What to do with toddler sleeping in the room?

[Kristi1357]

I know this sounds like a dumb question, but it's been bugging me lately. We've been to WDW twice with DS, once when he was 6 mos. and again when he was 10 mos. The first trip was easy since we were in a 2 bedroom at OKW - and he was still sleeping all the time. The second trip we stayed at All Star and he slept while we watched tv, read, etc. I don't remember any problems.

I am thinking that this trip is going to be much different. He's 17 mos. now and much less likely to sleep if we are doing something, or even in the same room! And if we do get him to sleep at 8 or 9pm - what do we do? I think the tv may wake him. We could sit on the balcony, I suppose. We are staying in a studio at BCV. Today I tried to get a one bedroom just for this reason. Of course they are all booked.

I guess I am just still new to all this and this has been driving me crazy! I know - once I get there, I'll be wondering why I worried so much.

My DH thinks we should get a sheet and rig it up around his pack n play, so if he does wake up a bit, he won't actually see us.

I just have visions of us sitting in bed in the dark at 8 or 9pm, waiting for DS to sleep - then not knowing what to do since we won't want to wake DS!

Kristi

 

[tjmw2727]

We try and have a balcony so dh and I can sit outside and talk while dd's go to sleep. When they were little before 3ish they would fall asleep in the stroller so I would bath them and put them in pj's all comfy. Then dh and I would take them for a walk in the stroller around the resort until they fell asleep. Sometimes we would go back to the room and make the transfer to the PnP so dh and I could sit an talk on the balcony or watch tv in the room for a while. Other times we would grab a drink at the pool or other outside bar and spend some time walking and enjoying the resort while dd's slept. If he is better at falling asleep in the crib or PnP I think you do have a balcony or patio at the BC even in studio - not sure so I hope so!

Once we did this drill early about 6ish and got dd's bathed all ready for bed and into pj's. Dh and I walked back into epcot with dd's comfy in the stroller with blankies and loveies and enjoyed the outside sights, music and sounds of Epcot. Wasn't long before both dd's were asleep and we saw the acrobats, off kilter, the beatles band in UK and had a wonderful frozen margherita from Mexico. Kind of like a night out without having to leave the kdis with a babysitter. It's a great memory.

Have a wonderful trip.
TJ

eta - I have seen a tent type thing you can attach to the pnp or crib, perhaps if it folds compact enough that would work. Maybe you shoudl try and google it.

 

[Lollipop Mom]

My 2 year old is normally a kid that won't go to sleep if the TV is on or anything like that but on our trips he is usually so pooped out at the end of the day that he falls asleep pretty quickly. Once he's asleep we could host a loud party in the room and he wouldn't even budge!

Hopefully your little one will be the same way! If not, hanging out on the balcony till he's good and asleep will probably be your best bet. Hopefully a 1 bedroom will open up before you leave and you won't have to worry about it!

 

[NotUrsula]

I'm also betting that after a long day in the parks he'll be asleep before you get back to your room. My DS *never* made it back awake after a park day at that age. (He's 7 and he still doesn't make it back awake; conks out on the ride back. Of course, now we have to wake him long enough to use the toilet and brush his teeth, but he pretty much does these sleepwalking when we are at WDW.) You might want to carry your DS' toothbrush and toothpaste in your diaper bag; if he shows signs of going under in his stroller, you can brush his teeth at the park and then it won't matter.

One other thing you can do in the unlikely event he sleeps lightly is to watch television with the sound turned off; you can use the closed-captioning to follow the dialogue. Note that you have to do this by turning the sound all the way down; hitting the mute button will kill the sound AND the captions on most TV's.

 

[BevS97]

In our POFQ room, we found it we put the pack n play in the area near the bathroom and closed the curtain then my dd would fall asleep more easily than in the main room (this was only on a few nights when she was struggling to sleep, most nights she was pooped and would have slept anywhere).

I visited my friends at Saratoga Springs, and if your studio is like theirs, then there is a large area near the front door/bathroom area where you could put the pack n play and he could fall asleep there and he wouldn't be able to see you - I know for my 14 month old, it's the not being able to see you bit that is most important, as if she can see me, then she wants to play, sometimes she only needs to be alone for a very few minutes to switch off and fall asleep.

 

[sarahsmom73]

DH and I used our Balcony at the Dolphin and shared dessert while dd fell asleep! Kind of romantic soaking up the fireworks from illuminations while sharing dessert!

 

[Kristi1357]

Thanks for all you replies & suggestions!

I think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. He probably will be so pooped that this will not be a problem at all. We'll just have to make a point of running him ragged at the parks during the day!

 

[amez]

The hanging the sheet or a blanket over the pack and play is what we do with our littlest one. We've travelled alot the last few months and sometimes we've all had to share one room. But we just lay her down cover the pack and play and she goes to sleep. Once we go down for the night we take off the blanket. I would not under any circumstances leave it on all night. But it gives her a feeling of her own dark room and it helps her go to sleep.

We're taking a "budget" trip to Disney in a few weeks so no suite for us we'll probably use the blanket trick again

Best of luck--your little one will probably be to tired to put up much of a fuss once it's bed time.

