Advice for Sleeping Arrangements for the Holidays...

Get one of the small toddler blow up beds that has a sleeping bag attached--they come in all sorts of character options and are available at Target/Walmart/ToysRUs, etc. She'll love it and think it's very special to have her own special "princess bed" (or whatever). Another option that we have used is to set up a small pop up tent in the room and let the kids have their sleeping bag inside that. They think it is very cool to have their own "space"

you've gotten a lot of advice and I'm sorry I haven't had time to look and see if I'm being redundant, but an air mattress w/ a tent is a great gimmick for a kid, worked for us. something like this (this is the one we have, it's great):
http://www.csnbaby.com/asp/show_detail.asp?sku=KCO1007&am...
they also have it in princess pink....
good luck!

We usually take an air mattress. It's not really a waste of many because you can use it when you have company and need extra space. Also, I think the sleeping bag idea is a good idea. You can make it into seem like she is camping out.

I am a mom with two daughters. I run into similar problems when we visit my in-laws. I have taken pillows or couch cushions, and used a sleeping bag. My kids loved it. I just had them take a comfy blanket and their pillow with them. If your child goes to bed before you, you could always have them fall asleep on the bed, and then move them to the sleeping bag. Make it into a fun thing. I told my kids we were camping. Good luck. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

I am not sure how many nights you are going to be sleeping at your parents and I guess that makes a difference. If I were you, I would give sleeping in your room on your bed (all 3) a try the first night. If half way through the night no one is sleeping, adjust. One of you (adults) grab a pillow and sleep on the floor or on the sofa. The next day, discuss it and adjust the plan accordingly. Your hubby seems to think you are worrying for nothing. Maybe he's right and it will all work out. If he's wrong, then he will realize it when no one is getting any sleep. Maybe then, he will reconsider some of your suggestions. Just my 2 cents. Hope your holiday is enjoyable.

I like the idea to get a twin size air mattress. I have one and it is a great investment since you can use it whenever you go out of town and it fits in a compact bag. Also when your daughter gets older it would be great to have when a friend sleeps over. Good luck and Happy Holidays!

I would suggest that somebody sleep on a sofa in another room.

Sleep when away from home is imperative. Kids are far more resilient than their parents. Put a sleeping bag on the floor next to the bed or wherever there is room. Just don't make a negative out of it. Be positive whenever you speak about it. I have 2 children who spent every night at Nana's on the floor... they still do. We never EVER put them in bed with us... We value our sleep way too much for that.
YMMV
LBC

Kids are adaptable and resilient - I wouldn't sleep on the floor...I would just set up a pallet for her at the end of the bed - the couch cushion idea was a good on e- we have done that before...and when I was taking care of a one year old for a short period of time I just folded up some thick blankets and put a sheet on top and let her sleep on those and she did really well. It's easy and cheap!! I wouldn't worry about it too much...you and your mom can figure it out when you get there and I'm sure your DD will be fine with it!! :) See how she does the first night and then make changes as necessary....

Maybe your daughter can start out in the bed with you and your husband; once asleep move her to a comforter on the floor. If she wakes up you put her back in bed with you and repeat the process. Good luck and enjoy the holidays with family!

This may not be an option for you, but have you considered getting a hotel room? I know it would obviously be more costly, but you would have a ton of space, all to yourselves with a huge king size bed - and a maid and possibly breakfast to boot!
It might be worth it for your family if it's only a couple nights.
Just had to throw that out there.
Happy holidays!

Take your parents room.......I'm sure they'll "get out" what they need ahead of time. That way EVERYONE will get some sleep :-) What's worse than running on no sleep??

K.:

Hello! I know how you feel - we had this problem when going to visit my husband's family - at one point we decided to stay at a Bed & Breakfast to have the room, etc.

However, I think your solution is one you already said but in a different way - put your daughter on the air mattress on the floor next to you!! If you don't want to expend the money for one - how about a sleeping bag? Kids can sleep easier on a floor than an adult. If YOU are excited about it - SHE WILL be excited about. If she senses fear and apprehension - SHE WILL FREAK.

