Toddler beds and baby proofing DVC rooms?

[BoardwalkSuzy]

We are trying to figure out how to travel to WDW with our toddlers, and keep them out of our bed and keep them safe. One of tots (my friend's daughter) is just out of a crib, and my daughter still needs side rails or will fall out of a regular bed. I read that Disney will provide side-rails upon request. Do they fit the queen beds at the DVC resorts? Do they work on the sleeper sofas? I've only seen side-rails for twin and full beds made. Do most people put their toddlers out on the sofa beds in living room - does that work out well?

In past, we have just traveled putting our toddler in a king bed between me and my husband, but would like to have a real vacation where kids could have their very own beds and not get injured falling out. Our kids won't sleep in pack-n-plays, or cribs any more. I'm hoping that Disney does have toddler accomodations, but can't find any postings for "toddler beds". Does Disney provide toddler beds with crib mattresses upon request?

Also, do the doors and windows at WDW DVC resorts have any child-proofing features to keep kids off balconies or high floors come - such as locks up high out of reach of kids for safety? Our kids love to open doors, and just don't want them getting out onto a high balcony, climbing on the chairs on a balcony, then pushing each other, as kids do. We're thinking of staying at BLT next trip. Usually I bring my duct tape and tape doors, and pivot style windows closed for safety. I'm just hoping Disney thought of these things, so I don't have to do this. Does anyone know if the DVC rooms come with any child safety features? - waiting for Disney to pass our DVC points through ROFR

 

[kenny]

you can request side rails and use them on the bed/sofa. As far as I was aware I never heard of side rails being for twin/full only as compared to queen king. Always thought side rails were side rails.

We have used them before and they worked fine. Going to use them next trip with DD2.

Disney does not have an actual toddler bed. You can rent them from outside agencies such as www.abbf.com but side rails should work fine for you.

 

[Starr W.]

you can request side rails and use them on the bed/sofa. As far as I was aware I never heard of side rails being for twin/full only as compared to queen king. Always thought side rails were side rails.

.

Miy old ones just slid under the mattress, you could use them on any size bed.

There are no cabinet locks in the kitchen.

What I would be worried about is those 2 story GV's. My 8 yr old had a field day throwing Lego parts down on his brother in the living room. God knows what he would have gotten into as a toddler.

 

[GoofItUp]

Just another option for you...

We are going this summer with our 3 yo & 1 yo DSs. I debated using the side rails (my kids wouldn't sleep in PNPs anymore by the time they were 1), but decided to take 2 of my kids Aerobeds with me. They are small, low-to-the ground air beds with a raised section around the edges so the kids don't roll off. My kids do great in these, and during the day we can just stack them out of the way. We are flying SW, so it's no additional $ to take the luggage.

 

[DenLo]

We recently stayed at BLT and my DH took a photo of the double lock system on the sliding glass door. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35672136&postcount=715 It's a bit embarrassing but because of the double locks we had trouble getting the door open. Even when we had the locks in the unlocked position it took some muscle to pull the door open. Other than this extra lock there were no other child safety items. Many of the outlets were blocked by furniture except for the ones by the internet connection and those under the shelves that were supposed to be night stands. The cabinets did not have any locks, but there wasn't any items under the sinks either.

I read a post that it was easier to put the side rails on the pull out couch than on the king size bed since the mattress on the King was so deep. By having such a deep mattress the rails didn't raise very far about the mattress so the OP didn't feel that made the King bed safe enough. Also another poster mentioned that the pull out chair at AKV and BLT worked well for their toddler. As the arms of the chair worked as side rails.

 

[Donna M]

We just got back from BLT and I found the door going from the living room to the balcony was not closing securely. It seemed like the door had a nob that needed to be twisted to lock, it was odd. And I had to keep checking the sliding door to make sure the latch caught and locked the door.

The balcony has a low cement wall that supports the railing which would make a good climbing step to look over the railing for a little one. (dangerous!) I would really be mindful about having those doors locked.

