a pack in play at my mom's and he sleeps on a cot at daycare. At home we put him in his crib once his bedtime routine is done, and sometimes he'll lay down and then roll around playing for 20-30 minutes. I'm hoping we can wear him out enough to make going down easy.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Yes, he's slept in a pack in play at my mom's and he sleeps on a cot at daycare. At home we put him in his crib once his bedtime routine is done, and sometimes he'll lay down and then roll around playing for 20-30 minutes. I'm hoping we can wear him out enough to make going down easy.

for us the hardest part with the young grandkids was keeping them awake back to resort. that short down time was a killer. unlike home you have to get back to resort not just walk to his room and put down. granted this was naptime when young one fell asleep for less than 10 minutes on way back to resort but he screamed for 2 hours. he was tired yet but we could not settle him down. is older sister going to be okay with being back at resort early enough for tired younger one?

 

[sponica]

I've traveled with both my kids when they were 20 months old.
Kid 1- We were at POFQ, we moved the P&P into the bathroom/dressing area and closed the curtain because she needed absolute darkness.
Kid 2- We were at the Poly, I had the P&P between one of the beds and the slider. We turned off most of the lights except for one near my older daughter's bed and we went out on the patio.

I had a harder time with my 5 1/2 year old then the 20 month old this last trip.

 

[Anna131517]

Moderate rooms are very small. We stayed at POR once when my youngest was 2 1/2. There was a space by the door where the PnP just fit. I don’t know how you’ll fit a full sized crib in there.

My kids are usually so exhausted from Disney they just pass out. We have three and have been going every other year since our oldest was 6 months old so I’ve gone several times with toddlers. Just turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine, and everyone else can lay in bed and watch electronics while the youngest goes to sleep. That’s what we do - we basically all get an early bedtime

 

[Ducky'sMom]

for us the hardest part with the young grandkids was keeping them awake back to resort. that short down time was a killer. unlike home you have to get back to resort not just walk to his room and put down. granted this was naptime when young one fell asleep for less than 10 minutes on way back to resort but he screamed for 2 hours. he was tired yet but we could not settle him down. is older sister going to be okay with being back at resort early enough for tired younger one?

Yeah the 13yo says they're fine with it, though once we get to the parks who knows how she'll feel. I did tell her we would try and work it that one evening DH could stay with DS and I'd take her to any of the parks in the evening she wanted.

 

[Ducky'sMom]

Moderate rooms are very small. We stayed at POR once when my youngest was 2 1/2. There was a space by the door where the PnP just fit. I don’t know how you’ll fit a full sized crib in there.

My kids are usually so exhausted from Disney they just pass out. We have three and have been going every other year since our oldest was 6 months old so I’ve gone several times with toddlers. Just turn off the lights, turn on the sound machine, and everyone else can lay in bed and watch electronics while the youngest goes to sleep. That’s what we do - we basically all get an early bedtime

I agree about the room size, but the hotel is being paid for by DH's company and we couldn't cover the difference for an AoA suite if we wanted to do other things, since this was so last minute.

 

[Anna131517]

I agree about the room size, but the hotel is being paid for by DH's company and we couldn't cover the difference for an AoA suite if we wanted to do other things, since this was so last minute.

Oh I’m not saying don’t stay there. We’ve stayed at other moderates including CBR. I’m just saying a full sized crib may not fit. You may be able to fit it at the end of the beds but then you’d have to climb over the beds to get through the room. If your child can sleep in a pack n play or in a bed with bumpers that may work better.

 

[DeeBee3]

I have not stayed in that particular hotel, but I have in hotels in general. If there is any extra space like big closet or open area where a table would be, that's where I would put the pack n play. We did have a larger room and we put the pack n play between queen beds. We had enough room to get out of the bed for bathroom if needed. We always paced our small sound machine.

I would say if the older child could go out with your husband, that would help.

Vacations are totally wacky for schedules, so I wouldn't focus on it so much. We found our 2 year old fell asleep in stroller walking around the parks. She was so tired from the sun, pool and excitement, she wasn't an issue going to bed at night. The rest of us just quietly did stuff in the room. OR, we were all so tired ourselves, we went to bed!

 

[sponica]

Vacations are totally wacky for schedules, so I wouldn't focus on it so much.

This, 1000%. My kids are generally up with the birds. You know the one week they weren't....the week at Disney. I was planning on making rope drop because they're always up at some awful time, that never happened.