Usually about every other weekend my almost 12 month old daughter and I stay at my parents' house. We always have trouble getting her to go to sleep (she just fusses and doesn't want to go to sleep), even if I try to follow the same routine we do at home. Then, once we get her to sleep, she wakes up at least a couple times during the night and again doesn't want to go to sleep.
She does not have an actual crib there. We use a pack n play, but my mom put extra padding in it. Perhaps she just doesn't like the bed? I always bring her pillow and teddy bear, but it doesn't seem to help.
My parents also have 4 dogs that stay in the house that my daughter absolutely loves. Maybe they are just too exciting for her to go to sleep? She will wake up if they bark a lot, but she wakes up even when it's quiet. So they don't always seem to be the problem.
Does anybody have any suggestions on things to try to make her sleep better? We are about to go on a snow ski trip later this week, and I'm afraid she won't sleep well there either.
Should we just forget the pack n play and put a crib mattress on the floor? Or put rails on the twin bed in the room? Her room at grandma's is her own baby-friendly room with a gate in the door.
Thanks for any ideas. I just want to be able to get some much needed sleep when we go visit my parents!!
At daycare they have cribs, I guess they are portable cribs (They use them to cart the infants outside during a fire alarm). I'm not sure if we want to go buy a portable crib tho. We'll try to avoid that.
We are leaving for our trip tomorrow. We are not taking the pack n play (saving car space too haha). We are going to try either her sleeping with me, or putting one of the bed mattresses in the floor for her. Hopefully that will work. There won't be any dogs either, so that may help too haha
As for food she gets, I'm usually right there with her so I know she's not getting anything she shouldn't (Mom tries, but I don't let her haha).
Also, I would be happy with letting her cry for several minutes so that she learns to just go to sleep. We do this at home and it works great. She usually has no problem at home. But at grandma's, they don't like to hear her cry. "They" meaning my mom and mainly my 26 yr old sister who still lives with them. When I tell my sister that the baby is fine and needs to learn to go to sleep on her own, her response is "you can't just let her cry!" and she picks her up anyways. (I don't get a long with my sister, which is a whole other story you may have already read on here). So, It makes it really hard to stick to a routine when no one will cooperate with me. Hopefully when my sister gets married in Sept. and moves out things will be better.
Anyways, before I start ranting on that topic again, thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll let you know how the trip goes.
My daughter is 10 1/2 months old... when we travel, they have a crib mattress that I put on the floor in the room we're staying in and I just surround it with pillows (in case she rolls off), and keep the same routine (music, blanket, etc...). She does really well!
Try p;aying some soft music in her room. That might cover up all the unusual noises (like the dogs barking). My parents had a portable crib (just like a regular crib only shorter) that my kids slept in and they did fine. She might just be too excited to sleep - especially if she thinks you all are having fun without her. Maybe everyone cou8ld pretend to go to bed. Have grandma and grandpa tell her they are going to bed and give her a kiss goodnight. Once she is asleep of course, everyone can do their own thing.
Keep the pack-n-play: it will give you peace of mind to know that she can't get out. She might just have trouble sleeping outside of her normal routine. My kids always have trouble sleeping the first night at a new play(grandma's, etc), but then if I keep to the same routine that I do at home(bath, teeth, books, praying, bed w/lights out), they do better.
hi S.
what does she sleep on at daycare to take naps? you could try whatever they are using or you can try a portable crib...or let her sleep with you on them trips to grandmas...i dont really have much help i have a 4 month old and we havent stayed anywhere yet...sorry couldnt be much help
I know that my daughter at the age of one had a hard time sleeping at her grandmothers house. I was wondering why she was so hipper but I found out that her grandmother was giving her tea and candy. That's all she had to drink was sweet stuff so it was even harder for my little one to take a nap or sleep. So maybe you should ask what she is giving her to eat and drink. You know how some grandmas are. They give grandchildren all the wrong stuff just because they are grandma. But I've got to say this. My mother n law would speak up and say if you don't take a nap or go to sleep then you are not going to get a goodie or something like that. She would scorn her just as I did and it started working. Also we just let her cry sometimes and she eventually found out that crying was not going to work and she stopped it and started going to sleep. It breaks your heart sometimes but is well worth it!!
