crib or pack n play for 2yo and 7.5 mo?

[nancy drew]

we leave soon for our trip and i am starting to freak about sleeping arrangements. we are staying at WL in a regular room, and we are traveling with our 2yo dd and 7.5 mo ds. ds will be fine sleeping in the pnp provided by the hotel (we requested one) until his first nightwaking, at which point ill just bring him in the bed to nurse and sleep the rest of the night. but what about 2yo dd? she sleeps in a crib at home, with a crib tent (she has always had it, so she has never attempted to climb out or anything). as i see it we have a few options, and im looking for input on what we shoul do.

1) assuming there are 2 beds, me and dh in one, dd in another with bedrails, ds in the pnp provided by the hotel. problems: dd has never slept in a non-crib non-pnp by herself. im a little worried that she would be all over the bed, then somehow stand up and fall over the bedrails. paranoid, yes. but do we want to do the big girl bed transition on vacation? probably not.

2) assuming there are two beds, dh sleeps with dd and i sleep with ds (he would be in the pnp part of the night, but id get him when he wakes up for the first feeding then just keep him with me). problem: i dont know if dd will sleep in a bed with dh. she would sleep with me, and i suppose i could sleep with both kids and have dh sleep in the other bed, but thats not much fun.

3) rent a crib for dd, let ds have the pnp (but bring him into the bed after one waking so he doesnt wake dd up with all of his nightwakings) and ds and i share a bed. problem: renting a crib could be costly and our room will be very crowded. we could also rent a toddler bed, but she has never slept in one of those either. she might think its way cool, but i worry about her getting up and wandering around the room at night wondering where the heck she is.

i suppose we could get one of those small inflatable beds for toddlers and bring it with us, but then i worry about dd rolling all over the floor and rolling into something since she is all over her crib at night. and again theres the whole wandering around the room at night thing...

and yes, i am 100% aware that i am overthinking this and making a mountain out of a molehill but thats how i tend to do things and it works for me

so any input is greatly appreciated. thanks!!!

 

[theflowerladee]

I can't help with your dd sleeping problem, but i will suggest you bring your own crib sheets, because our experience with disney portable cribs when my last ds was younger, they put full size sheets on the crib mattress and I
didn't put him in because, I (also overthinking) was afraid he would twist in the to big sheets and smother himself. As far as your daughter as much
fun as it won't be I wouldn't probably just sleep with both kids, but I usually
take the easy route especially on vaca. Good Luck and have a magical trip.

p.s. won't disney just put 2 cribs in the room?

 

[Schmeck]

Hopefully your dd will be so wiped out at the end of each day that she'll just pass out wherever and not even know where she's sleeping? Or does she tend to get up a lot at night?

If she tends to wake up a lot at night, I'd rent the extra crib, and bring the crib tent to close her in. That way, when she woke up, she'd at least see the comforting cover, and maybe go back to sleep for you?

 

[nancy drew]

theflowerladee- thanks for the tip on the sheets. and im glad im not the only overthinker here

Schmeck- im sure they would give us 2 pack n plays, and im just not sure dd would sleep in there. they seem a bit cramped for a 2yo. maybe not though? that certainly would be the easiest. and im totally hoping that she is too tired to wake up at night, but *sometimes* she wakes up once and has a hard time going back to sleep.

 

[Hannathy]

I would put her with your husband. Why do you think she wouldn't sleep with him. We always just put a kid in with each of us. If she woke up 1 night you could put her in with you that night. She will probably be so tired from being outside all day like other have said that she'll sleep well.

 

[nancy drew]

i guess i think she wouldnt sleep in the bed with him because 1) she seems to associate him with fun, hyper stuff. he really gets her riled up (especially before bedtime, though i have asked him repeatedly not to) and she might have a hard time sitting and cuddling with him since she isnt used to it. shes a young 2 yo, just turned in february and is speech delayed (spoken and understood). and 2) she is knee-deep in a mommy phase and she might sit there and cry for me the whole time. maybe not, but the other day when we brouhgt her in our bed because she woke up waaaay early and was very upset she didnt want to be near daddy, she just wanted me. who knows, maybe she would be fine, and i know when she is older it will be different. and again, im probably overthinking it.