 

[chepic]

We put our little one in the Loveseat in the livingroom of OKW, up against the pull out sofa where our older one was. He is short enough to fit perfectly.

And that way, if he rolled, he would just land on the sofa bed and his brother...

 

[BigEeyore]

We have portable bed rails we got at One Step Ahead that we used to take with us. I am not sure how well it would work on the pull-out sofa bed though.
The sleeper chairs are great for little ones IMHO - the arms of the chair work as partial bed rails. Sleeper chairs are only at Kidani and BLT I think?
Those sofa beds are not too high off the ground, you can put pillows on the floor next to it to help soften the fall too.

 

[movie77]

We rented a toddler bed and put it next to ours on our last trip and that worked great.

 

[surfer_ed]

We use bedrails supplied by Disney. One on each side and then sleep the two kids horizontally. Now that the oldest is 5 and taller might not be able to work as well.

Another tip, before you let you kids run around take a small flashlight and search under the bed and around on the floor for dropped medication.

Two times now...once at Disney...we have found dropped pills on the floor. We started this after hearing a friend of ours dog ate someone's discarded heart meds and almost died. Would not want the same thing to happen to a child. Mousekeeping does not catch everything.

 

[BBG-BLT]

I'm just jelous haven't had more than 2 days straight without someone in our bed!

 

[delmar411]

there are no particular child safety features in the villas. You can bring your own and I've been in villas where ppl have left behind the outlet plugs.

Just bring a baggie of zipcords for the cabinets, some outlet plugs and put all the phones up on top of the TV cabinets. As for the windows and doors, you could ask for a ground floor.

I don't know anything about the bedrails as my children slept fine in the beds as toddlers but I know you can request them.

My concern from your post is that your children cannot be trusted to not attempt to open windows/doors and you are thinking about letting them sleep in the kitchen area unattended??

That is a major safety problem IMO. My suggestion is forget the bedrails, bring blow up toddler beds for them all and have them crash out in the 2nd bedroom or the master bedroom on the floor. Plenty of floor space for that and then they aren't being allowed to possibly wander unattended about the villa.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

Tried traveling with air mattresses, but they are too heavy. We have often gotten king beds when traveling, but all 4 of us sleeping in the king bed is getting too crowded, and my girl and boy don't like being in the middle next to each other any more. Guess could mail some air beds to the hotel, and just leave them behind when we leave, perhaps in owners bin or donate to another guest via Disboard. Also we could just put the boys (DS-5, almost 6, and DH) on the sleeper, and the girls could get the king bed, and make it into kind of a camping trip. Also will look into the other option of renting the toddler beds and putting them next to our beds, and put the DS out by himself on the sleeper sofa.

We could also pack a tension curtain rod for the balcony to prevent them from being able to open the balcony door, if there aren't any other child-proof latches. My kids love climbing, and don't want to take risk with the high balcony. I don't even think they have ever been on a balcony like that in a high-rise. Are there really ground floor units that you can reserve at the BLT? That would be something for us to really consider then.

We also never get a full night sleep without at least one of kids climbing into our bed too! We co-slept since they were babies - no cribs ever used even though we had one. At home, we bought last year the Step2 low loft beds which are great - side rail built in, a climbing ladder, and storage area underneath for toy bins - they have a real Disney castle bed look to them. So any parents still trying to get kids out of your bed, this bed worked wonders for us!!

DD4 asked me to add this graphic who's helping with this posting (the one who still rolls out of regular beds)...

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

We put our little one in the Loveseat in the livingroom of OKW, up against the pull out sofa where our older one was. He is short enough to fit perfectly.

And that way, if he rolled, he would just land on the sofa bed and his brother...

Way cute! That worked out perfectly at OKW. Wonder if all the resorts have sofa setup like that, but guess they are all different.

 

[rlovew]

The ground floor units in BLT are standard view units- so requesting one would depend on what category you are booked in. Lake views have been reported on floors 2 and 3 and MK views start as low as floor 3 I think although you could check the BLT views thread for more exact info that has been reported.

