Sleeping arrangements w/ 2yr old in room - Any help

[lighttech]

DH and I will be traveling w/ 2 1/2 yr old DS in the fall. We'll be staying at ASMvs in the same room. We've slept in the same room before when traveling, etc. But, usually there's somewhere else for DH and I to be while DS is falling asleep and btw his bedtime and ours.

Any tips?

I don't want to leave him in the room alone while he's falling asleep, but he usually plays for a while before putting himself to sleep, and if I'm in there, I'm afraid he'll want me to play too.

Also, we'll have a few hours btw his bedtime and ours, and with only one room, I'm not sure what we'll do!

Anybody do this before with a young one in the same room? How did you make it work? What did you do with your time?

Any suggestions for smoother sailing would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Eyore4Ever149]

can you tiptoe around the pack and play once he's asleep?
You could put the pack and play on the far left of the bathroom area, like by the open closet area- then pull the curtain across til he's asleep.

Or pick up a couple of cheap folding chairs to sit outside the room while he has his "unwinding time"

Would simply turning the lights off and putting the tv on low help? Are sure you dont want to go to bed at the same time? Maybe move his bedtime up and yours back a bit.

 

[carcam51]

We usually just all snuggle up and watch a movie or a little television. The kids fall asleep because they are just so tired from being at the parks. DH and I then shift them out of our bed and into their own, and either watch a little TV or read a book. We're usually pretty exhausted too, so sometimes DS's bedtime becomes our bedtime too

 

[brymolmom]

The object is to pretend that he's in the room alone. As he's trying to get your attention - straight ignoring or a couple 'it's time for sleep now' reminders is what we do. The first night is always the hardest - but after that it gets easier. Another option (which I have done) is to throw a bunch of towels in the bathtub and read in there! DH and I take turns going down to the food court for a drink and dessert or just to read by the pool or go for a cooling swim. The other stays in the room and ignores or reads or disciplines (on occassion if they're really out of control).

We don't keep the TV on while they're going to sleep - we could, but I figure it would take at least an hour longer than I'd like for them to actually fall asleep - and since we're early morning park people - I want them to get to sleep ASAP - for less grumpiness in the morning.

After they're asleep -we do turn on the TV if we even feel like it. We are usually VERY TIRED and don't mind the extra rest time.

 

[Hannathy]

When we went with our 2 1/2 yr old we just kept doing what we wanted in the parks and he fell asleep in the stroller and then after the fireworks we just took our time going back to avoid the masses and put him into bed sound asleep and then crawled in our selves! We don't go often enough to give up 4 or more hours in the parks so we just kept going and he crashed whenever he was ready. We had no problems. My kids are usually so tired they fall into bed practically asleep standing up. I never could figure out how people have kids that take over an hour to go to sleep at Disney. Of course we don't use strollers over 4 so they are tired from walking which I think helps a lot.

 

[lighttech]

Wow! Thanks everybody. Great tips.

I was actually thinking that his bedtime might be ours! He's not the only one tuckered out after a day at a park (never done Disney with him before, but we have done some local parks.)

We're actually trying something other than a pack-n-play too. We found a great inflatable mattress. It has bolsters on the side to keep DS from rolling out. Also, it has a removable, washable cover in case of accidents.

Then, he has a little pop-up tent that mom-mom and pop-pop got for him. He LOVES sleeping in a tent.

The whole thing fits in one small back-pack (the tent) and one small corner of my suitcase. So, he'll at least have a little privacy and dark if we do decide to turn on the TV.

We haven't tried it yet though, so who knows if it will work. We're going to do a few floor camping rehearsals at home before we count on it.

3 and a half months and counting... I can't wait!

 

[inloveindisney]

The tent is a fantastic idea. He'd probably get excited knowing he was going to sleep in a tent while he was in disney too!

 

[Diz Kids]

We have had the same experience, and it is tough. We found that when DS (28 mos during our last trip) didn't take naps during the day he fell asleep very easily when we returned to the hotel at night. He wouldn't sleep in his stroller and wouldn't nap with everyone in the room, so instead of trying to struggle with him to nap we just had some down time each afternoon, had a relatively early dinner and he was usually sound asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Good luck and enjoy your trip!!

 

[LisaFB]

I'm glad DH pointed me in the direction of this thread.. We're going in Oct with both kids. DS will be 2 and DD will about to turn 4. They used to share a room until about a month ago, but to fall asleep together in the same room again and have us in the room will be hard. I'm hoping they'll be wiped out after a day in the parks! I'm not as worried about what to do on the cruise since we have a verandah room and DH and I can sit outside while they fall asleep.

 

[PrincessBelle39]

We found during our last trip to DL (our girls were 11months and 3) that we had to sit in the bathroom until they fell asleep. They just would not go to sleep with us in the room. Once they were asleep we could move around quietly. This time they will be 3 and 5 and we have rented a villa. I just didn't want to spend so much time in the bathroom.

 

[lexeka]

We took our two year old and our five year old and stayed in the ASM's as well.

We used the Pack 'n Play from Disney and we turned down all the lights except the one farthest from her.

We had her near the bathroom.

She was so exhausted at the end of the day, that she fell asleep pretty easy. We brought her baby to sleep with and her blankie so those things were familiar.

We took a 'tubby' before bed each night (no matter how tired I was and even if it was short) just to keep some of the nightly routine down.

I think you will be amazed how quickly your little one falls to sleep. And once in the pack 'n play we made it pretty quiet until she fell asleep.

Both girls were asleep in no time each night.

Good Luck!

 

[chefthor420]

If you stay out all night for the fireworks and get back late, usually they are out cold before you are out of the parking lot. My daughter was out cold on my shoulder before we got on the monorail at MK. She never made it to the room awake and we got a king bed and a pack and play. But most times she just slept inbetween us, and we have a lot of cute pics of her out cold.

 

[lighttech]

If you stay out all night for the fireworks and get back late, usually they are out cold before you are out of the parking lot. My daughter was out cold on my shoulder before we got on the monorail at MK. She never made it to the room awake and we got a king bed and a pack and play. But most times she just slept inbetween us, and we have a lot of cute pics of her out cold.

We've requested a King at ASMv too. I've been told that all the King rooms have handicapped accessible showers. Is this true? And, if you remember, do the showers have a sprayer that you can pull down? We're really not sure how we are going to handle getting DS (2 1/2) all cleaned up. He's always had baths, and, obviously if its a roll-in shower, that's not an option.

 

[chefthor420]

Yes the shower head does pull down so it should work out ok, if you have to, take everything that shouldn't get wet out of the bathroom and turn the whole room into a shower and dry up when your done like on a cruise ship.