Amez 5yo, 2yo, 1yo

 

[ahutton]

We stayed at BWV on our most recent trip and our younger DD is the light sleeper of our 2 girls. We went back to the room and got everyone ready for bed, and then had the girls watch 2 of the bedtime stories they air. After that if they were still awake we took the PnP and put it near the entrance door to the room so it was "down the hall" a bit from us - but still enough room to use the door if we had needed to in an emergency. She would talk to herself for a bit and then fall asleep. Since she couldn't see anyone else we didn't have a problem. We could watch TV or sit on the balcony with no problem. It also was a bit darker in the morning which helped us get to sleep later than 6:45

If we had planned a later park night I take the little ones jammies with us and before we head back to the room we make a potty stop, get on our jammies and a clean diaper/pull up, brush teeth, etc. Then we roll out of the park and if they fell asleep on the way home all the easier.

 

[gigi1313]

the sheet over the pack 'n play is a great idea... another is that my sil/bro used to bring a tension curtain rod and a dark colored sheet and depending on how the room is made up, section off a doorway (usually near bathroom/clothes hanging area-w/out clothes of course!) to make a dark space for baby...

depending on how committed you are to your resort, another idea would be to get connecting rooms at a lesser priced resort and give baby his/her own room... of course, that's a lot of compromise just to ensure a sleeping baby and all the other suggestions were much better (esp just being sure he's pooped out at the end of the day!) LOL!

 

[HappyMommy2]

We've traveled a lot with our kids (now 4 and 2), to WDW and elsewhere, and about 17 months was indeed the age when we started having a bit more trouble with each of them when it came to sleeping in hotels. Prior to that they would sleep through anything, anywhere, but at that age they started being disturbed by the TV or our conversation. We really prefer to have a balcony--very nice to be able to sit outside and talk or read while kids sleep. A suite is best of all but too $$$.
Usually we're in a no-balcony standard room, so (PLEASE don't laugh) as the kids go to sleep DH and I take magazines, CD player, snacks, etc. into the bathroom, and one of us sits on the (closed) toilet on a towel and the other sits in the (empty) bathtub on a towel, and we have a nice evening reading, talking, and planning the next day! I have to admit that at WDW we are often so exhausted by the time we return to the room for kids' naptime, and for bedtime at night, we just fall asleep when the kids do!

Have a fun trip! 17 months is a fabulous age for WDW!

 

[TJA]

This thread has made my day! It is nice to know I have so much in common with so many of you! We took our twin babies to Disney when they were 7 mos. old, 13 mos. old, and now just back from a trip at 19 mos. old. We have run into the bedtime dilemma for each trip. We also draped a blanket over each crib to block out the light and noise from TV. It worked well each night. We would just remove the blanket before we actually went to sleep.

As far as what there is to do after putting the kids to bed, well, it sounds like we do what the rest of you do. Sit outside, eat desserts, have drinks, watch TV, read.

In our previous 2 trips when our twins were younger, we also put them to sleep in the stroller and then had a late dinner at our resort with the sleeping babies next to us. It was awesome. We also would go in the jacuzzi with the sleeping babies next to us. We did not try these things at this age as we felt too pooped out at the end of each day!

 

[disneysteve]

This is why my wife and I almost never stay in a regular hotel room when we travel. What we used to do was take a regular room, put DD to bed, then go sit in the bathroom until we were ready to go to sleep. We would read or use the laptop, have a snack, etc. Not particularly comfortable or interesting - but we were young and even cheaper than we are now.

What do we do now? For our Disney trips, we rent a house/condo/timeshare/suite. We were there a couple weeks ago and rented a 2-bed, 2-bath unit at Orbit One through Skyauction. We paid $261 for the week and had a beautiful condo with full kitchen, 3 tv's, washer and dryer, jacuzzi tub, etc. We've also rented at Windsor Palms and pool homes in Lindfields.

Other places, we try to stay at Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, or something similar.

 

[BlueBayou]

Kristi1357,

We have the same problem. That is why we are doing a parlor suite for our trip next month to Disneyland.

I have to laugh at what HappyMommy2 does. When we took our DD to Disneyland at 14-months, she kept standing up in her pack-n-play looking over the edge laughing at us in bed. My husband and I did not think to go into the bathroom. We hid under the hotel bedspread in bed. It got hot under there.

Now that we have two preschoolers we are going to save the headache and get a room where you can shut the door to the sofa/TV area. But that is staying off-site near Disneyland. I don't think there are those close, cheap options at WDW.

Sher

 

[ducklite]

I'd start to get him used to noise, lights, and you now. Desensitize him to it while you're still at home (maybe put him in the pack-n-play in your living room some evenings when it's his bedtime). You still have about six weeks, plenty of time.

Anne

 

[Taratink]

We all do the funniest things to get our kids to sleep. I have been stressing out about our upcoming trip. We have a 5 and 3 year old. We have one room and I have no idea what is going to happen at bedtime. The kids fight constantly. We have tried all the tricks mentioned. Some nights will be easy and others will be tough. Just try to stay calm and go with the flow. I am a worrier too! Have fun.
Tara