Any tips on getting a toddler to sleep in his pack n play at the resort?

[Tiggerlovinggrandma]

DD is worried that her son will refuse to sleep in his pack n play at the resort. He has never slept outside of a full size crib or for that matter in a hotel. Also he has always been in his own room when put to bed either at his home or at ours (grandparents).

So she's a bit nervous and wonders if any other moms have had issues with putting their toddler to sleep in a hotel, in the same room as parents and in a pack n play. He will be 21 mos when we go.

Any helpful tips will be happily apreciated.

 

[Vijoge]

LOL We're taking pur granddaughter to WDW in Feb. She just turned 3 on July 1. I can tell you right now there's no way she's going to sleep in the pack n play! Oh, we'll try and she'll lok at papa with her big brown eyes and say "But I wan't to sleep with you and grandma" and into our king size bed she'll go.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

There was another thread on this a few months back. If I'm remembering correctly, several posters recommended a special mattress pad or something that would make the pack and play more comfortable. Hopefully, one of those posters will see this thread and chime in.

My DD refused to fall asleep in the pack and play when we were there in 2004. She was 15 months old at the time. My strategy was to let her fall asleep on the big bed with me, then carefully transfer her to the pack and play. Another option would be to rent a full sized crib. There are a couple rental services for the Orlando area. One I've seen highly recommended here is A Baby's Best Friend. Try a google search on that and you should be able to find their website.

ETA: The website is www.abbf.com

 

[Picabo]

We took DD (12mos at the time) to the beach and she slept in a pack n play just fine. (At home, she would have never done that but I think the exhaustion from being on vacation HELPS a bit. That being said...my older daughter (she'd just turned 2) would have no parts of it! So she slept in the bed wtih us. LOL

But if you are at a Disney resort...they have complimentary bedrails. Perhaps if you ask for TWO it would go the full length of the bed instead of just 1/2 the bed?? My older daughter was put into a toddler bed at 16mos old and did just fine with the bedrails. So I would at least give the bedrails a try.

OH by the way, when my older one was 20 mos old we'd gone to the beach and she DID sleep in her pack n play...again, i think b/c she ws totally exhausted.

Melanie

 

[mom~of~2]

Honestly, at that age the pack 'n play will be kind of a tight fit. I would guess that there would be a struggle considering the baby has never slept in one. If you plan to use a pack 'n play for sleeping, I would definitely try it out at home first. But...based on the experiences I've had, I would go with the PPs advice to either rent a full-sized crib or to have the baby sleep with one of the parents. When we went to WDW, our 20-month old slept with me or DH (we used the bedrails provided by the hotel...they sat kind of low so we also supplemented with some pillows and bedding). It worked just fine. I will say, my kids are GREAT sleepers... at home in their own beds! When on vacation, we always expect it to be a little challenging but usually only for the first couple of nights. Best of luck.

 

[Elmo888]

Our 3 yo DD slept in a Pack N Play this past January at WDW. And she slept in one at 2 yo in January 2007, too. She was fine. And she rarely sleeps in a PNP (she hasn't slept in one, besides Disney, in a couple of years).

The problem is giving them some isolation.

Where are they staying?

In the values and mods, there are curtains in the sink area, so you can put the PNP in the closet area by the sink and then pull the curtain. In January 2007, we were at the WL, and there wasn't any way to isolate her. It was a bear trying to get her to go to sleep, and we usually had to turn off the tv and all the lights.

I just feel that they are much safer in a PNP or crib (contained), esp. in a strange place like a hotel room. If she doesn't think that a PNP will work, I would look at abbf.com for renting a full-sized crib. I just took the abbf.com phone number with me to WDW just in case I needed something like a full-sized crib.

(BTW, since DD3 is still in a crib at home, she slept in a portable crib a week ago at a beach condo, and a portable crib is about the same size, possibly smaller, than a pack n plan. So, it is doable as long as they aren't climbing out.)

 

[PA Princess]

We have four kids and have made the Disney trip with numerous infants and toddlers over the years. At home my kids never sleep in a pack 'n play (or are even in one), but on vacation (Disney or the beach) they always seem to do just fine.

We had our kids sleep in the pack 'n plays through age two. I would bring things from home that they were accustomed to at bedtime (blankets, stuffed friends, music or white/noise, a nightlight, etc). Then we also attempted to stick to a similar bedtime routine that they had at home - such as, bath, jammies, story, bed, etc.

Something we found helpful at Disney was to place the pack 'n play in the dressing area with the curatin pulled closed. That always seemed to help signify that it was bedtime.

After age 2 we have the kids sleep in a bed and we use the bedrails Disney will provide, but it is harder to get a toddler to sleep in a bed on their own...too many distractions in the room. We usually end up needing to lay with them until they drift off.

Disney is an exhausting experience for everyone...the excitement, heat, swimming, etc, but the up side is that we have never had a sleep issue with 4kids and 10 trips.

 

[chipper10]

My DS will be 21 months when we go to Disney in September. I know there is no way in the world that he would ever sleep in the pack n play. DS has been in a big boy bed since he was 16 months old. So, when we go to Disney, we are requesting bed rails for one of the beds at Pop. We figure if worse comes to worse, DS can sleep with DH and I. But, I'm thinking that he will be so tired, he'll sleep without too much of a fight.

I really think a pack n play would be too confining at 21 months.

 

[mamaLori05]

I agree with the pp. I would recommend the bed rails and put the 21m old in a bed. I think by 21m, they are pretty much growing out of a pack n play.

