Last vacation we took, my son (24 months at the time) was still using a crib at home, so he used a pack-n-play to sleep in when away from home. He had very little wiggle room to sleep in the pack-n-play, and he's only grown longer since then. He's recently transitioned to a toddler bed due to him climbing into his crib. He's fallen out of the toddler bed a few times. I've made my own little guard to help hm not fall out of the bed. So we want to take a trip to visit his Great Grandma's, but I don't know what to do with him and sleeping. My options:
- Sleep in a queen bed with me (husband isn't going on trip). My fear with this is that in the three nights we're gone, he will get used to this and want to sleep in bedwith mom and dad again. He's NEVER slept with us and I don't want to start a bad habit. I'm also concerned with this option as I don't want to wake him up when I pee in the middle of the night or if I wake up before he does. He's a light sleeper. I'm also concerned he'll roll of the other side of the bed.
- Sleep in a pack-n-play anyways. He'll just have to sleep in a fetal tuck position. I feel this is mean to my child.
- Sleep in a twin bed all by himself (again, he'll fall out?!)
- Sleep in a queen bed all by himself (fall out?)
- Make a bed for him on the floor. I'd worry a little about bugs crawling onto his bed (Grandma lives on a big farm in an old houe).
- Bring a toddler mattress from home and put it on the floor? If he falls out, at least it's not two feet off the bed. I don't really want to have to pack an extra toddler mattress in the car.
Let me know your thoughts. Appreciate all y'all!
Another option for portable bed rails is pool noodles--you know the noodles you use to float around on in the pool? You simply tuck one under the fitted sheet between the mattress and the sheet! Simple and cheap!!
Have a fun vacation!!
If you have one, or could borrow one, an air mattress can be transported easily, inflated when needed. Same as sleeping on a regular mattress on floor but easier to transport/store.
These are great ( Kids ready bed from KMART $29.99) they inflate including the pillow and pack away really small and are not expensive
http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_089W013297910001...
AeroBed - AeroBed For Kids Inflatable Mattress With Safety Cushion - Blue
I purchased this toddler air mattress bed and have used it multiple time for vacations. It's VERY comfortable and my son loves it. I heard about it through 2 of my friends who own it for their tots so it's a very popular product. I ordered mine a while back on Amazon I believe but perhaps they are available in local stores. I actually have napped with my son on it and it feels like a real mattress. Also it's designed so that you down just roll toward the middle of mattress like a lot of air mattresses out there.
Good luck and hopes this helps.
This is what we did for traveling, we got this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sesame-Street-Flip-Open-Sofa/11...
It was perfect, my kids loved it, it is useful, it is portable, and my kids even now, still use it. And it is comfy.
AND, it can be used for anything, to play, to sleep, to put into different rooms easily. VERY good item.
And my kids are 7 and 3.5 years old. And they still play with it, or lie down on it.
all the best,
Susan
If grandma has a twin just pull the top mattress off and put on floor next to you.
Visiting away from home can always be tricky. Have a great trip though!
DH
I think I would go with an air mattress. When deflated they fit into a drawstring bag and don't take up any more room than a sleepingbag.
They are very comfortable, even my older daughter thinks so, and she is very picky! Also they are nice to have for out of town guests who stay overnight with you when they come to visit. I have had one for years, and use it everytime some of the extended family come to visit. They range in size from twin on up. Also the newer ones have the air pump built in. All you have to do is open it up and plug it in and in a few minutes it is inflated.
In the morning you can either leave it up or deflate it if space is a problem,
and reinflate at bedtime. Good Luck.
my daughter and i traveled together for 4 nights to a hotel and had to share a king size bed. she has never fallen out of bed, but i put a row of pillows next to her on the other side, under the sheets, and tucked them into the side of the mattress. she has NEVER slept in our bed either, and it was not a problem. she knew it was just for vacation. she kept me awake more than the other way around. usually, kids on vacation are so worn out that they sleep pretty hard.
I'd say the easiest & cheapest option would be to put the twin top mattress on the floor. This is how my daughter started out with a twin bed, after having a toddler bed.
i would ahve him sleep in a twin bed by himself and jsut get rails for it!! you can buy them at walmart for about $20 or so!!
We just got a twin size air mattress for at grandma's house.
Air mattress. Works great for small bodies, easy to store, close to floor....
http://www.kidco.com/main.taf?p=4,5 its a travel tent/bed thing. super cute but some what expensive. (craigs list ?? ) you could also find a pop up tent. i was thinking what is pictured in the next link would be good but didnt realize it was for pets! http://www.leisure-articles.com/Pet-Tent-801.html but that is they type of pop up that would work for buggys and your son would think it was cool to sleep in a tent. * edit a few days late sorry just found this * http://www.ohdeedoh.com/ohdeedoh/travel-outings/ten-trave...
