Sleeping Arrangements When Traveling

My youngest, who is now 4, has always slept on an air mattress when he stays with his grandma's. My daughter, 5, either sleeps on the floor in a sleeping bag, or in bed with my little sister. If you worry about him rolling off, you can stack pillows along the sides or use a big blanket and tuck it way under the sides to keep him from falling off.

Oou 3 year old sleeps on an air mattress or a cot when we travel. He even sleeps in another room from us when possible!

my daughter sleeps opn a air mattress when we stay with family and she does really well on it. Just stick with her regular beditme routine and she should do just fine. I preferr to put her in a separate room when we travel, but its not always convienient, we just remind her that its time for bed and no horsing around.

If you're staying at a hotel you can get a room that has a bed and a fold out sofa sleeper. That works great because the armrests on the sofa also keep them from falling out of bed. I wouldn't want my child to sleep on the floor of a hotel. If it were at a family or friends house I have used the inflatable sleeping bags. Those work well.

Hi K.-

A couple of years ago my husband and I found sleeping bags with air mattresses that fit inside of them. They are kid size and came in different designs. My son had a Lightening McQueen scene and my daughter's was the princesses. I th ink we paid $20 each for them. They love them. We use them for camping, we took them to GA, and they use them for sleep overs at home. WE found them at Walmart, but I have also seen them at other stores, too. Hope this helps. Melanie

When we sleep away with our two older girls we take our small tent. We bought it at a yard sale, it's a two person tent that is only about 3 feet tall. It's almost exactly the same size as a full bed. We either set it on top of the bed or on the floor. They think it is exciting to sleep in the tent and it keeps them "confined". We don't zip them in, just leave the door open. When the younger one was only 2 we started this so she wouldn't roll off the bed and it works great. They are 5 & 7 now and we still use it, because they love their red tent.

We do this when we visit my parents or travel anywhere... we just pile up whatever we've got in a corner or by a wall and call it his "little nest." Something about the name has made it special to him. A couple times we even invited him to come and snuggle with us as he was waking up in the morning, and he said no, he wanted to stay in his own little nest. The whole family thinks it's adorable when he tells them he's going to sleep in his nest now. So whatever you put down (a sleeping bag and blanket can do the job), give it a fun name and it'll help!

We bought a toddler-sized sleeping bag for our then almost 3y/o and had him sleep on the floor in our room when we traveled. It worked well for us, and we hyped up his 'special sleeping bag' so that he was excited.
Best wishes for your trip!

When our 4 year old was 3 he would sleep on a twin air mattress and he loved it! We brought his pillow and his stuffed animal to make it more like home and his top blanket~ok so it seems like a lot but he had them by him in the car with him so we just brought them inside with us and it was just like he was in his own bed! Have fun!

Our daughter is the same way in bed with us, which makes for sleepless nights! We bought a "Ready Bed" for our daughter a couple of months ago. She is quite the climber and was out of the pack-n-play before she was 2! The "Ready Bed" has a sleeping bag that fits over an air mattress. We bought the Disney Princess one. She loves it! We did introduce it to her before we needed to use so that it wasn't brand new when she needed to sleep in it. The bed is kid size and will be useful for several years. The best part is that it takes up little room on the floor and it folds up nice and small for travel. We got hers at Target, but I think you can find them at other places too. Good luck and safe travels!

Hi K.,
Yes, air mattress or sleeping bag is great! I used both on different trips. They think it's cool kinda like camping. Some places also offer cots or whats wrong with sleeping on the couch? Good luck

A sleeping bag or a fold up cot (like one you use for camping should be fine, or a couch if you want to use it will work just as well.
Have a great time.
P. R

I've used both. My son is 2 1/2, and he has a toddler bed at home, and for our recent weekend away, I knew the pack n play wouldn't cut it. So we used a pool size air mattress (much quicker to inflate & deflate, and takes less floor space) with a sleeping bag on top. He loved it! It was his own special bed.

We always used sleeping bags.

We use a blow up bed from onestepahead.com - a bit expensive but works great. We refer to it as her "princess bed" and she loves - we use it when she stays at grandma and grandpa's and whenever we travel and even for "sick" days.

I've been in your exact situation with both my girls when they were around 3. With my oldest, she did best in a kiddy air mattress (sold online or catalog of One Step Ahead. It's a smaller air mattress with sides (almost like an inflatable boat for the water). It was great for her, since she moved around a LOT (even to this day at 5 1/2). My middle child, went straight to the twin sized air mattress on vacation (she doesn't seem to move around as much) and she did great!! Even if they do fall off, they are so close to the ground, it almost doesn't faze them. We also always have a fan or humidifier (not filled) on in the room (if they will be in the same room as us) for white noise (mostly for my sake, since I'm a light sleeper and will wake if I hear them turn over).
I've never used a sleeping bag - I just think it would be too h*** o* the ground for them (when they're used to sleeping on a mattress).

Have fun!