With that said, my ds was 7 months on our last trip, and he slept in our pnp just fine. He was sooo exhausted when we got back that he just laid in there and went to sleep.

 

[brymolmom]

My kids did the Pack N Play at WDW at that age. One piece of advice would be to give it a 'trial run' at home - have the toddler sleep over at aunt or grandma's house (mom can stay too) - in a Pack N Play to test it out.

Other than that - know that the first night or two might be tough - just due to new surroundings and the novelty of being in the same room with mom. SO, what we do is IGNORE, IGNORE, IGNORE. When it's time for bed, we go thru somewhat of the same routine we have at home (brush teeth, read story, etc.) - then we say goodnight and that it is time for sleep. DH will leave the room to go get something to drink and I will sit on the bed with lights out except for my flashlight for my book. And every time the baby gets up to talk to me, I will for the first couple times say 'lay down, it is time for sleep' - and after that, totally ignore them. Due to the exhaustion that comes with WDW - it usually does not take long for them to lay down and fall asleep. THen, I can turn the TV on low or just continue to read my book. In my experience, doing this on day #1 is crucial to getting them to do it the rest of the vacation - if you give in and let them out of the pack n play or let them in your bed, etc. - expect it to be that way the whole time. Which is fine if you like that, but those beds in the values are not big enough for 3 if I want to actually sleep at all! No one has a good vacation if mommy is too tired!

The bed rails might work but I think that you will have the same issues as the pack n play - if the child is used to a crib - it will be different, no matter what. So at that age I would stick to Pack n play.

 

[toesmom]

a full day around disney will make any toddler fall asleep anywhere.

just tire him out before bedtime and she'll have no problems.

 

[MightyMom]

My DS was 2 1/2 when he slept in a Pack and Play at WDW. I brought his pillow from home and his favorite blanket. We threw a big blanket over the top of the PNP to block the light..... He slept like a...well... like a baby.

My son had some really significant sensory issues and really resisted change. I was so nervous about his naps and night time sleeping. It ended up working fine.

 

[miksilver]

My DD has been travelling since she was 3 months old. One trick we learned with her early on was to use what I call the "baby bird" technique. We'd take a large blanket and put it over the top of the pack-n-play. It would make her feel like she was in a little cave, nice a dark and she would quiet down and fall asleep. It didn't work all the time, but most of the time it worked great. Just make sure the blanket is large, but not heavy and there is enough room all around the pack-n-play for the air to circulate. Oh, and after she fell asleep we would take off the blanket.

 

[barnaby1]

I have another frequent traveller since 3 months and I have never had a problem with her in a travel cot (which I am assuming is the same as a pack'n'play?????) but she has been used to them. On our last trip she was 22months and she really was too big for the travel cot. For our next trip (in 4 weeks - yeah!!!!!) she will be 2.5 and I am going to bring her junior ready bed. She is a big bed at home now so I have given her the option of the ready bed or a big bed. The bonus of the ready bed is she can be "tucked" around the corner to give her a sort of bedroom. Sometimes we put her in the bathroom extra bit before you go in or if the room doesn't have one we have pulled out the settee and put her behind that and the window. We have also used the blanket over the top which works well.
I agree with the person who said start as you mean to go on. One year I made the mistake of sitting in her room while she went to sleep as we were in unfamiliar surroundings. Took me weeks to sort that out once we got home. LOL.

 

[Miss LD]

When DS was little we had a pack n play sheet that we washed with our sheets. We brought it with us when we travelled and it smelled like home. We'd make a big deal of packing it and unpacking it. It seemed to help him feel at home.
But, more often than not he'd curl up in bed with us and then DH would move him when he fell asleep.

 

[snoopy5386]

a full day around disney will make any toddler fall asleep anywhere.

just tire him out before bedtime and she'll have no problems.

I sadly have to disagree with this. We were there with my 26 month old in June. Despite full days and intense heat she would NOT sleep. We rented a toddler bed for her from ABBF and she slept in the 1st night but that was it. She refused to sleep in it after that and I decided to not let her tantrum on and on at 11 pm in a hotel room. She ended up sleeping with me and still barely slept. She fell asleep no earlier than 11 pm every night and woke up at 7-7:30 am every day except for 1 (and woke several times a night as well). She also napped less than normal as well. I should add that during all bedtimes and naptimes DH and I were going to sleep too, so there were no distractions, that child just did not want to sleep!!!! We travel frequently with her and room share\bed share on almost every trip and we have never had a problem like we did at Disney. It was crazy.

 

[AmyBWV99]

We have 2 boys 10 months & 3 years and they have been traveling to WDW since DS #1- 9 weeks and DS #2- 3 weeks, we've never had an issue with either in the pack n plays, i do bring our pnp sheets from home too. When we stay DVC we get 1 bedrooms while they were wee babys so they could be in the bedroom and asleep before we went in so it was basically like being at home. In standard hotel rooms we just do that drape affect others talk about find out the side that is allowing light in and drap a blanket until they fall asleep then remove so it wouldn't have a chance to fall in on them, we try to figure out the darkest corner of the room too when it's set up. Our boys are well seasoned travelers so if you don't travel too much i'd do a few nap trial runs at home.

 

[Halbleib1]

I took a Pooh toddler air mattress-the type with the sleeping bag built in for my son and he loved it. He would not have liked the pack and play at all. Had we tried this he would have ended up in bed with us. The nice thing about an air mattress is you can just throw it onto the bed so you can walk around or lean it up against the wall. Much quicker than folding up a pack and play.

 

[kjs1976]

I would second looking into ABBF. We booked them for our upcoming trip.