How well does your toddler sleep away from home?

[candyht]

I'm thinking about going to WDW for a few days in November. My son will be almost 14 months in November. He's never spent the night away from home before. He sleeps pretty well at home 11-12 hours a night. Since we're DVC Members, we're probably going to stay in a 1-bedroom unit and he'll be sleeping in a pack n' play (he's never slept in one before). Does anyone have any advice, so I can make sure my son gets a good night sleep?

 

[LisaZoe]

I took my DD on a cruise when she was 11 mo. She would not sleep in the Pack N Play so shared my bed with me. She slept well that way but I didn't as we hadn't shared a bed all night since she was 3 mo.

If you can get a Pack N Play to use now, perhaps you can try him out in it while you're still at home. It might make the transition a bit smoother if he is already familiar with sleeping in one before you try it in a totally strange environment.

Another thing to try is to bring his bedding from home. This way, at least the bed will smell and feel familiar even if it's a different bed somewhere new.

Another thing I noticed when my DD and I were at DLR last year and WDW this year is that she gets so tired out from playing at the parks that she sleeps well once she falls asleep. It's sometimes hard to get her to settle down, partly because I'm in the same room as her, but when she does she is out.

BTW - My DD sleeps with her blinds closed at home due to a neighbor's flood light that would otherwise shine in on her. I found that it also helped to close the drapes of the hotel room to get it as dark as possible so the normal lighting around such a business didn't wake her to early.

 

[POOH&PIGLET]

Originally posted by candyht
Does anyone have any advice, so I can make sure my son gets a good night sleep?

Do lots of fun things during the day so that he is (as my DW would say) too pooped to party.

At WDW, if my kids have trouble sleeping because they are still excited, I lay down with them and they are usually sleeping in under five minutes. DW has to wake me up if I stay there too long.

 

[don8life]

Be firm. Once you put him in the play pen leave him there. That is what I have done with all my kids and it worked out fine. Once my youngest cried for 45 minutes. But I knew if I took her out she would not sleep for the rest of the vacation. But that was the only time any of them ever cried. Thank Goodness they are sleeping angels, never any problems.

 

[swilshire]

Our son is a bit older now, but we've always had good success with bringing along his usual blankets and of course the two teddy bears he sleeps with. If nothing else gets packed, you can be sure those teddies are there.

Sheila

 

[mistaroo]

[Does your son sleep in a bed or a crib? If he is in a crib, maybe you can get one from the resort as opposed to the pack n play.

My DS is a fantastic sleeper too....except on vacation. He did great when we went to WDW for his first b-day but during the trip when he was 15 months old, he wouldn't sleep. He is used to being put in his crib in his own room and putting himself to sleep but he cried like his heart was broken when we put him in the pack n play on vacation. He couldn't stay asleep and we finally just brought him into bed with us where he eventually quieted down and went to sleep. Even then he was restless. He is just really attached to his crib I guess. We just gave up trying the pnp and just coslept. Fortunately, when he got home, he went right back to his wonderful sleeping patterns. He was happy out of his mind to see his crib again

I hope your son has an easier time than mine did but even if he doesn't sleep as well on vacation, chances are he will go back to sleeping well once you are back home.

Have a great trip!

 

[sperk99]

He does great...no problems with the pack n play. He even does well on long trips in the car

 

[CapeCodFam]

My ds is 2 we went to wdw shortly after his 2nd b-day. He didn't like the pnp much, so I just layed down with him in my bed until he was in a sound sleep then I moved him to the pnp and he slept till morning.

We also left the tv on the dis channel all night so when he woke at 6am he would just sit in the pnp and watch bear and rollie.

It worked great

 

[chesirekate]

My DD, who turned 2 on our trip, would crawl into her stroller at night and fall asleep. We figure she just wanted to cuddle up in something familiar to her, and the stroller was what worked. After she fell asleep we'd take her out of the stroller and put her in bed with us (we co-sleep), and she would sleep just fine through the night and have to be woken up in the morning so we could get to the parks

 

[PaulaMurf]

at home, and just bring it with us. I started it about 2 months b4 our 1st WDW trip when DS was 15 months. Now, he will sleep anywhere as long as there is white noise.

Hope this helps.

Paula in CT

 

[Bugsmom73]

DD slept okay in the Pnp but we usually ended up bringing her to bed with us during the night when she woke up. DS we shall see. He is generally a better sleeper than her but this is his first Major vacation. We occ. co-sleep anyway so it is never that big of a deal.

 

[Gillian]

My kids do fine on vacation, but it's a good idea to test out a pack n play first. Generally starting a week before with sleeping in a pnp gets them used to it. This worked for my SIL.

My kids are restless sleepers and there is no way we could share with them!

Just an interesting story. My 2 year old at the time son was never attached to any toy or blanket. We bought him a cute stuffed mickey and put it in his crib our next to last night at disney so he would be surprised when he woke up. Well, he was surprised all right! He woke up in the middle of the night, got really scared and started screaming! We took him into our bed until he calmed down and he went right back to sleep. So don't give your kids strange stuffed animals while they're sleeping!

 

[all4fun]

I agree with the pp's about trying out a PNP before your trip just to see how he does in it.

You can also request a crib from the resort as well. They have a limited number of them so you may not get one, but they do have them. They are the full-size stainless steel type, not the little portable cribs. We stayed in a resort last May and had a portable crib. DS hated it. I was glad that he actually did much better with the pnp at BWV.

HTH,
Cheryl

 

[daystar]

Hi,
My son is a little older he is five years old....My ds doesn't sleep any where other than home not even grandma and grandpa's house...When we took him to WDW this was one of our concerns but when we got there with all the excitement and traveling he became tired fast by the time it was time for bed he was out....As for being in a strange place that's the only problem i had and yes he did have to sleep with me but there was one night he actually slept with his older brother....I think that with every thing that goes on during the day he probbly will be all tired out and will be ready for bed.......But than again every kid is different...

 

[foofanella]

I've taken both my kids at a variety of ages (20 months, 3 years, 8months) my kids are all die hard crib sleepers (we're militant about them sleeping in their own cribs at night - no flames please). My little guy who is now 19 months HATES pack and plays, and even the fold up metal cribs - the mattresses are too thin and make a lot of noise when he moves around.

So, everytime we've gone, we've rented from ABBF and tracey brings the crib, stocked with beautiful pooh linens (bumpers and all!) and Matty conks out for his 11-12 hour rest. The $50 investment is worth every penny, IMHO!