Baby in the room!!

[AZMermaid]

For babies... We like to put the pack and play in the entryway area and use a sheet to separate the spaces. Now we own DVC and stay in one bedrooms!

 

[ilovebassets]

If you're using a pack n play, we've put it in bathrooms when it fits, or we will put the pack in play somewhere that can be "cordoned" off - my husband will gerryrig some sort of curtain so the dark is cut off. Then we can sit in bed and watch tv, etc. At Disney we were at Poly and so we sat out on our patio at bedtime.

We did this when we had one child. At the moderates at Disney, we just put the crib behind the sinks curtains/doors and it wasn't too much of a problem. At other hotels, we did the reverse. We would put the baby to sleep in the crib and shower/read in the bathroom for a few minutes while the baby fell asleep.

Now with two children, a separate room is mandatory, and we are willing to pay quite a bit for it. That's we stay at Fort Wilderness now and spend our other trips at Embassy Suites or Residence Inn. Nothing ruins a trip like poor sleep for the kids.

We'll see how our cruise goes this fall when they're two and four and finally both out of cribs and no real suite. It may be interesting.

 

[mrsmomo]

To be honest we don't really worry about bedtime at WDW and they are always up later than normal so they usually fall asleep on the bus ride back and sleep through being put in PJ's . After that we just keep the lights low and watch TV quietly. Usually DH and I were ready to go to sleep not long after getting back to the room anyway.

This! The kids are pretty exhausted when we get back. So are we! We put them in bed give them kisses and out they go. Watch tv low try not to laugh to loud and then out we go.

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

We never adhere to regular bedtimes at Disney. When they were toddlers and in PNP, we put it in the vanity area under the clothing rack and pulled the curtain closed. We were able to watch TV with low volume until we went to bed. Now that the kids are older, we usually stay pretty late, go back to the room and we're all tired enough to fall asleep pretty quickly. Like a pp, we have kids that sleep hard and can fall asleep with the TV on, lights on, etc.

 

[kohlby]

Babies weren't hard. They would fall asleep with the light on and we could still hang out and watch tv. However, it was a different story with 3 year olds and up! Hubby takes the older child out of the room while I get a younger one or two asleep. (Sometimes, this even meant the baby and eldest left the room if the other child was 3). Then he comes back in when the child needing sleep is asleep. We have books and an ipad and hang out in the bathroom with the light on in there if we have a lighter sleeper. Also, hubby would get to roam the hotel by himself or with the eldest for quite a while if he wanted. (I FINALLY have no one nursing though - so now we can take turns!)

 

[puffkin]

We don't stick to normal bed time on vacation. I would NEVER EVER be going to sleep at 8 on a vacation, its my vacation too! I know some kids need that, but thankfully mine adapt. By the time we get back to the room they are usually out or it takes them 2 seconds to fall asleep and then we can do what we need in the room.

Growing up in our house, there was always noise. Other kids, animals, outside noise, tv, vacuum, dishwasher/washer, etc. Plus they both go to daycare full time so nap time isn't real quiet there either. We just aren't quiet people so my kids will sleep through everything from newborns on.

That being said, we try to travel only in suites/DVC now. It is worth EVERY penny. Just for the space and other amenities. Really has enhanced our travelling. I love our DVC and when we travel other places I usually am able to find some pretty great deals on condos/suites. Usually we only stay in regular hotels for those times when we just need a quick night somewhere, like at an airport.

 

[AZMermaid]

I am feeling like we are the only people on the planet who stick pretty closely to 7:00 bedtime- even on vacation- even at Disneyland! After my daughter turned 2 in Feb, I have been a little looser with bedtime, but before that, my kids had been to bed (now 2 and 3.5) after 7:30 maybe 5 times and after 8 like once, including 3 3-day Disneyland vacations. We are going to Disneyland nest year right before my daughter is 3 and do plan on trying for a late night. Last time when they were 10 months and 2, we tried it and our kids were a wreck at 6:00 so we packed it in! But, they also won't sleep in their stroller. We are so jealous of the people with kids conked out!

 

[AmyBWV99]

I think if you are rigid on your routine and bedtime schedule you'll have rigid kids about their sleep. Our 4 (now 9, 6, 3& 2 all been going since weeks old) have always been car seat/stroller/on the go nappers so at WDW they just acclimate. During the school year they get to bed by 8 or we pay in the morning but that's due to the school schedule, etc. summer and vacation we are extremely flexible. No way are we paying that much to spend dinner to breakfast in a hotel room. I'd leave the kids home if there were the case.

