Need advice for 1 room sleeping at WDW.

[dreamalittledream]

I hope someone can offer any suggestions they might have for sharing a room with their children. We have a just turned 2 DD and an almost 5 DD and are staying at CR in Dec. Switching resorts is not an opton nor is 2 rooms or a suite. So, I am looking for what others do to get the kids to sleep while all in one room.

We were just at a hotel with our girls and bedtime was torture! The 5 DD can easily fall asleep w/ the TV on as long as no one is walking around the room to distract her. But the 2 DD is a nightmare to get to sleep, she doesn't settle easily (never has) and can't sleep w/ anyone else (she moves to much) She doesn't fall asleep in the stoller or car. And she will probably be out of the crib by Dec, maybe but I am not forcing the issue since she is a wanderer also. I plan to put her on the daybed and the 5 DD in the big bed but may have to switch off if there is a "fairness" issue.

Has anyone packed a tent? or let a child sleep in a bathroom? Is there a way to block off the closet area with a sheet? Any other ideas? I have a shore week coming up so I want to "practice" and work out a solution. I know 10 nights with a struggle to sleep will make me crazy!

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

I haven't done this at Disney but at another hotel I brought along a toddler sized air mattress and put it next to our bed. My 4 yr old DD slept there. She likes a cd on so I put it next to her quietly. Since she was on the floor she couldn't see my 2 yr old DS who was sleeping in a pack-n-play near the bathroom. Next to him I put a sound machine playing nature sounds. I would suggest that the parents go out of the room to the balcony or just outside the door for 30 minutes. If we needed to go to the potty after they were in bed we would just take turns going to the lobby. (I even brushed my teeth in that bathroom.)

We usually stagger their bed times by 30 minutes. In the hotel I took DD down to the lobby in her jammies (which she found hilarious) and let her potty and brush her teeth and walk around a bit. That gave DS enough time to settle down and go to sleep.

We leave the tv on in hotels as a night light sometimes.

I hope this helps. I never thought my kids would be able to share a room on vacation but I now realize that you just have to be a little creative Sleep is SOOOOO important!

 

[ekball]

Hi there,

I am a little worried about this one as well, but am banking on the fact that my kiddos (14 mos. and almost 3 at trip time) will be so pooped from all of our adventures that they'll conk out easily (fingers crossed and saying little prayers). I also kind of wondered about the closet area, but was afraid to ask for fear of how some might take it. I did find a suggestion in another post that I am going to try though....get a cheap plastic shower curtain and buy the 3m hooks that you can hang and easily take off of the wall (I found some that have a metal hook that look like they'd work well). Use these to corner off a part of the room (or closet area???) to provide an area where the little one can fall asleep without seeing mom, dad and (in our case) big sister. We are going to try to do this in a corner of our room - DS will be in a pack-n-play so it should work pretty well. But not sure where you could do it with your older daughter??

If all else fail....RUN THEM RAGGED!!! Get lots of playtime outdoors in the afternoon, swim in pool, etc. Always works with my kids.

 

[dreamalittledream]

Thanks for the suggestions so far, please keep them coming. My older DD will be fine, she can fall asleep easily almost anywhere as long as she has her tag and thumb. ( I know, braces here I come!, but she is such a good girl.)

I like it but I am a little nervous about the shower curtain idea, since it is plastic and if she got her hands on it she could suffocate. Maybe a nylon or cloth one would work also. Would the hotel say anything about putting the 3M hooks on the wall? Esp in a newly renovated room at CR?

This weekend, I ended up putting a beach towel over part of the 2 yr old's pack n play to make a "tent" which she thought was fun so she eventually laid down.

Staggering the bedtimes may be the best idea but DD 2 is such a light sleeper I'll have to try it to see. The 5 yr old would LOVE to stay up a little later w/ one of us in the lobby or FnF center.

 

[Hannathy]

I always think if the kids aren't half asleep walking to the room we are doing something wrong! Mine are so tired they usually fall asleep on top of the bed and I just pull their shoes off and they would sleep thru an earthquake. There is so much to do if they aren't sleepy go for a walk, go in the pool longer, stay at the parks another hour the next day. Don't put the little one in the stroller between every ride, let her walk a lot.

One time when we were travelling my little one wasn't sleepy but I was exhausted so I turned on Disney or Nick said I'm going to sleep you can lay there and watch as long as you want, I have no idea what time they actually conked I turned the TV off at about 4 when I woke up.

 

[bartleby1]

I agree with the other posters who said the kids are usually so tired that it is not an issue. Actually, we ALL end up conking out at the same time because we are so exhausted! So, our kids never had to deal with much noise or moving around in the room because we were all asleep within minutes after entering our room.

The only time we had an issue was one year when our DS was around 13 months old. He had only been walking for about a month so he didn't do much walking or get much exercise in the parks. He slept when he was tired (on rides or in the stroller) so by the time we got back to the room, he was bouncing off the walls, lol! He was very well rested from his naps and had sat in his stroller most of the day. We had to walk him up and down the hallway about 50 times to get the energy out.

 

[dreamalittledream]

I am hoping for the exhaustion scenario but since it will be Dec, the parks are not open as late everynight. 6:00 for MK on MVMCP nights is not going to cut it. We are also taking a break after dinner some nights and not going back to the parks. I'll let them play on the playground, but it may get dark to early as well. any other ideas near CR?