We just spent two weeks at my parents. They have a crib for the baby, our three year old slept on an air matress - he loved it!

My kids feel like it's a special treat to sleep on our Aero bed, so we do take that along for some traveling. But I have also used side rails. If we are in a hotel with 2 beds, I'll put a side rail on either side of the bed and use the big comforter as a barrier at the end of the bed...and then make a big deal about her getting her very own big bed. I actually have 4 kids, and the 3 big kids sleep side ways with the side rails on the side and my biggest at the end. It has worked great!

Happy travels!

I have a 3 and 6 year old and when traveling they have done great on an air mattress. We were in Florida in March and they slept on one for a whole week without any troubles!

We got my son his very own little kids air matress. I think his uncle is the one that found it at walmart. It's a CARS one. He absolutely loves his bed on the go. He loves to co-sleep but I can't handle it for more than an hour or so at naptime due to his tossing and turning so much! This works out great. I dn't feel bad for him being on the floor cause he's not and he feels so independent!

I never had much problem when I was on vacation, but I have the bed problem when my Daughter and her family come home for vacation. They live on the other side of the country and come home for a week now and then. There were 4 of them and last year was 5. I have a trundle bed, a double bed, and use an air mattress as well as a couch. Everything works out fine and they enjoy the air mattress. Air mattresses are more comfortable and fun than you would think they would be.

Air mattress are great! Or is there a room with 2 beds? Somewhere that is close enough to mom and dad but still gives her her own space? When ever my kids get scared even at home and they come to my room, I have them make a pallet on the floor with their sleeping bags, always seems to help their fear!

you could try a "ready bed" - they're a kid sized air mattress with a sleeping bag attached. My son isn't quite big enough for his yet, but his cousins think theirs are great.

Good luck.

CLM

My kids were 2 and 3 last year and we got them character sleeping bags. (Lightening McQueen and Disney Princess). They thought they were such big kids and wanted to sleep in them at home before we left. We thought that was a good idea to get them used to it. Worked great! My son had slept on an air mattress in the past with my husband while my daughter and I slept on a bed when we were able to have that much room. He would usually fall off the air mattress though but usually didn't seem to wake up. Sleeping bags for kids are fine I think. Doesn't seem to bother their necks or backs like it does adults. My father in law always says they're made of kid rubber. LOL

We have done sleeping bags, air mattresses & also you may see if there is a roll-a-way bed available. We have also taken folding cots (Army style) that fold up and travel small. If you get an air mattress, make sure you have a way to pump it up if it doesn't have one built in. Since you are staying in a rental house, does it have a 2nd bedroom, sofa bed or futon?
Worth checking into or making an investment in a air mattress or camping cot if you travel alot.

We have used both and air mattress and a pile of blankets. Either way we tell our 2 yr old son he is camping and he loves it. We make sure he has his pillow and anything else he wants so he stays put. The only problem we have is our dogs like to climb up on the air mattress with him but they all love it.

K.,

I have a 1 1/2 year old son who never slept well in his pack and play. I got a magazine called "One Step Ahead" in the mail a few months ago and saw something great. It was an air mattress designed for kids and has sides that were elevated to prevent rolling out. We took it this weekend to Chicago to visit family, and it was the first time ever when traveling that my son slept through the night. It was great! The have a website www.onestepahead.com where you can view their products, some you can get a babies r us or other retail places, but I have never seen some of their offerings. Good luck with the traveling!

K.

Most hotels and motels have port a cribs. Call ahead to check. They are bigger than the pack and play but not as a big as a toddler bed or crib. That may solve your problem.

We put a sleeping bag on the floor next to our bed when we went on vacation last summer. What ended up happening is we would put her to down on our bed and then when we came in to go to sleep, we'd move her to the sleeping bag. She didn't care much for falling asleep in the bag, it was a tight area between the bed and the wall and I think it was just a little weird for her. Once we moved her though, she'd stay asleep and sleep in her bag until morning. Have a good trip!

I don't know if you are driving or flying, but if you are driving try getting an air bed. Or something like it. They are pretty expensive. My mom got one for my kids at Meijer and it wasn't too expensive. It's an air mattress that you put on a frame so it doesn't sit on the floor. We took it on vacation with us one year and my son loved it. They come with their own carrying case. You could push it up against a wall and then put something around the other side of it.

We get a room with 2 beds and push 1 up against a wall and use bed rails on the other side. We leave the bottom open because the beds are so big compared to a toddler bed. We haven't had any problems so far and our son likes having his own "big person" bed to sleep in.

Our older kids (ages 5 and 2) both have sleeping bags with built-in air mattresses. We bought them at Costco for like $20 each on their 2nd birthdays. They are perfect for travel. The air mattress is built-in (you can remove the fleece sleeping bag to toss in the washer/dryer) and takes just a few minutes with the included pump. Our son has Spongebob and our daughter has Dora. They have several different characters available. I think the brand name is Ready Bed.