How sweet of your parents to offer you their bed!! That's really sweet!!

Now, let me throw a wrench in the plans - why don't you ask your parents to come to YOUR home? If you are that apprehensive about the sleeping arrangements - ask them to come to you.....and now, while I am not trying to be rude - here's the other side of the quarter as I see it - it's like you are walking on egg shells and I don't understand why - it's your parents. I don't understand that - while I understand you don't want to create havoc and problems - you are getting yourself into a situation of high stress levels, which NO ONE WILL HAVE A GOOD TIME. Just go and have a good time - roll the dice and ride by the seat of your pants - it's YOUR parents home!

I hope your daughter enjoys sleeping on a sleeping bag!! She's going to have an ADVENTURE!!! YAHOO!!!!!

Best regards!!

Cheryl

How about getting your daughter a fun sleeping bag for sleeping. They have them in lots of characters and things and she will think it's like camping at grandmoms. You can build it up as a great opportunity and let her pick it out. She'll be right there beside you and it won't take up much room. She can even camp in grandmoms room one night if that sounds like fun to all. Best part is you can roll it up in the morning and no one is tripping on it all day. Hope that helps. Happy Holidays!

Not sure if anyone mentioned this or not yet, but I HIGHLY recommend the Kidco PeaPod bed which you can buy online and at numerous stores http://www.kidco.com/main.taf?p=4,5

It looks like a mini-tent (we call it "tent" in our house and my 20 month old son ask to sleep in it routinely - he even calls his crib "tent" now). It fits in a suitcase, takes literally a second to open and less than a minute to inflate the mattress, comes with a sleeping bag, and it zips up so he stays put. I could go on and on. Seriously, it's awesome and we bought it after a painful vacation where he would NOT sleep in a crib in a strange room. It has made trips / vacations fabulous instead of miserable. My kid is 36" long and 30lbs and he has NO problem fitting in it.

Here is how we got him used to it: a few days before our first trip with the PeaPod we set it up in his room and let him play in it, then we used it for naps for a few days (with it set up IN his crib) and then the night before our trip we had him sleep through the night in his "tent" in his crib. Getting him to sleep and stay asleep once we were on vacation was a breeze.

Good luck!

I agree with the sleeping bag idea. We've done that many times in the past and it's great! If you don't want to buy one, just gather a bunch of blankets and make her a "nest" on the floor next to you. Make it this great adventure exclaiming how cool this is that she can be a baby bird (or whatever). I've also gone to sleep holding her hand over the side where she can still see my face. Helps and is fun! Enjoy!

Hi K.,
One thing that we have done in a pinch was to take a few extra blankets, and use those to make a pallet on the floor next to the bed for the little one. If your daughter is anything like my youngest one, you might be able to lay down next to her till she falls asleep, then you could get into the bed. This will give her the security of being close to you, but give you all a little more room to move and be comfortable.

I hope this helps a little.
T.

We bought one of those child fold-out couches for my daughter and it works wonderfully. At home, it's usually folded up and in her room and she thinks it's great. But on trips, she loves sleeping on her own "bed". My kids also spend the night at my parents' house sometimes and they both have sleeping bags and love those. We bought the couch b/c we felt it had more cushioning and would be more comfortable. She's slept on it on several trips and has done really well. Good luck with whatever you do! And have a great Thanksgiving!

A lot of folks are saying, let her sleep on the floor, which I'd normally agree with - IF there's room. But if the bed in your old room truly takes up almost all of the floor space, there may not be enough room even for her to sleep on the floor. Here's why: Once we stayed in a rental house where the bed and other furniture we couldn't move took up almost all the bedroom's floor space; we put our daughter, then about 2, on the floor on a sleeping bag right next to the bed - and she ended up sliding her legs and even head under the big bed. Dangerous, and halfway through the first night we put her back into bed with us.

