Babyproofing a hotel room

[camdensmom]

Can you more experienced moms and dads think of anything that should be done to baby proof our room when we get there?

Our son is 7.5 months. He "crawls" (by that I mean he drags his left leg behind him as if he has been wounded in battle, but still gets around quite well) and has just started to pull himself up to his knees on things.

Thanks so much!

 

[Kahana-ri]

If you can, pack a few of those plastic electrical plugs for the outlets. I also ended up putting the garbage can in to bathroom to keep little hands from rummaging. Any breakables or 'don't' touches' ended on top of the TV hutch. There is not too much that they can get into considering it a basic room set-up.

 

[Diana Lyn]

This is going to sound like the craziest thing ever, but when we stay in a hotel, I go into the room and start at the door and crawl on my hands and knees and take anything away that would be at their level and make sure there is nothing down there to hurt them. The first time I did this, I found an Advil on the floor. So, I've continued this practice, even though it's a little odd. I usually take all the paper and stuff out of the night table drawer, including the phone book and move the garbage cans to the shelf above the clothes rack.

 

[lclark0621]

Ok, I am not judging...

That said, when we took our DS to hotel rooms before he could walk (and we took him to a lot), there is NO way on the face of the earth, I would have let him crawl around on the floor.

You absolutly never know how clean a hotel room floor is.

Now I admit, I am a germ freak. Even my friends think I go overboard sometimes.

But to me, it is all about keeping my kid safe & healthy. Sure, some say overprotective, I say good parent.

We would keep DS on the bed & let him crawl around there if he wanted to. But to be honest, after a day in the parks, he was happy to just sit on the bed, if he was awake at all when we got back from the parks.

 

[pezpam]

We travelled with DD a lot when she was little. Heck, we moved to Japan when she was 8 months old and had to stay in a hotel room until we found a place to rent..... the Pack-n-Play (with a few favorite and a few new toys) was KEY. If you can manage to bring one or rent/borrow one and your little one will stand it, it's well worth it. Sure, we played with her on the bed, let her crawl around some and all that, but sometimes the PNP and a few toys were lifesavers. On trips when that wasn't an option, I just resigned myself to maintaining a vigilant eye and spending large amounts of time directly entertaining her myself so she wouldn't try to climb the tv stand. All part of travels with tiny ones and I think it's paid off in the long run by making her a very mellow traveler.

 

[letsgoagainsoon]

Ok, I am not judging...

That said, when we took our DS to hotel rooms before he could walk (and we took him to a lot), there is NO way on the face of the earth, I would have let him crawl around on the floor.

You absolutly never know how clean a hotel room floor is.

Now I admit, I am a germ freak. Even my friends think I go overboard sometimes.

But to me, it is all about keeping my kid safe & healthy. Sure, some say overprotective, I say good parent.

We would keep DS on the bed & let him crawl around there if he wanted to. But to be honest, after a day in the parks, he was happy to just sit on the bed, if he was awake at all when we got back from the parks.

You sound just like me!! I would not put DS-9 months his first trip--on the floor at all while at Disney for a week (or any other hotel for that matter!) He was just starting to pull himself up and try to walk so it seemed like it was going to be difficult to keep him off of the floor. We too, kept him on the bed whenever we were in the room and he was perfectly content. We let him have his toys and books up there and pushed the bed against the wall and it worked out fine. If you aren't comfortable keeping him on the bed, I would suggest keeping him and his toys in a play yard (of course, me being the germ freak that I am, I would bring my own play yard!! )

 

[scouthawkk]

One suggestion I have seen in the past is duct tape to cover the bathroom door latch. You know, the "male" part if you will, that latches the door shut. That way, if the door somehow becomes locked, it won't be able to fully latch the door shut, and DS can't get locked in the bathroom (if he manages to wander in).

 

[Ilovestitch]

I don't have kids but upon entering the room I would look for anything on the floor that mousekeeping might have missed. You never know what dangerous things people drop- pills, candies, safety pins, coins, old snacks, earrings etc.

 

[all4fun]

Along with outlet covers, I also like to bring those finger-pinch guards for the doors - or you could use a towel over the top of the door.

For future reference, after he was up and walking we used a cheap shoe holder that hangs from the door to hold our toiletries in the bathroom, which kept everything out of his reach. Also makes things easy to find since we used the clear plastic kind, and keeps the bathroom counter mess-free.

 

[lclark0621]

You sound just like me!! (of course, me being the germ freak that I am, I would bring my own play yard!! )

I always brought our own "pack 'n play" when DS was younger!