hotel travel with baby ?

tomandcourt

I posted a while ago about this work trip I'm taking next week to Philly. I decided to go for two nights, and my mom is coming with me to watch DS during the day (DH will be in Tokyo). At this point we just have one room reserved, but I'm wondering if this will work.

DS goes to bed around 6:30, in his own room, dark and with white noise. I don't see how that can work in a hotel room - even if we were to stick his pack and play in the vanity/bathroom area, we still would just have to kind of sit there and not talk all night?

What others have done with their LOs at this age? Did you get a suite or an extra room? