Traveling with the oldest was a breeze. We never sleep trained him and he was fine sleeping anywhere as long as he had a warm body next to him. He slept best next to us, but when it was time for us to give him the boot, it was and honestly still is rough. Fast forward to Blake, my youngest, and he never had a chance to sleep with us. It was so hard to get Ethan out of the room/bed that we did not want to take that chance with Blake. He did sleep right next to my husband in a bassinet (actually a rock n play which are now banned, so sad) for about 6 months. It took Ethan 3 years to sleep through the night, and so by the time Blake came, we were exhausted, so we were not going to play with that. We tried a gentle sleep method, at my request, then a little tougher one that I did not have the heart to endure, thankfully my hubby did. It honestly only took 2 nights and he was sleeping like a champ (prior to this training, he was waking up every 30 mins, NO LIE). Anyway, this could really be a whole new post. We keep a really rigid sleep routine, that has worked wonders. He sleeps usually from 730 to 630 (give or take 30 mins) and after the last step in the night routine, we lay him in his bed and there are no tears.
The boy loves his bed! So much so that he only wants to sleep in his bed. Not with us, not in the hotel bed, not in most portable cribs, nowhere but there. While I appreciate this, it also makes us tired parents when we do take trips. Plus baby is tired, which means he isn’t happy, which means mama isn’t happy, which means nobody is happy (ha). I will say though that with each trip, things have gotten better. Here are my tips if you just so happen to be in the same boat:
Try to keep the same nightly routine that you do at home as you do when you are in the hotel.
This one is hard, especially when the bedtime is early, the hotel may not have a bath tub, you can’t bring the crib with you, etc etc. We bring the same books from home, we bring the same sleep sack, give him a shower bath with the same soap, followed by the same lotion, say the same prayer, and so on.
Bring a sound machine.
If you do not use one, I recommend purchasing/bringing a portable one or you can download the sound sleeper app (for non-iphone). It divides the sounds by age group - sounds best for newborn, toddler, infant, and even adult. We use it at home, but it helps when/if you’re confined in a hotel room because it helps to drown out the noise (like his older brother who has little to no volume control).
Find a portable crib that the baby is more comfortable in. You can even test it out before the trip.
We tried the play-yard, we tried the crib provided by the hotel, and none were successful. My sister let me borrow this amazing crib (linked here), that really made the difference! Some nights we do have to rock him - the rooms that have those office chairs that rock and turn really become useful. Side note: I really wish you could request a rocking chair like you can a roll-a-way bed or crib, it would make sense, especially in those suite style and/or extended stay hotels.
If your child sleeps in a different room, at home, try to put baby out of sight in hotel room. Most babies have FOMO bad.
I am not sure if it is just all the babies I have been around, or not, but it seems they want to be in the action and fear they will miss something. When you are all stuck in a small space, it can get hard for baby to calm down. If we are not in a suite, we try to find the darkest corner where we can turn the lights down. This coupled with the sound machine, help.
Just be patient. The more trips baby takes and the older baby gets, it will get easier.
Being patient with baby, and just giving it time, make all the difference. You know the saying “practice makes perfect”, I think this could be said for traveling too. The more baby travels, the more you travel, the easier it becomes. Just hang in there. Everything is a phase, that will one day only be a memory.
I say all this to say that I would not let this stop you from taking the trip you want to take. We have had some really rough nights, but the excitement and adrenaline from being in a new place really helps PLUS caffeine is never hard to find.
Have you experienced this with any of your kids?
Thanks for stopping by! XOXO