how to get young kids to nap in hotel room?

[mtemm]

I have 2 year old twins and am really hoping they will be able to nap during breaks in the afternoon. since we are doing mnsshp, I am hoping my 4 year old might even join them that day. any tricks/tips to help this happen? we're staying at the y/c, not a suite, so we'll all be in the room.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Have heard some posters say to take those pop-up play tents for a nap area, or you could just make one by putting a blanket across the space between the beds and letting them "camp out" underneath.

 

[LAL77]

We took our DD2 and DD1 last year and we took naps every afternoon. It was absolutely worth it! The first day was extremely frustrating because they were crazed about us being in the same room with them. They thought it was time for more fun. Luckily, the second day we tried something that worked great. My husband took one daughter and I took the other outside our room to walk in the stroller. It was so quiet (ie: boring) that we just got them good and drowsy, then brought them in to lay them down in their beds. Then the excitement of the day took over and they were out for three hours! This worked great. Bringing them straight in hadn't given them enough time to wind down and figure out what time it was.

Sharing the room was the hardest thing about our trip last year. It does take some adjusting for kids that young (and you!). I hope you can convince them to nap! OUr girls were so good for us every single day of our trip because we took them for a long break! It was a perfect trip without a single meltdown! GOOD LUCK!

 

[minkydog]

Take them to the pool before naptime. Even 30 min in a pool is guaranteed to put a toddler to sleep. Get them used to hearing some soothing instrumental music and put on that CD when you put them down. Ahhh...you just might get a nap too!

 

[Manda]

Fortunately, most of the time, our son fell asleep in the stroller or the car on the way back to our room for nap time. That really helped. Otherwise, we made him a little wall and we all laid down and he'd fall asleep pretty quickly. The first day it took several rounds of reminding him to "close your eyes and mouth and go to sleep" to get him to finally fall asleep. Sometimes, one of us has to lay with him for a few minutes just to keep him still long enough to settle. Make sure you let them out of their strollers to walk a lot so they'll be good and tired and bring along any blankies or animals they usually sleep with so that association is there.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

My friends recently got back from a trip with their 19 month old daughter, and here's their trick: They brought a tension-mount curtain rod with them and put it up between their room and the bathroom/hallway/closet area. They then draped a blanket over the rod and made a separate "room" where they put the pack-n-play with DD in it. They turned off the lights in that area and only had one light on in the main area, and then they just read quietly until DD fell asleep. They've used this trick on many trips with hotel stays and say it works well as long as the "hallway" space is narrow enough to hold the tension rod.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

My friends recently got back from a trip with their 19 month old daughter, and here's their trick: They brought a tension-mount curtain rod with them and put it up between their room and the bathroom/hallway/closet area. They then draped a blanket over the rod and made a separate "room" where they put the pack-n-play with DD in it. They turned off the lights in that area and only had one light on in the main area, and then they just read quietly until DD fell asleep. They've used this trick on many trips with hotel stays and say it works well as long as the "hallway" space is narrow enough to hold the tension rod.

A great question from the OP, I hadn't even thought of it yet.

This is a great tip! At home DS2 usually goes right down, but he's in his own room, the curtains are closed and I shut the door. Sometimes when he won't go down, if DH is home they lay down together and DS usually goes right out. (So does DH!)

I don't remember how we got our older son down for a nap on vacation when he was 2yo, but I VIVIDLY remember that he was sleeping through the night before the vacation, and not afterward - Grrrrr!

 

[Minnie824]

We went last nov w/our DDs then aged 4 and 20mos. Our older DD hadn't taken naps for at least a year and a half. We also had a pack and play for younger DD. We just closed the curtains, turned off the lights, and everyone laid down. DH usually fell asleep as well. Everyone was so tired they just fell asleep. Also, once in awhile, DH & I took turns doing stuff during nap time. One day, we took turns at Epcot to ride Soarin, then another day I went and got some shopping done. I also did the same when they fell asleep at night. I think if they see you're going to sleep, it may help. Sometimes we actually did nap, other times just pretended, then got up. Both of our DDs are pretty sound sleepers, so they didnt hear us leave or turn tv on after they were asleep.

 

[mtemm]

thanks everyone for the tips!!! hopefully all the running around in the morning (they hate riding in strollers, and though we'll bring it, I'm sure they will be on their feet a lot) will help. I like the idea of just quieting things down. the music is a good idea, too. any chance the rooms have a docking station for an ipod? (yeah, I know that is reaching, but wow, that would be nice).

they sleep in regular beds now, so the tension rod thing won't work. am curious to see if we laid down with them if that would help or hinder? hmmmm. maybe we'll just bring a couple of sleepy time stories and try reading a couple of ones that are really lulling?

I wonder if the twins are fighting it if I have my dh take my 4 year old out for 20 minutes or so and I just sit quietly in the room if they will fall asleep. then when dh comes in with DS4, he'd probably just curl up since they are. mostly concerned about the twins, so he'd be a bonus.