Someone mentioned an inflatable toddler bed with raised sides from One Step Ahead. I had one like this -- blue and it looks like a little life raft! Worked great and the raised sides meant she couldn't roll out of it. But you need to be sure there's room for it on the floor of the guest room; there wouldn't have been room for it in the rental house I mentioned above! By the way, the inflatable bed we had didn't come with sheets and didn't need them; it was covered in soft, flocked material.

Otherwise, take your parents' room. Yes, it feels a bit weird, you hate to inconvenience them, etc., but the alternatives are that you get little real sleep or she slides under the other bed, possibly....

Have you considered a blowup mattress? They blow up and make into a bed, then store easily... if the room is really too small for another bed, you could only have it inflated at night. They come with a blower that makes it super easy and fast... a minute or two... seriously. I think you can get one at WalMart or Target. I have the same problem when we go to my parents house... They have a four bedroom house but they also have eight grown children with families! We're always scrunching for sleeping space. :)

Another thought I had was that pack n play... does it have a little mattress you could just put on the floor with a standard size pillow? Make it fun for her... camping on the floor at Grandma's house!

Good luck!
~J.

I bought a toddler size air mattress from One Step Ahead (online; www.onestepahead.com). It has slightly raised sides but the absolute two best things are:

1. The mattress is inset, and the sides blow up around it, so the sheets stay on (standard crib sheets are fine)
2. Packs up small and is lightweight so it is totally portable

It was difficult to get the hang of blowing it up, but after you do it a couple of times, you'll be fine. Your 2 year old will fit in it fine, its totally comfortable, and she may really love having her own special bed at Grandmas.

Good luck!
M.

PS - Don't get sucked in by the special sheets, blankets, etc (Unless you want to) for the bed. A standard crib sheet works fine.

When my husband and I were faced with the same problem visiting his mother - we brought along a sleeping bag and made a tent for my daughter to sleep in - sort of like camping.

It did work for most of the night and then she still ended up in the bed, but we at least got a few hours of restful sleep.

Good Luck!!

we do the exact same thing and faced the exact same issue. here's what you need. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/176-###-###-####-###... my son LOVES his disney ready bed so much it's become a special treat to go Grandmas. just wait till you have another infant. then it REALLY gets complicated!! (By the way, this Disney ready bed is NOT that big at all and has a built in pillow and blanket. It's the best of all worlds, and like I said b/c it's fun she'll sleep there even if she'd rather sleep with you. Ours is Winnie the Pooh.

Happy Holidays! We just went through this with our family last month, so it's fresh in my head. Same exact issue, 2 year old, full bed, one room, 3 people. We brought a pack-n-play, but he climbed out, and we tried letting him sleep with us (but that lasted 2 minutes and he was kicking us.) We used a friend's sleeping bag and not one issue...sure, he walked around a few minutes, but then was perfectly content sleeping in the sleeping bag. Didn't complain, stayed in it all night and was not sore at all in the morning. Problem solved, for now!

why don't you get one of these little kids "couches" that flip out to be a bed, you can use it afterwards as sitting opportunity for your child and still use it as travelbed !+

Whatever happened to having a kid sleep on the floor? Bring a sleeping bag and tell the kid she's camping and put the bag next to the bed. Or let the kid fall asleep in the bed and when you and your husband come to bed, move her to the sleeping bag. She won't know the difference and it certainly isn't a punishment for her.

When we were kids, we had a small house and when all the out of towners came to stay, all us kids hit the floor. No biggie, a sign of respect for the adults.

Stop worrying so much over something so slight.

Just have fun with the family.

let your daughter sleep with grandma and grandpa in their big bed. i bet she sleeps great and cuddles with them through the night. my 2 year old did -- when he was not such a great sleeper at home he would sleep great in grandma and grandpa's room. they put him on a little mattress on their floor and he would sleep straight through. on the few nights he woke up early, he would cuddle with his grandparents while we slept blissfully until morn!!!

I agree with a lot of the other posts - Let your daughter sleep on the floor. That's what we did at my in-laws place. We made a "bed" from blankets and if she woke up I was still real close by.

Happy holidays!