My preschool-age daughter falls out a lot too. Sometimes she sleeps with us when we travel, but of course, that does not prevent falling out of bed. My in-laws got a cot at Academy for her when she's at their house and it's working perfectly. It's low enough to the ground that any falling is not very far. It's slightly curved up at the sides, and I think that signals her body that the bed ends there because, surprisingly, she doesn't seem to fall out of the cot much.
For hotel trips when we can't travel with a cot, we put her in bed w/ us and hope for the best! I haven't had any trouble w/ her going back to her own bed. She knows that sleeping w/ us is for traveling ONLY, and it's one of the things that makes traveling special for her.
We've used an inflatable mattress w/ sleeping bag, but it was loud and crunchy and she rolled right off and ended up sleeping on the floor. Because it's actually on the floor, she doesn't wake up and get back in bed when she rolls off. I couldn't sleep in the same room w/ her because of the loud and crunchy sound, so we don't use that anymore.
See if you can find a bed rail/guard, I forget what they're called exactly, but you can put them on the side of the bed so they don't fall out. If you don't have room, see if there is a baby equipment rental company in the town you'll be visiting, or maybe great grandma knows someone you could borrow one from. I rented several items when traveling with my first girl as a baby and it was a lifesaver. Good luck!
Hi, sorry, don't have time to read all 23 responses thus far, so this may be a repeat! We found (I think at Sam's) a toddler air mattress bed. I believe it was Sesame Street. It blew up in no time and our youngest (now 5) LOVED to sleep on it when we went on vacation. It was cozy and up off the floor but not so far that she'd get hurt if she fell off. We got rid of ours when we moved so unfortunately I can't give you more details, but if you google it, I'm sure you'll find something similar! I don't think it was expensive at all. Good luck--enjoy the getaway!
I've always just let mine sleep with me. It's never been a problem.
The air-mattress idea is good, too. We've done that a couple of times as well and my daughter always feels like she's camping when she uses it.
Best of luck to you.
3 days won't make a pattern, I'd sleep w/him, you'll sleep better too. However your other options are fine too, he won't fall out of bed and if he does, most kids sleep right through it.
When he outgrows the toddler bed you'll probably be more comfortable with him having a bed rail on his bed. So go ahead and get one (or two) now. That's what I did. My son went from a crib mattress on the floor, to a double bed at 2 1/2 years old. It was pretty high up off the floor, even at the lowest rail height, so I put a bed rail on both sides. When we traveled I took them with us.. they are quite portable and fold flat.
They lasted all the way through baby #2, and we did the same thing with her.
Oddly, she fell out of bed last night for the first time. She is 9 yrs old! My son told me this morning, "Mom, maybe we shouldn't have gotten rid of those bed rails! HAHA" (it's been over 5 years since we had them...)
My son turned 2 in February and he has been sleeping on a blow-up mattress when we travel. He has done very well with it. We first used it on a weekend at my in-laws and then he spent a week with my sister and didn't have trouble adjusting at all since he was used to sleeping on it. I think it was better with him knowing that was his bed than trying to get him to sleep in another bed.
We travel quite often so it is very important we have a traveling bed for her. We moved my 2 year old to her toddler bed in March.
As soon as she switched, I ordered the Toddler AeroBed from Amazon. It is raised on the sides so she cannot roll out. It comes with its own sheet that is very soft after washing.
She loves it. We just came from a 10 day vacation to the beach and she slept well every night.
http://www.amazon.com/AeroBed-Sleep-Away-Inflatable-Kids/...
Just let him sleep in the bed with you. Tell him he is sleeping with you because you are on a trip and daddy isn't with us, when we are home, back to the big boy bed you go. It won't be a problem it's only for a few days. I would also push the bed up to the wall and let him sleep there so he doesn't fall off. Have fun,
In the bed with you should be fine. You're not at home so he will get that. If you are truly concerned with this becoming habit, dont let it! You can do a twin bed and just take a bed rail with you, push the bed up against the wall if you can. good luck and sounds like it will be a fun visit for him!
how about a twin size air mattress?
Or you could let him sleep with you and explain that this is a "special time" since y'all are away.
Twin mattress on the floor, or bring along portable bed rails with you for the twin bed.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Summer-Infant-Double-Bed-Rail-B...