Kidding.

Mostly.

 

[Lsyves]

I am feeling like we are the only people on the planet who stick pretty closely to 7:00 bedtime- even on vacation- even at Disneyland! After my daughter turned 2 in Feb, I have been a little looser with bedtime, but before that, my kids had been to bed (now 2 and 3.5) after 7:30 maybe 5 times and after 8 like once, including 3 3-day Disneyland vacations. We are going to Disneyland nest year right before my daughter is 3 and do plan on trying for a late night. Last time when they were 10 months and 2, we tried it and our kids were a wreck at 6:00 so we packed it in! But, they also won't sleep in their stroller. We are so jealous of the people with kids conked out!

You're not alone! I'm with you. We are serious about sleep in our family. We usually have ours down by 8 at home, maybe we stretch til 9 on vacation. This year they are a bit older so we will have one late night at a park and then take the next morning to relax and swim. After a day in the parks with two very active boys, we are pretty tired ourselves...we like to put them to bed and then read or watch tv until we fall asleep. I need the down time with no one talking my ear off or asking a zillion questions lol. Love my kids to bits but I need to mentally recharge on my own at the end of the day. And they really need the sleep or they won't have a great day either. To each his own though...every family is different and so is every child.

 

[jezebel73]

If my daughter ever went to bed at 7, she would've been up at 4 - even as an infant!!! She's 9 now and goes to bed by 11. Sleeps like a log, just not for more than 8 hours or so.

I'm in the school of adaptive sleepers and her first trip was at 15 months. She napped most days for an hour or so in the stroller, whenever it hit her, and as long as she got about 9-10 hours sleep overnight, she was fine. By the time she was 3-4, naps were totally out of the picture and still the 8-9 hours at night worked. The last trip at almost 8y.o., we were out until 3 am one night and just slept in the next day! Never ever a problem getting her to sleep at Disney since everyone is exhausted at the end of the day. I rarely made it an hour past her and usually spent that time washing up, preparing bags and clothes for the next day and enjoying a nice glass of wine.

Do what will work for you, but be prepared to be flexible in either direction!!

 

[kohlby]

I am feeling like we are the only people on the planet who stick pretty closely to 7:00 bedtime- even on vacation- even at Disneyland! After my daughter turned 2 in Feb, I have been a little looser with bedtime, but before that, my kids had been to bed (now 2 and 3.5) after 7:30 maybe 5 times and after 8 like once, including 3 3-day Disneyland vacations. We are going to Disneyland nest year right before my daughter is 3 and do plan on trying for a late night. Last time when they were 10 months and 2, we tried it and our kids were a wreck at 6:00 so we packed it in! But, they also won't sleep in their stroller. We are so jealous of the people with kids conked out!

No, you're not alone. My 8 year old has a 7:16 bedtime at home and we can convince her to push it to 8:01 at Disney, but that's it. (Yes, that's not a typo. She sets her bedtime and is VERY strict about it). We do have one very late night planned - the Halloween Party. But otherwise, we must get her into bed at 8pm or all will suffer. My kids don't sleep in. They stopped naps very young. Even when they were younger, they wouldn't nap if we went back to the room at Disney. My eldest is more a go-with-the-flow kid. We can keep him up late. But one child who can't handle it can make it terrible for everyone else!

 

[NicholeB630]

This is one of my husbands biggest requests now with trips is we have to have at least a one bedroom suite. Especially with trips longer than a night or two. It's just a pain having to get a small child to sleep in the same room. When we just had DD and we did that we would just turn lights out and everyone get in the beds and you just lay there quite till child falls asleep. It's a pain especially if said child doesn't want to go to sleep. Now our DD is older is way easier getting her to lay down and watch a movie or go to sleep in another room. When we did Disney last year DD was 4 and DS was 9 months. We stayed in One bedroom Villa at Bay Lake and it was perfect. DD slept on pull out sofa and fell asleep pretty quickly husband got to watch tv out there after and baby was in bedroom with me. We will stay in the same type of room this coming trip. I'll prob but DS 2.5 to bed in the bedroom and then DD will sleep on pull out sofa. Traveling just gets harder when you have kids. Luckily they are usually pretty tired after full days at parks so bed time shouldn't be to tricky. We are going to Busch Gardens Williamsburg this weekend and staying in a normal room it will be interesting at bedtime. We will probably regret not getting a suite.