If a baby has never slept in a PNP is too much to ask that they do on vacation?

[baybemama]

Trying to figure out if we should rent a full size crib for our 8 month old on the trip. He has never slept in a pack'n'play and he is a rather active sleeper. At least, when I go to him in the night he is usually in very different positions and locations from where I placed him. He is also about 23-24 lbs so he's not a little dude. Are the rental cribs worth it?

 

[drumms2112]

I would rent the full size crib. We took our daughter who was about 8 months old to Niagara Falls last summer and we had our own pack n play and she did not like that at all so she slept with my wife the night. When we were at WDW last month we had a full size crib and she slept like a baby who was 1 at the time! Your on vacation why take a chance you and your son won't be able to sleep.

 

[peemagg]

Disney has cribs that you can ask for for free. Our kids at 13 months slept in them fine. All you have to do is call housekeeping when you get there and one will be delivered to your room.

 

[moonpie85]

Our DD was so exhausted after the parks that she slept like a rock in the PNP

 

[tiffsix]

if your baby doesn't sleep in a PNP at home, I would not plan for it on vacation. My kids never seem to sleep well on vacation when they are away from their normal routine when they were that little. Disney does have cribs you can call Mousekeeping for. They are not full size but are a decent size. If you don't want the full size that could be an option. my kids always seem to end up with me in bed on vacation. Disney will also put bed rails on the beds which is nice too.

 

[princessmom29]

Why not try the pack and play at home first and see how it goes? If he does ok,then use it at Disney, if not, plan on renting a crib.

 

[Stubbzilla]

I'm pretty sure you can request cribs at only SOME of the resorts, not all. I requested a crib but we got a pack n play at Poly. I suppose I could have pushed the issue since the website said a crib would be available, but it didn't make much difference to me.

Neither of my kids has ever been willing to sleep in a strange crib OR a strange pack n play. When they're little we co sleep on vacation and a lot at home, too.

 

[crisi]

I believe you should raise your kids to be flexible. It will make life so much easier if they learn to adapt.

 

[maxiesmom]

Why not try the pack and play at home first and see how it goes? If he does ok,then use it at Disney, if not, plan on renting a crib.

I agree. I wouldn't just put your child in a pnp on vacation and expect it to go smoothly. In fact, I've shared some pretty horrible experiences with my sis and one of her kids when she tried it.

Try the pnp at home, and if it works great! If not, then use a crib at WDW.

 

[amylynne01]

I believe you should raise your kids to be flexible. It will make life so much easier if they learn to adapt.

Really? My DD1 will literally sleep anywhere. She doesn't care. My DD2 will ONLY sleep in her bed or next to me. Same parents, and quite different results. Some kids are truly only comfortable in certain situations, and who can blame them because they don't know that a pack and play is the same as their crib at home? To them, it's an unfamiliar space and therefore scary. I refuse to force any child of mine to sleep in a spot that makes them nervous or worried just to prove a point that it will "make life so much easier if they learn to adapt".

OP, try the PNP at home. If it works, great. If not, get the crib. If the crib doesn't work, plan on baby being close to you!

 

[dumbo_buddy]

i bet your baby would be ok in the pack n play. my son doesn't sleep in a p-n-p except for when we're in disney or visiting family and he sleeps ok. what i would recommend is taking one of the extra blankets that you get from the closet in the hotel room, folding it up, and placing it under the p-n-p sheet before putting the baby down to sleep. it gives a little extra cushion. when we started doing that my little one slept much better.

as a previous poster said, the baby will be tired from all the fun all day that he'll probably sleep like a log!

it's so much easier just to use their pack-n-play rather than have to deal with renting a crib but if you think he won't be able to sleep in anything other than a crib then maybe it's worth renting one. have a great trip!

 

[Tigger1]

I agree, try it at home. We used one and put a chair cussion in it as the padding is not much. Worked fine. Also requested a crib. Was told roome had "pack and Play", but I still requested one for second grandchild. Both worked fine.

 

[tjmw2727]

My dd's did fine in them until about 18mos - but we used them early on for visits to family and camping trips as well as vactions.

I alwyas brought our own sheets for the PnP so they would have a famiilar scent and feel. Maybe try the PnP for the first night and if that doesn't work out ask for a full size but I know very few of the resorst still have them.

If the resort can't provide there are several rental places that will deliver for you. (I would also bring a full size crib sheet from home just in case!).