 

[cinjam]

When we went this past February, I put DS (turned two right after we returned) in a PNP. He's big ~ (36" and 32lbs), he still sleeps in his crib and hadn't been in a PNP since our summer vacation. It worked out fine.

I pulled the PNP up to the edge of the bed - on the side that I was laying. When we were going tobed, he would stand up and look at me for a few minutes (I would play asleep) and he would get the idea and lay down to go to sleep himself.

As another poster said, after day #1, when we got back to the room in the evening he was exhausted and very easily went to sleep (we even had the tv on low - which I was totally shocked we were able to do as well!)

I was completely surprised, but pleased, that it worked out that well. He's never slept in a regular bed (we plan on transitioning him this summer) and I didn't know how things were going to work out.

Edited to subscribe to the thread - I really need to change my preferences!!

 

[Hannathy]

Why don't you lay down with her till she goes to sleep and then switch places after she is sound asleep? Or if you are late enough coming back she may be asleep already that's what usually happened with mine. I have slept with 2 kids in a bed yours arelittle enough so that would also work. Just got back from getting my baby girl a confirmation dress, were does the time go. Just relax she'll sleep somewhere! I bet she will do ok also in the bed by herself. And even if she falls out the beds aren't that high, the floor is carpeted and they are super relaxed and flexible in their sleep leaving very little chance of getting hurt. My sister used to fall out of bed constantly onto hard floors and she never got hurt, in fact everyone quit getting up when we heard her hit the floor and would just say "get back in bed" sometimes she did sometimes she would still be on the floor in the morning! Put a few pillows on the floor and quit worrying, relax, new Moms worry too much, think about the fun, everything will be fine.

 

[pjupton]

You are staying at the WL? (that pastel sig isn't showing up very well for me). Don't count on it, but there is a chance they might have a real full sized crib or at least a half-size port-a-crib available for your older child.

We took our almost 2 y/o twins to the Beach Club last fall. I requested two FULL SIZED cribs if available even though everyone here at the DIS said they didn't exist. We had one full size and one half sized for 2 nights, then got another full size crib and had them both for the remaining nights.

The wonderful CM who checked us in assigned us to a waterview/king room to accomodate the cribs - it all worked out really well!

 

[nancy drew]

pjupton- yep, WL. did you request the full size cribs ahead of time or when you checked in?

 

[tjmw2727]

I would try definately use your plan for the the pnp with the baby for the first half of the night, but as other pp's suggested bring your own PnP sheets if you have them. You know they fit, are clean and the scent will be familiar to the baby.

Request a full size crib for the 2yo and hope for the best. They do have some but they won't guarantee them, my sister is 50/50 getting one. You may even get one later in the stay if not on the first night.

If you can't get one for some reason I would try the PnP for your dd, especially if she is still within the weight guidelines. We did this with our dd's and as another poster suggested we put it in the middle of the two beds, that worked well.

The reason I would try the PnP before having her sleep with bedrails and dh or you is because if dd wakes up you don't want her wandering around a strange room even for the few minutes it may take you to wake up. With the pnp in the middle of the beds it won't tip and you will likely hear her right away, plus the sheets and scent will be more familiar than a big unfamiliar bed.

Chances are she will be wiped from the day anway and you won't have an issue. Ours were always asleep in the stroller before we hit the room anyway!

If you want to be sure of a full size crib you can rent one from one of the agencies in Orlando. One of my sil's used a baby's best friend and was happy with the service.

TJ

 

[mommy2savannah]

My dd is 2.5 and she also sleeps in her crib at home. I am just going to rent a crib from a baby's best friend. I don't want to spend the extra money, but I figured that a good night's sleep on vacation is absolutely priceless!

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Can you just ask for a King room and everyone sleeps together?
Not sure if that would work for you, but it's a thought.

 

[pjupton]

pjupton- yep, WL. did you request the full size cribs ahead of time or when you checked in?

Both. I'm used to saying TWO cribs every time we stay in hotels so I just did with with WDW too. Twins are everywhere these days, why is the concept of needing TWO cribs so hard for hotels to grasp?

Anyway, I just kept asking for TWO FULL SIZED CRIBS, and that's what we ended up with. Of course, I took a chance that we'd end up with two PnP's and that would have been fine too. If the crib thing is going to ruin your trip, then you should probably pay the $80-100 it will cost you to rent a full sized crib from the off-site agencies. I just wasn't willing to pay that x 2.