LAL77, I so hope (and pray) that when we get back I can say the same as you!

 

[jessica52877]

Good luck! My son is a great napper but if he falls asleep in stroller or car it is impossible to get him to the bed without waking up and he will never go back to sleep. He also is super excited in hotel rooms so we just let him nap in his stroller! He'll nap for quite a while with anything going on, especially at disney. Wish I had more advice!

 

[toesmom]

I use a single stroller for this, but if you own a double, it would work just fine. I extend the stroller completely flat, well as much as possible ( i bought a stroller which has extended leg rest and lays almost flat).

We just got back from Vero Beach and he is almost 3. By 1:30 pm he was ready to nap ( or at least I was ready for him to nap... he could go much longer)... I took him to the room (but you could do this at a park as well - in a quieter area).... laid him in the stroller and just started rocking it back and forth... works like a charm every time.

I actually keep an old peg perego stroller in his room just for this. Every day he is in there like clockwork and within a few minutes, that boy who looks like he could go on all day, is dead asleep.

So my advice, open your double stroller, lay both down in a quiet room (actually I run a light fan to block noise), roll stroller back and forth, sing quiet lullaby and there you go... hope that helps.

p.s. laying down with him takes way longer... this is the easy way I think.

 

[crisi]

We had lousy luck getting them to nap in a hotel room - they fell asleep on the way back and we had the "ten minute nap of death." So we learned - quickly - to let sleeping kids lie. We got to be experts at sleeping on the train at the MK, the monorail, the ferry, the busses - basically we had kids that would nap on transportation, but not nap if you sat them still.

 

[Laurajeremy]

ever since we booked our trip I worried about this but we are staying at POFQ and they have the curtain already so DS will be sleeping in his PNP in the little alcove

and this past summer we have stayed in numerous hotels with him and we just tell him that everyone is taking a nap and we all fall asleep together

Hopefully the exhaustion will set in ;-)

 

[WAHMto5]

We always head to the pool for a bit first, then try to make it as dark as possible in the room and LOTS of prayers

 

[KimR]

The problem we had was that although mine were on a very consistant nap schedule at home, touring the parks totally screwed that up. They would fall asleep in their stroller at the drop of a hat (and there was no way to predict when that would be!), so then by the time we returned to the hotel room they were wired and there was no getting them down.

We quickly learned to let sleeping kids lie. When they'd fall asleep, either DH or I would find a shady spot and rest while the other took the older kids on rides. It worked wonderfully for us - we've never had any meltdowns and we didn't have to hassle with trying to get back to the resort on time or trying to keep a tired cranky kid awake until we could make it back for the nap. You may have a totally different experience, but this worked for us.

 

[KristiKelly]

Our kids took naps up until the age of 5. Usually at WDW we found 1 of 2 things, 1) they were so excited they didn't want to sleep or 2) they were so exhausted they couldn't wait for a nap. Usually when they didn't want to nap, we used good old bribery. Take a nap and get a Mickey Mouse Ice Cream Bar - worked like a charm. We also told them that MK was closing for awhile so Mickey Mouse could take a nap . Usually, if I would lay down with them, they would be asleep within minutes - as would I .

 

[Shagley]

It might also help to take clothes pins to keep the curtains closed tight. That will help to keep it darker in the room if the sun is bright outside.

 

[checkwriter]

Don't know if you've considered a "white noise" machine. It generates a low "hiss" that is designed to mask other noises, and makes it easier (for some) to sleep in a new environment. Here is one:
http://www.amazon.com/HoMedics-SS-2...ef=pd_bbs_3/102-8232796-9411335?ie=UTF8&s=hpc

Good luck!

 

[brymolmom]

I'm a believer in leaving them alone. I have 2 at last visit 3 and almost 2 years old. We would put them in bed, tell them it was time for nap and leave the room. DH and I would take turns going down to the pool and having a cool drink and the other one of us would either sit outside the door to the room with a book OR sit in the bathroom for awhile - I got pretty comfy laying a towel in the tub and reclining there to read my book.

Anyway- leaving them alone was usually the best trick. The first couple of days it does take a lot of reminders,etc because of the new surroundings.

Good luck.

 

[labdogs42]

We quickly learned to let sleeping kids lie. When they'd fall asleep, either DH or I would find a shady spot and rest while the other took the older kids on rides. It worked wonderfully for us - we've never had any meltdowns and we didn't have to hassle with trying to get back to the resort on time or trying to keep a tired cranky kid awake until we could make it back for the nap. You may have a totally different experience, but this worked for us.

Thats how we handled it with our DS when he was 15 months old. We leave next week for his second trip and he'll be napping in the stroller again (he's now 19 months). It worked out great for us! We took turns going on Space Mountian, Test Track, or whatever else was nearby that DS couldn't ride. We got our own little break, but we still got to ride the rides. I never would have been able to get DS to take a nap in the hotel room -- no way!