Or - if you have a friend or family member with a PnP give it a try for naps at home.

 

[LaurenLC]

I agree with trying it at home first. We had our daughter sleep in her pack and play for about a week or so about two weeks prior to going on a vacation where she'd be sleeping in one. She was fine, but you never know until you try.

 

[*Seanaci*]

If he's not used to a pack and play, either start using one now so he IS used to it by the time you go, or be prepared to go with a regular crib.

My son was 14 months old when we went...and would not sleep for long in the PnP at night. So either my parents or my DH and I were sharing a bed with him. It worked out for us though because we were in a suite at All Star music and the love seat and ottoman turned into beds (as well as the couch). So DH slept on the pull out love seat while DS and I slept on the pull out sofa.

 

[pacrosby]

Really? My DD1 will literally sleep anywhere. She doesn't care. My DD2 will ONLY sleep in her bed or next to me. Same parents, and quite different results. Some kids are truly only comfortable in certain situations, and who can blame them because they don't know that a pack and play is the same as their crib at home? To them, it's an unfamiliar space and therefore scary. I refuse to force any child of mine to sleep in a spot that makes them nervous or worried just to prove a point that it will "make life so much easier if they learn to adapt".

OP, try the PNP at home. If it works, great. If not, get the crib. If the crib doesn't work, plan on baby being close to you!

While sure there will be some kids who simply can't/won't no matter how hard you try....the previous poster's point, I think, was not to assume it wouldn't work It does make life a lot easier if you train your kids to be flexible. Sadly, sometimes all those strict routines parents end up setting up for what they believe to be the better, just end up resulting in kids who can't seem to go with the flow.

It may not seem like a such a big deal in the very beginning but over the long haul (and especially if you end up with more than one or two kids) flexibility can be the difference between really enjoying those early years and being so very glad when you finally put them behind you. I had four in five years and lived through it actually wishing I'd had another. Believe me, easy going flexible kids = one heck of a happy mom

 

[crisi]

It may not seem like a such a big deal in the very beginning but over the long haul (and especially if you end up with more than one or two kids) flexibility can be the difference between really enjoying those early years and being so very glad when you finally put them behind you. I had four in five years and lived through it actually wishing I'd had another. Believe me, easy going flexible kids = one heck of a happy mom

And its longer term. Kids who aren't encouraged to be flexible at a young age get pretty set by three and four - when they are also way more opinionated. Then you don't want to fight it because its a LOT of bother. And the habits are set so now they are six and seven and in school and if things aren't being run to their specifications (and they aren't in school) school itself is challenging.

I'm dealing with a twelve year old that I should have done more encouraging her to be flexible young. Because the teenage years may kill one of us.

 

[deegack]

And its longer term. Kids who aren't encouraged to be flexible at a young age get pretty set by three and four - when they are also way more opinionated. Then you don't want to fight it because its a LOT of bother. And the habits are set so now they are six and seven and in school and if things aren't being run to their specifications (and they aren't in school) school itself is challenging.

I'm dealing with a twelve year old that I should have done more encouraging her to be flexible young. Because the teenage years may kill one of us.

I have a two year old who will sometimes sleep great at my mother's house and sometimes not sleep at all. Same bed, same room, same everything. Toddlers are fickle like that. Yesterday she was downing brussel sprouts like there was no tomorrow, tonight she didn't even want them on her plate.

As for the pnp, I would request a crib from the hotel. DD had one of them. It was clean. We brought our sheet from home so it smelled familiar and we knew what it was washed in.

 

[baybemama]

I appreciate the responses. The baby is flexible, we just haven't had to use the PNP since he was a newborn and even then it was just a place to put him, he didn't actually sleep there. We actually wanted to co-sleep with him like we did with our first but he doesn't actually sleep in our bed, so I don't know how co-sleeping in the hotel would go.

And I don't really think it has anything to do with training him to be flexible. The poor kid is a slave to his 4 year old brother's school routine and is always being asked to wake up when he's sleeping and stay awake when he's tired. But we also believe in a predictable routine so while the ideal situation may be to "train him up" to fall asleep anywhere, I gotta meet him halfway. So I like the idea of trying out the PNP at home first. It would certainly be convenient not to have to bother with a crib rental.

 

[Crystal824]

We took DD to WDW when she was 9 months old. She had never really slept in a PNP before that although we did try at home (it didn't go well). She was so tired every night of our trip that she practically begged to get in the PnP when we got back to the room