Advice on sharing room with 2 preschoolers?

[mom2jcc]

not sure how old your kids are, but here is what works for us:

1) bring plastic shower curtain for between fitted sheet and mattress pad (in case of potty-trained kid's accident)....after a day at WDW, my kids wipe out HARD. this one is a bit irrelevant to your question, but i try to pass this advice along to other preschool parents, just in case!

2) bring a noise machine...it blocks both the sound through the door from the hallway and other random noises that you guys make

3)previously, we have brought a small string of christmas lights and used them as "night lights" in the room...dim enough so it isn't too bright, but bright enough so that the adults can move around without bumping into stuff. not sure about other remodeled resort rooms, but these days, the poly and beach club have AWESOME dimmer lights on their bedside lamps--great for turning down when the kids are falling asleep, but you can turn them up a bit once they fall asleep to read.

4)we've done it all as suggested by PPs: download/look at the day's photos on the laptop on the bed next to the kids, sit out on the balcony/patio and have a drink or 2 with the sliding door barely open a crack to be able to hear the kids (my personal favorite...it's a great date at the end of a long family day), taking turns walking around/going to gift shop/refilling our mug at the resort food ct. area, and plan next day's itinerary in the bathroom while the kids are falling asleep...in fact, there was quite an interesting thread a few years back about "romance" in the bathroom while the kids are asleep --hey, you do what you gotta do to find time for each other, right?

5)some nights, we'll take turns doing laundry or running to the grocery store. this is a great example of why the noise machine is so helpful to block out the sound of that loud "chunk!" sound the room door makes as it closes and locks!

6) while i don't recommend going to sleep at 7:00 with the kids, i have say that DH and i get the BEST sleep at WDW because we do usually go to sleep earlier than normal, and it feels SOOOO good to indulge in that 8-9 hours of sleep every night!!!


we'll be at the GF at the end of the month, too! have a GREAT time!

What great advice! We are firm believers in the sound machines, too.
Thanks fellow mom of multiples

 

[holly7347]

I'm wondering about that myself. Generally our vacations since having our 2 DD's have been extended family vacations with DH's family. So DH goes to another family members room and plays cards while I hang out in our room. I generally watch TV or our portable DVD player (I bring a few movies just for me) or read. My DD's aren't that light of sleepers so making a bit of noise or having a light on doesn't bother them much once they are asleep. The problem I have on vacations is just getting them to sleep in the first place. Usually they fight sleep on vacation so it can be late before they even fall asleep so I don't have that much time to myself anyway. But this trip it will just be DH, myself and our DD's. DH isn't one to sit still and be quiet he has to always be on the move so it will be interesting. I may send him to the game room, looking for snacks, or to do some laundry after the girls get to sleep

 

[TxDisFans]

Thank you to all who responded! There were definitely ideas I hadn't thought of - watching movies on the portable DVD, doing grocery/laundry chores, getting a noisemaker.... and, honestly, i had totally forgotten about the balcony! We'd be fine sitting outside wiht a glass of wine, I think.

For all those who essentially suggested staying somewhere else - we decided that we really wanted to be on the monorail for our first trip with our kids, so this was the compromise we made. On other vacations we've stayed in villas, and I agree that's ideal. But, we'll give this a try.

A brief follow-up:
We're hoping to arrange in-room babysitting for two of the nights so we can go out. Can you ask a sitter to essentially just sit in a dark room with our sleeping kids??? I guess you can... right? Would you put the kids to sleep first or let the sitter try to get them to sleep?

 

[flynnmnstr]

WE sit out there with a bottle of wine and talk or watch tv after they fall asleep.

To be honest we had to do this very little when they were younger because both of our kids would sleep in the stroller so we brought their pjs to the parks and changed them after dinner. We would walk around WS at Epcot most nights or DTD.