We just cut a trip short one night because the littles (10 months and 2.5 year old) had a hard time sleeping. Has anyone else had to do this? If not, have you had to make a lot of adjustments to get LO(s) to sleep when traveling?
It was doable for us when it was just DS1 - he could sleep in the pack'n'play but having 2 LOs now - DS2 would not sleep in the pack'n'play in any room. DS2 ended up sleeping with me in the bed and though he eventually feel asleep at night he would not nap in the bed or anywhere else. DS1 was to sleep on the sleeper sofa by himself or with DH or me at night but he ended up not being comfortable with that and he slept in the pack'n'play. DS1 was very uncomfortable (almost too big for it) and did not sleep well.
Has anyone else had difficulty with their kids sleeping away from home? I feel like we will not be able to go on overnight trips for the next few years.
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Luckily, we've never really had this problem. I always make an effort to bring their AA swaddles (they are 3 and 6 but still sleep with them) and I let them bring a stuffed animal (sometimes more than 1 if we have room). When they were really little, I would turn on white noise on my phone. My kids don't seem to be too picky about where they sleep. My son slept on the floor (his choice) on two pillows for a few nights when we last traveled (the rest of the time he slept on the sofa bed with DD).
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Just one (18 month old) and we cut short a trip by 2 nights this past summer (when he was 10 months) because the sleep was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. Our last travel was over Christmas (at 15 months) - he was in a pack & play at my in laws and it was horrrrrrible.
We have some upcoming travel over the summer (he will be 20-24 months) and I'm really nervous about it. Worried that he's going to be getting too big for the pack & play, but too little for a bed. I don't know.
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We coslept after a series of unfortunate events.
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We have kids the same exact age as you. 30 months and 10 months. We did Thanksgiving and Christmas away and we did the following:
Over Thanksgiving we stayed at a 2 bedroom Residence Inn. We had the baby in a PNP in the bathroom and DS1 in a PNP in the connecting bedroom. DH and I slept in the second room. We had Dream on Me PNP mattresses shipped to our location - it makes the PNP really comfy - and packed the sheets for them from home. We brought the boys' white noise machines and they slept fine. DS2 slept like a rockstar.
DS1 did great until he figured out on the last day how to climb out of the PNP. After that we needed a new solution because my kids do not cosleep unless deathly ill - they think it's party time. The last night we boxed DS1 into his PNP by pushing it into a corner and flipping the queen mattress and some other furniture up against the two other sides so he couldn't get out. It was hilarious.After Thanksgiving we got the Privacy Pop tent for DS1. We transitioned him to it as his floor bed (just stuck a twin mattress in there). He sleeps in there sooo well. It gives him the enclosed feeling like a crib did and keeps things dark and cozy and helps him shut down for bed (he's my very easily overstimulated child). We took it with us to my inlaws for two weeks over Christmas (they had a twin mattress there) and he slept like a champ. Baby continued to sleep in the PNP with mattress in a closet. He had a little bit of a harder time but it was a regression period for him. We did a lot of nursing and transferring since my ILs hated hearing the baby fuss for more than second.
Our kids need it to be dark so we literally pack blackout curtains and thumbtacks or duct tape with us when we travel and make the space dark if we can't find a windowless space. My kids have slept in bathrooms, walk in closets, storage rooms, basements, etc.
If we were going somewhere that didn't have a twin mattress for DS' tent we would probably use an air mattress.
We take sleep pretty seriously as you can tell.
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@gingerbebe: I might have to look into the Privacy Pop Tent for DS1. We have not tried to transition DS1 to a toddler bed yet but this weekend confirmed that he will likely be overstimulated if we try that in near future.
I love the Residence Inn set up too - I think we need to stick with places that offer suites. Even though our room was big on this trip there was too much stimulation in there for the kids and no one slept well. -
@looch: yes - i felt like our trip had a series of unfortunate events too. It was a good trip and I am happy to see my 2.5 year old doing better today than I thought he would.
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For us what works is bringing their own travel cribs. Since we're out and about pretty often they are used to sleeping in it. We also bring their loveys and their sleep sacks. They are very flexible though and if all goes haywire we let them cosleep.
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My son is pretty good about sleeping wherever, which is good because we travel overnight at least once per month. We even take his travel crib to house parties and just put him to bed in a bedroom so that we can stay and socialize.
Last month we went to FL and were staying with my aunt and uncle in a 1 bedroom condo. We didn't want his crib in the living room, where we were sleeping on the pull-out, because we were sitting in there socializing in the evening. And we didn't want it in the bedroom because that's where the only TV was and my uncles likes to watch TV before he goes to bed. So we ended up putting the crib in the walk in closet!