 

[BoardwalkSuzy]

We recently stayed at BLT and my DH took a photo of the double lock system on the sliding glass door. http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=35672136&postcount=715 It's a bit embarrassing but because of the double locks we had trouble getting the door open. Even when we had the locks in the unlocked position it took some muscle to pull the door open. Other than this extra lock there were no other child safety items. Many of the outlets were blocked by furniture except for the ones by the internet connection and those under the shelves that were supposed to be night stands. The cabinets did not have any locks, but there wasn't any items under the sinks either.

I read a post that it was easier to put the side rails on the pull out couch than on the king size bed since the mattress on the King was so deep. By having such a deep mattress the rails didn't raise very far about the mattress so the OP didn't feel that made the King bed safe enough. Also another poster mentioned that the pull out chair at AKV and BLT worked well for their toddler. As the arms of the chair worked as side rails.

I wonder if those latches are meant to be operated concurrently to open sliding door - I had child proof windows put in our previous condo that required 2 hands to open. True about the bed rails - Kidco makes only 13" height, so would never fit typical king mattress. Thanks for sharing photos - looks like really nice room.

 

[princessbride6205]

If you only have one child, AKV Kidani was great. We stayed in a studio in January. We just took the cushions off the pull-out couch and DD slept on it like that:

We placed the seat cushions between the edge and the coffee table (these are very heavy so they didn't budge from where we placed them). DD loved her "special" bed. There were no exposed hinges or spaced she could fall into. When we switched mid-week to a Beach Club studio, we had to request a Pack-n-Play because there were too many spaces and hinges exposed on that pull-out for us to feel safe. She still sleeps in a crib at home, but was a little too big for the PNP.
As for child-proofing, we didn't in our studio. DD isn't one of those kids that gets into everything and one of us was within view of her the whole time so it wasn't an issue.
When DD was an infant we stayed at the Ritz in South Beach, FL and with every room that requested a crib, they gave a little gift bag with outlet covers, an inflatable bath faucet cover, baby Motrin and Johnson's shampoo & lotion. Really cute idea.

 

[FOXFIELDZOO]

We use bedrails supplied by Disney. One on each side and then sleep the two kids horizontally. Now that the oldest is 5 and taller might not be able to work as well.

Another tip, before you let you kids run around take a small flashlight and search under the bed and around on the floor for dropped medication.

Two times now...once at Disney...we have found dropped pills on the floor. We started this after hearing a friend of ours dog ate someone's discarded heart meds and almost died. Would not want the same thing to happen to a child. Mousekeeping does not catch everything.

WOW! this should be the tip of the week ! I would have never thought of doing this,and this would be good at any hotel,Thanks

 

[maryloubsw]

there are no particular child safety features in the villas. You can bring your own and I've been in villas where ppl have left behind the outlet plugs.

Just bring a baggie of zipcords for the cabinets, some outlet plugs and put all the phones up on top of the TV cabinets. As for the windows and doors, you could ask for a ground floor.

I don't know anything about the bedrails as my children slept fine in the beds as toddlers but I know you can request them.

My concern from your post is that your children cannot be trusted to not attempt to open windows/doors and you are thinking about letting them sleep in the kitchen area unattended??

That is a major safety problem IMO. My suggestion is forget the bedrails, bring blow up toddler beds for them all and have them crash out in the 2nd bedroom or the master bedroom on the floor. Plenty of floor space for that and then they aren't being allowed to possibly wander unattended about the villa.

When we were at SSR my husband and I slept on pull out couch a few nights and let kids sleep in big bed a few nights. I just did not feel comfortable leaving either one out in the main room. The 21 mth old was in a pack and play in the BR but the 4.5 yr old slept in between us when we wanted to be in the big bed.This way we still had "alone time", That's just me though

 

[RadioFanatic]

does anyone have pix of how the BLT fold out works? And any pix with bed rails would be great too. We're also trying to decide what to do because our DS will be 2 years, 9 months when we go. thanks!