 

[hollyb]

Number one reason we are renting a house. Plenty of bedrooms and beds.

 

[pooh4evr]

Our kids were so tired from the day the were usually asleep with in a coulpe of minuted of laying down (4 and 23 mos at time)

 

[lclark0621]

I have found, after a long day in the parks, DS will fall right to sleep at night! Not to mention the fact he is staying up much later then normal, but he is spending a day doing SO much! By the time we get back to the hotel he will easily fall asleep.

Usually I will lay down with DS (we share a bed while DH gets his own in hotel rooms) & all the lights are out (DH is usually working on his laptop). DS is asleep in 5 minutes. After that, I can turn on some lights, leave the tv on low, talk with DH, order room service, etc, etc, etc.

Perhaps it is because DS has been traveling with us pretty regularly since he was 10 weeks old, but we have never had a problem in hotel rooms.

And when I was a kid, my family always stayed in 1 room. We (my brother & I) would go to sleep (same kind of way my DS goes to sleep) & my parents would stay up. It was never an issue, and never seen as an issue. Maybe that is why I never saw having DS in a hotel room as an issue either.

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

We just got back from a week at the beach, with six of us sharing one room. We were just a bit too cozy at the end!!

We've always had issues with bedtime before this. My oldest is autistic, and cannot, under any circumstances, just go right to bed. We have always all "gone to bed" at the same time...and then dh and I would get up when all the kids fall asleep. As I said, though, my oldest made that difficult since he couldn't go through with the motions, even until the other three went to sleep.

What we did for this trip worked like a charm. We got the two bigger kids their own little DVD player with headphones. At bedtime, they hopped right in bed to watch their own t.v. right next to them. The t.v. didn't bother anyone, and they were "eliminated" from the mix, so they didn't disturb anyone.

My 11 month old slept in his port-a-crib. After a rough first night with this, the other nights worked well. He was exhausted, so he fell right to sleep.

Now, my 2 year old was more challenging to get to sleep. We put him on the floor, on a sleeping bag. We positioned him so he wouldn't see either DVD player. He was off to the side a bit, but still in the main section. He had a hard time falling asleep, but he stayed put!!! It was a lot easier this time than last, when he was running around the room while we were all laying in bed!

Good luck. I will agree, though, that the kids will most likely be so exhausted that you won't need a plan. Even my autistic child was out like a lightbulb.

 

[dreamalittledream]

Thanks for all the advice, I am probably worrying about nothing. I just want to have a plan if I need it. I'll have to balace that nap with the bedtime schedule, she can be the Energizer Bunny that gets cranky when tired.

I am hoping that DD2 will get a little better by Dec. We didn't have an issue when DD1 was that age and we went when she was 2 1/2 as well.

I grew up going on family vacations and never had issues with bedtime, that I remember anyway.

 

[brymolmom]

We were in POP last year with dd 20 mos and ds 3. We have it a little bit easier than some because our kids sleep in the same room every night - so they're obviously used to it. However, it is a little tricky with mom and dad in there too. Here's how we did it:

DD slept in pack n play and will again for this year even tho she'll be almost 3 - it just makes things so much easier. DS slept in one of the beds with a bedrail. We would just do our regular nighttime routine - jammies, teeth, stories and then they would lay down. DH would go down to the food court and get a drink or something to munch on and he would bring a book and sit out at the pool (or go for a swim). I would sit with one light on and read a book and NOT LOOK at the kids. One night I ended up turning the light out and sitting in the bathroom to read just to give them the darkness (towels in the tub are pretty comfortable to lounge on ). The next night we took turns - one of us staying in the room the other getting a 'break' at the pool. A couple of the nights we did turn the TV on after they fell asleep.

Good luck!

 

[akamom]

You can block off the closet area. My kids would end up turning the water on if they were in the bathroom, probably even playing in the toilet. With it being Disney though, I really think they might just be too pooped out to give you a hard time going to sleep. I hope it goes well!

 

[isla bonita]

That is the reason we do not stay on site. We could never afford the suites and I would rather not go down if we had to all be in one room.

We started in one room then went to a kids suite then we went with the rental homes. We never could all sleep in one room now that we have gotten use to our own. It just works for us.

Good luck.

 

[TEXASPRINCESSES]

We only have one child DD6 but I have been there with the sleep issues--on one trip to colorado my DH drove her around every night in our rent car til she was asleep--the good news with her is once she's asleep she's dead to the world. I will say we have been to Dsney 6 times with her and many things have worked to help withher sleep. W ehave done the tent thing at AK put the pack and play in the corner near the door--shove towel under door to block out hall noise then hang extra sheet in bracket of door the v-type bracket that sticks out and hang the other piece jammed in the closet door--sounds funny but it works and doesn't make it too hot for them in the pack n play--the bad news is that you are trapped in your room so to speak!
When she was 3 and 4 and not nappingin the afternoon she was so oooo tired after a day at disney she would fall asleep in my lap in the bus on the way back to the resort and we would quickly change her in her pj's then DHand I would camp out in the bathroom til she was back to sleep--it's cozy in there
Now we use a sound machine and most nights we go to bed when she does..we are tired too! I have to say that we own DVC now only we don't have enough points for a one-bedroom the whole 10 days--we usually split our stay with studio for first half and one bedroom the second--it is always nice the second half to have that extra space!!
When all else fails...use benedryl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck!!!!!