Toddler sleep and traveling

[alison]

Dd is a great sleeper, but it's been awhile since we've traveled with her. The last time she stayed in a hotel, she was around 18 months old, and she took her naps and slept in a Phil and Teds travel crib. It has a screen that one can zip over the top, such that dd would be enclosed, but it's a tight fit at around 24"W x 51"L x 31"H. It sort of tapers inwards, too. We never had to close dd in entirely, because she wasn't a climber-outter until a few months after we last used the P&T's crib.

Shortly after and until now, dd sleeps in her crib with a crib tent. This setup has been working out really well, so we didn't see the need to transfer her to a toddler bed.

Tonight was the very first night that when we put her down for bed at night she asked to go back downstairs to watch tv. Groan. We said no, and she screamed for 2 hours. She finally fell asleep, only to wake up an hour later. Since she's still sick, dh went in to rock her and she told him she wanted to go downstairs... Dh said no, she screamed some more, I went in, rocked her, she asked to have her nose wiped, and she's been sleeping ever since then.

Ug. We're set to travel next week and were planning on bringing the P&T crib. Luckily where we're staying has a bedroom separate from the living space, BUT I'm freaking out about if dd will scream for us. And she'll be enclosed from all sides in the teeny tiny crib.

When we go to Hawaii, we'll have a regular hotel room, and she'll be sleeping with us in the same room as it stands right now. How will we swing that? If she knows we're around (we never are, and we are militant about CIO here), how will she ever know that it's time to sleep?

Any suggestions for either of the upcoming trips?

[scrub-jay]

We started the okay to wake up clock to teach her whether she should go back to sleep. I'd ditch the P&T crib and order a peapod toddler tent, same ability to zip her in, but more spatious.

[peggyfromwastate]

This is the hardest age for travel with kids IMO. Gear up for a couple of sleepless nights. It doesn't matter what she sleeps in, CIO doesn't work when traveling and that's ok. It's a vacation so she won't set new patterns based on that. We have ended up with a cosleeping situation mostly at this age, usually w dh on the floor and me and the baby in the bed. No one sleeps well, but the main focus is to keep the little kiddo quiet.

For us I keep them in the pack and play type deals as long as possible (usually at age 2 they don't fit anymore) then we have blow up mattresses on the floor for them (designed for toddlers- about 50 inches long). Of course the toddler is up and out of that, but at least theres a space for her there. My main focus is to not make noise that will disturb other guests. I stick to the same bedtime routine (story, etc) then we go from there. I make sure to pack lovies and binkies and special blankets from home. And the key:

Wear the kids out on the first day. Make them hike, walk, swim, play, run, everything.

The first night you might not get more than 2 hours of sleep (this happened to us a couple of trips- Disney on no sleep is awesome) but eventually the kids get tired enough to sleep. It still might be interrupted sleep, with them waking you up every 2 hours. But it's sleep not crying.

Anyway-- good luck. Remember it's a vacation and you won't set any permanent bad sleeping habits on vacation. It will adjust back to normal when you get home.

[Vishenka69]

Can you upgrade to a suite? We try to have DD sleeping in a separate room as much as possible. My parents are fine in the same room with her but she generally behaves better with them. We're still doing pack-n-play and she seems fine with that, but she's not a climber. Ask the hotel if they have toddler cots, some do.

[alison]

Thanks--we'll go in with low expectations. For the trip next week, we'll have a separate room for dd, but if she wants out and to be with us, that doesn't change anything... For Hawaii, we have just one room. We got the hotel with Starwood points. We can cancel the room and look elsewhere for a suite at a different hotel, but would likely have to pay for it.

The peapod is actually not longer nor higher than the Phil and Ted crib. The only difference is the width with an additional 12". I bought it and will try it out to see how she does in it.

We are pretty close to just bringing her own crib with us! It's just the ikea leksvik. . We're crazy, huh? No wonder dd is, too...

[SuzySunshine]

I have found that once we lay down to sleep the kids do too, that means if you're in a hotel you all have to go to sleep early but at least they calm down if we're down for the night too.

Good luck! I hate sleeping with my kids in a hotel.

[Ladybug]

I'd bring the PNP. My toddler vacation strategy is to wear them down, keep them up during the day and deal with the afternoon/evening melt downs until they crash hard and sleep like the dead. If they crash early I sit in the hotel hallway and read, surf and drink wine. We usually go to bed pretty early too after a long day and an early morning with excited kids that can't go back to sleep.

Have fun!!! Vacation with toddlers is an extreme sport.

[scrub-jay]

Maybe M will surprise you!

[alison]

She does surprise us sometimes.

Dd has always been a very high-strung, observant child, who is keenly aware of what's going on around her. It drives us insane. What sort of made last night rough was that I showed her a picture of when she was a baby (asleep in her crib) just before she went to bed. She the wanted to have the same things that she had in the picture... I handed her a blanket, and she said no. So I dug around, pulled up the picture again, and found the exact blanket that she had seen for maybe 2 seconds in the photo. And then she asked for "baby downstairs." What??? We ran around the house looking for her doll, and she said no, no, no. We pulled her out of bed to show us what she wanted.

She wanted her doll's BINKY! I pulled up the picture once more and saw that dd had a binky in her mouth.

Good grief!!!!

[Ladybug]

Lol

[alison]

Gahhh! These are normal 2-year old hijinks, huh?

[scrub-jay]

Gahhh! These are normal 2-year old hijinks, huh?

Yup, we enjoy the same fun in our house. Good times. ((hugs))

[HouseofWool]

Gahhh! These are normal 2-year old hijinks, huh?

Yep. And it doesn't get any better at 3, sorry. I am battening down the hatches, finding a vat of wine and promise to enter rehab when she starts kindergarten. *sob*

[Vishenka69]

I've been muttering the "sippy cup is for chardonnay" mantra for a while. I'm very close to pouring some in my coffee mug.

[alison]

Back on topic: tonight's bedtime went better. Dd didn't ask to go downstairs but did procrastinate by asking for us to put stickers on her hands and tummy. Dh put her down, and then she cried for about 5 minutes. It was pretty loud and it was clearly a matter of losing one of her stickers and wanting it reapplied. We didn't go in, and she has been sleeping for the past 2.5 hours solidly.

So, my question is: how long is it ok for a baby/toddler to cry in a hotel room in your opinion? If its 7:30pm is it really bad to let dd cry it out for 5 minutes...?