Months ago, I wrote a post for the evenflo blog, Sleeping in a Nest or a Drawer, about how/where my kiddos sleep on vacation. My experience ranges from putting a little one in his car seat or pack n play to building cozy nests on the floor. We are just now graduating to sleeping in real beds when my kids are away from home.
From the article:
Believe me, anyone who weighs less than 15 lbs does not require a real bed. Newborns can sleep in their bucket-style infant car seats overnight. (Or not sleep, as the case may be.) I also like to give a little dose of infant massage right before bed in a strange place to really knock the baby out.
This post generated some fun ideas on our facebook page too: changing pad, bouncy seat, laundry basket, boppy…
Baby sleeping in boppy; photo by chimothy27
So, I’m curious, where does your baby sleep on a trip? Please also say how old because I know you’re not putting any three year-olds in a laundry basket!
I was planning on putting my 6 week old in a dresser drawer when we go on vacation in 2 weeks, but since he doesn’t like to lay flat to sleep, I found a company that will rent me a swing for a week. awesomesauce!
Moses basket was perfect when we went away. She was always in arms reach and it was easy to bring
My 10moth old sleeps in our peapod. I think it is awesome. Check out their website. A little “tent that zips up that I can see into”. Perfect, as he can’t get out!!
Twin-size Aerobed for the 4-year old.
Baby was little enough last time we traveled (3 months old) that we swaddled him and put him in the middle of a regular bed. Next time, probably Pack and Play.
We have taken 5 trips in the last two months and have put my 8 month old in the pack and play. Usually in the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom. (Don’t worry she can’t climb out yet.) Between my husband snoring and her light sleeping, it is the perfect place. Dark and quiet.
We are taking our 7 month old (who is only 15lbs) on a week long trip, next week and we are looking into hotels that provide complementary cribs for the little ones! If that falls through for one reason or another we are bringing lots of blankets for a comfy little place on the floor.
It has been a pack and play, but the preschooler will now move to a toddler Aerobed. Also just wanted to put my voice as a maternity/postpartum nurse out there: sleeping babies in bucket car seats for extended periods of time is not recommended for several reasons, info can be found online, but even when doing a road trip it is recommended to stop and take the babe out of the seat at least every couple of hours.
My 2.5 year old sleeps on a foam flip-out couch at Nanna & Pa’s. Works great. Such a shame she won’t fit on there for much longer.
Up to 4 months our daughter was in the mini co-sleeper. We actually bought the full size co-sleeper specifically to travel and it is like having a crib on vacation, it’s lik she didn’t even note the change in sleeping environments.
As a NICU nurse, I’m with Sheryl, above. Infants have been shown to have lower blood oxygen levels in car seats, and it’s best practice to use them only for their intended purpose.
My boys slept in a mini-cosleeper for travel as babies (we just took ours from home). They then slept in a pack-n-play until they outgrew it. Now at ages 3 and 5, they’re happy in sleeping bags on the floor.
My first reaction to the baby in the picture is that its little airway is awfully compressed for sleeping, especially if it’s not supervised, i.e. the adults are sleeping too. My infant will sleep cuddled up with me in a relatively safe position, and his bouncy chair allows him to lie relatively safely as well. I’m not paranoid, I just want the kid to be able to breathe comfortably.
I’m with Stacy – our son has slept in many a bathroom on our travels. (Also a closet once.) We’ve always borrowed a pack-n-play at our destination but carried our own blackout blinds and blu-tac/poster putty for covering windows. Darkness is key!
My boppy has a note on it that specifically says NOT FOR SLEEPING….
So far, when travelling, we’ve either co-slept or brought the packnplay
When our daughter was younger we had a mini-cosleeper (a hand me down) but she has since graduated to the full size pack ‘n’ play. There was a recent babysitting snafu when I didn’t realize I was supposed to bring a pack’n'play to a friend’s home (my hubby left out that important piece of info) and we tried to create a floor nest for my now 20 month old, but she would have none of it.
I chuckled at Stacy’s post about putting the pack & play in the bathroom. Last fall I tagged along on a conference trip with my husband and we had one large room in the hotel. Well my husband was attending talks until 10 each night, and my daughter goes to bed at 7. I found myself putting her to bed and then having to “leave” the room by hiding in the bathroom until she fell asleep. (I remembered to bring a book and a glass of wine!) Then I’d be sneaking back to bed to read by flashlight for a little bit longer.
My two year old hates sleeping away from home. We bought a pillow pet type thing that has a sleeping bag inside that can roll out. When we travel, we can put it on the couch of a hotel room, the floor, a bed, whatever, and she can sleep comfortably in her “puppy blanket.” We have a trip planned later this month. She will use that and our 3 month old will (hopefully) stay in the hotel provided crib but will most likely end up in bed with me.
Also, I’m not sure about the boppy in the above picture, but it sort of looks like the Boppy sold specifically for baby lounging. I’m no expert, but maybe that is safer than the standard nursing boppy.
http://shopboppy.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_37&products_id=210
Hey y’all, I found the boppy pic on flickr so I don’t know how long the baby was chilling out like that — just thought it was cute.
Well, when ds was 3 months, we had a “travel bed” which folded up like a computer bag. Worked then cause he wasn’t rolling.
Then when he was 6 months, he was rolling/pulling up/cruising so we bought a pack n play for our trip. He ended up napping in it and started the night in it.
But at both times, and now (he’s 16 months) … he always ended up in our bed by morning light. Then, it wasn’t a big deal – now that he’s bigger… it kind of sucks having a toddler but end up in your face at 6 am.
I forgot to bring the co-sleeper on a trip and ended up using an empty suitcase lined with a soft blanket. It worked great.
I’m going on a trip for the first time with my six month old and I’m planning on having him sleep in the bed with me. I’m a little bit worried that the mattress might be too padded, so I’ll probably bring along his bassinet just in case.
I’ve been traveling for 2 weeks with my 16 month old, changing locations every few days (mega tour of east coast family and friends before #2 arrives) and although walks in the ergo and drives have worked for a few naps, the only way to get him to sleep at night is to lie down with him for 30 or 40 minutes. Not too bad once I accepted it, as I got extra naps in myself!
I’ve been traveling for the past 4 weeks with my now almost 3-month old daughter. Originally I had planned to get a travel cot but then decided against it as all decent hotels provide one and to reduce our luggage. Well I wished I had brought one! We have been to three different hotels so far, all good quality but unfortunately in two of them it turns out the mattresses had bed bugs. I guess they keep the baby cots in storage somewhere and all kinds of bugs get to party on them. My daughter has about ten red bites on her face and those are not mosquito bites as she slept under a tightly closed mosquito net. So tonight she has to sleep in our bed – fortunately it’s a king size so we can create some sort of barrier and hopefully she won’t realize she’s with us. I really don’t want to create that habit as we prefer to have her in her own crib at home. I know bed bugs are always a risk when sleeping in hotels but getting them in 2 out of 3 baby cots seems a bit much. Next time I’ll bring our own travel cot so I’ll make sure she sleeps on something clean.
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