I wouldn't waste the money on an air mattress unless you had another need for it as well. Maybe borrow one. Usually our son who is now 8 sleeps in bed with us when we visit family and they have a full bed too and my hubby is 6'7 and a big guy. We just tell ourselves it's only for a few nights. He also sleeps on his crib mattress that I kept for just those occassions and also when we have family coming in from out of town and they sleep in his bedroom and he sleeps next to our bed on the floor in our room. Good luck.

I would try the pack-n-play, simply because I imagine the room is not child-proof and that just seems to strike me as the safest way. Or put some blankets (or sofa cushions) on the floor and let her sleep there.

I have twins that are 2 years old. They are both still in cribs. What we do when we travel is find a place that will deliver a crib to where we are staying. If they do not deliver to where we are staying then I have them bring them to our house and we set it up ourselves. Since they are familiar with cribs this works out great for them.

I understand that the space is small. But maybe if you push your bed against the wall you may be able to set up a crib too. It usually costs about $20 a day to rent. Or you can set up the crib in the family room/living room. This will give everyone a little privacy.

I use a company calle breezybaby.com they are great and I have used them twice.

Otherwise I would utilize your parents bedroom. They will be so happy to have you all stay and be more comfortable.

Good luck and I hope this helps!

In the corner of the room we use couch cushions to make a mattress (using a tucked in fitted sheet to hold them together) and use blankets and the room's chair and desk to make a tent and we decorate it with pictures from magazines or printed from the computer and create a secret special space for our kids and their stuffed friends. We make a big deal about what a special treat it is and they get so excited about being allowed to sleep in their club house. (I would add that sometimes we need to lie down on the floor with the kids until they fall asleep. Falling asleep in an unusual place is hard for anyone and having a grown up nearby to cuddle with adds to the specialness and unique experience of the adventure of sleeping out.)

Happy Holidays To You and Your Loved Ones!

If your child is good at falling asleep anywhere, the floor is a good option, if not don't bother. I still have trouble with my 5yr old in that regard. He ended up in the full size bed with my husband and I attempted to sleep on the pile of blankets on the floor. Try to convince your husband to take your parents offer of the king. They can take anything they need for the next morning with them to the other room. Everyone will be happier with a good nights sleep. Good Luck.

I have three kids and they LOVE going to the grandparents house because they all get to take turns sleeping in their bed each night that we are there. It's a special treat to get that one on one snuggle time. I would not let her bump you out of the bed with your husband, that will be sending a message that might cause you troubles in the future.

We've had similar situations, and we've put the kids to sleep on the bed, and then moved them down onto a 'bed' of blankets when we go to bed. Happy sleeping:)

POssibly - get a very cool sleeping bag for your child and put it on the floor by your bed. By cool - I mean - whatever cartoon character she likes (SpongeBob, MIckey, Princess). Tell her that she is going to get to "camp out" in the room with mommy and daddy. Make it sound very special for her to be able to use the sleeping bag. The bag should not take up that much space. If she has a favorite pillow, stuffed animal, etc bring that along too.
Good luck! And have a happy holiday.

Kidco PeaPod bed http://www.kidco.com/ (i saw it at BRU recently too if you want it quickly)--- makes a great ball pit for daytime too

The air mattress is a great idea! They aren't that expensive- I have one from KMart, full size, that I got for $40. It's lasted for three years of camping and visits to family. Good luck- you'll make it work.

We have the same issue at my MIL's house. We have taken our daughter's crib mattress which is bigger than a Pack & PLay but not as huge as a twin and had her sleep on that on the floor in the same room where we are sleeping. We usually put it in a corner of the room with pillows protecting her from the dresser that it is near. We bring some of the stuffed animals she uses in her bed and her special blanket and pillow and she does well. She has been in a "big girl bed" for 8 months now and will still use the crib mattress when we travel.
Good luck and have a happy holiday!

Sleeping is crucial for sanity - I would trade beds with your parents if they're willing. it's a bit weird but to get the sleep, it's worth it!