Hi there,
We will be staying in a hotel with our 3 1/2 year old and 6 month old. Our older child used to just sleep between my husband and me when traveling, but now our baby will be sleeping between us and our daughter in a single bed. Is there some kind of portable bed rail that we can bring along so she won't fall out of bed? She moves around a lot at night, often ending up on the floor (her mattress is on the floor at home.). I'm assuming the hotel wouldn't be thrilled if we put their mattress on the floor, assuming there would even be enough space.
Where do your kids sleep when you travel? Thanks for any suggestions!
We get a room with two queens and dad sleeps with the older child. Or one king and we all swuish together but it is not as comphy.
I had a portable bed rail for my boys. It was great! It went everywhere with us. I sold it on Craigslist when we were done with it.
We purchased a little fold up cot from Target online from a company called Regalo. Its name is My Cot and it folds like a camping chair. Easy and only a couple of inches off the floor in the event your child rolls out. Our boy is a mover in his sleep but has never fallen out of this cot. It comes with a sheet as well for $20. Its a great deal and folds up really small. Good luck!
My 4 year old also moves around a lot at night and what really helped us while traveling was to purchase the kid sized aerobed. It's not too expensive and it is so easy to inflate and it also has a high cushion around the perimeter so your child will not roll out. My son even likes to sleep in it at home sometimes.
One Step Ahead has inflatable bed rails for traveling, we've used them for my daughter and they've worked great.
When our kids were that age, we moved both beds against the wall and split up so that the child slept against the wall and the parent slept on the edge. This worked for us because I was still nursing and it was easier for me to co-sleep with my infant.
We use a Summer Infant Sure and Secure Bedrail for my toddler when we have a twin bed available. I'm not picky about bedrails (I'm sure other brands work well if not better), and this has always worked for us with the bed pushed against the wall. It's thin, easy to pack with a few poles, and easy to set up.
I think the chairs idea is a good back-up, but my son moves around quite a bit in his sleep and I could see him falling to the floor if there were gaps between the chairs. I only say this because he's fallen off his toddler bed a few times, so it does take some getting used to sleeping on a mattress above the ground.
What about taking a Sleeping Bag? Some have built in little pillows and kid designs on the outside. She may think it's "fun" to go camping in the hotel.
Or, can you all fit in a King bed, or get 2 Full Size beds and push them together?
Can't say that I tried it personally, but I have heard of using pool noodles and sticking them under the fitted sheet to create a rail.
OneStepAhead has some nice travel options
http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/search.jsp?N=0&Nt... matchpartialmax&Ntt=travel%20bed&D=travel%20bed&Dk=1
Shove her bed up agaisnt the wall if it isnt hook to the wall, or put chairs up next to it. When our daughter was a few months old we stayed in a hotel and I planned to put the big tall backed wooden chairs up to the bedside as we had done before, but the chairs in this hotel where big stuffed round "club" chairs. I turned them face to face and stuffed in blankets and put her there like a small crib. maybe the baby can do this and your older one can still snuggle between you and dad. But there are folding bedrails with netting available. They should pack easy in a car. Or, get extra pillows and put them on the floor and let her fall out onto them. If she falls a couple times she will learn to sense the edge sooner and not fall many times after that. Or lay her where the pillows go and use the headboard as a side, and lay your suitcases around her to stop her from rolling too far.
I just bought a toddler size blow up bed and take it with us everywhere.
Do you have some sort of mat or cot that you can take along? Or ask the hotel if they have anything that will work to help make it safer for your child. Sometimes they have items they can bring into the room, and usually at no extra charge, if they know there is a special situation.
All great ideas below. You should also check if the hotel you are staying at has a cot or crib. Most of them do and many of them will wheel one up to your room at no extra charge. You can put that mattress on the floor. We have done everything mentoned: brought bed rails with us, pushed chairs up to the bed, had them sleep on blankets on the floor, pushed the beds next to the wall and slept one with each kid. I think the last worked best, but many times the beds are attached to the walls and don't move. Good luck, and enjoy your trip!
Google toddler bedrails and buy 2 before you leave.
Even check on Craigslist for used ones.
Bring sleeping bags for a cushiony bed on the floor.
Set up the bed rails on the floor near a wall, sleeping bags on floor for a cushiony bed then bring your own blankets to cover your child up .
Have a fun trip! :)
My husband made one out of PVC. It worked out well.
With my kids I didn't think of this ahead of time. It was just me and then, since the hubby couldn't make the trip. And they really wanted to sleep together. I had to come up with something in a pinch. So I pushed the chairs to either side of the bed with the backs up to the bed, two on each side, near their heads. I also asked for two extra pillows and put those along side the chairs. It worked great! It became our "go to" solution since we didn't have to pack anything extra.