Worked great!
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We only travel if the sleeping conditions will work for us. So pack n play - no way. Neither kids will sleep. We need a bed separate from ours for ds (almost 3) and dd needs a real crib (almost 9 months).
We leave for a week on Thursday and have all these conditions met... I'm not expecting super smooth sailing but should be ok. We bring sound machines, sleep sacks, and follow the same schedule as we do at home. -
ughhhh same here. We did some Christmas travel with LO who was 11m and it was horrible. We kept conditions as same as possible but he woke up every 2-3 hours for two reasons: cold and he knew we were *right there*. My family keeps their house 6-8 degrees colder than we do, and despite dressing him very warmly, his hands and face were freezing. Also, if he cried out at all, we didn't want him waking everyone up. Bummer.
We are traveling next week and I hope, hope, hope he will keep STTN. We plan to put him in the bathroom for darkness.
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@DesertDreams88: we had the same issue at my inlaws for the baby. We made my FIL dog out a space heater!
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We just stayed in a hotel for 2 nights with DD 2 and DS 4 months
We had a king and DD slept with us, she was out each night and loved It!
DS was in PNP next to bed or last night there he woke MOTN so I layer him in bed with us on my side!We dont mind co-sleeping at all so it works for us
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@gingerbebe: we should have done that!!! We considered it but the room was REALLY crowded and that would have made me too nervous about fire hazards. but seriously.... in retrospect, it would have been worth it. LO's sleep was destroyed for about a month afterward.
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@autumnleaves: OMG my 2 year old has been a nightmare. We did a weekend trip a couple weeks ago and I was DREADING it. We hadn't travelled since she transitioned to a twin bed at 20 months. We bought an inflatable toddler mattress for our weekend away and put it in her room a week or two in advance just to get used to (she didn't sleep in it, just played).
When we were away from home we made that inflatable mattress into such a cozy bed with familiar blankets, pillows, stuffies. She slept better than she does at home. No joke, I kept checking to see if she was alive she slept so late in the AM. She also happily napped in her nest, normally with that level of excitement she would run wild.
I don't know if the bed is a magical gem or what but we are visiting my parents this weekend and I'm praying for similar results. Good luck!
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I had a terrible time in Jan with my almost 2 year old and infant. LO1 is too big for a pack n play so I made a bed for him on the floor. He would wonder around the house at night and get into stuff (kitchen cabinets) and go down stairs. It was total hell for two nights. Just recently we spent a week away and used the bjorn travel crib, i felt ok with him in that even though he's too big because the mattress is on the floor. We had some trouble with nap time because he would hop the crib around the room and open the closet and pull blankets off the shelf. But it was SO MUCH better to have him contained.
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@SweetCaroline: I think we will need to try an inflatable mattress if LO1 is still in his crib at home when we travel again. There's so much to think about before a trip but it sounds like introducing it like you did a week before is a must. Thanks!
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@maddyz: yes the roaming was awful! I felt so bad for him too I think he was totally overwhelmed.
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We've had great success (with some challenges) in a variety of travel circumstances with DD, usually involving just sticking her in a PnP in a dark room. But now that she can climb out of the PnP, things are going to be pretty different I imagine. I'm kind of glad we don't have any travel planned with her for a while, so we can get her in the solid habit of sleeping in a big girl bed before we go somewhere new. I guess we'll just have to stay places that have an extra bedroom for her, with a real bed; or use a blow-up mattress.
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For my LO who is now 2, she generally did okay in a pack and play. When she was 1 year or less, we'd generally keep her in the room we were sleeping in, but this was usually separate from the main area (we would get a 1 room apt or suite). We'd put her to bed and then sneak in quietly. For naps, it was hit or miss honestly. She's never been a good napper so sometimes naps on trips were in the car or in a stroller or carrier.
Since 1 year, she's really needed her own space, because if were were in there, she'd wake up and want to party. Before she could climb out of a pack and play, we'd usually put it in the bathroom of a hotel - dark and quiet and we'd just use the lobby bathroom if needed while she was sleeping.
Now that she's 2 and in a big girl bed, pack and plays aren't an option. On our last trip, we stayed in a 2 bedroom condo that had a twin bed. She slept great in there. Naps were still hit or miss - days that we really wore her out, she would nap in the bed - days that involved driving or less strenuous activities, we'd take her out in the stroller or car for a nap.
Worked great!
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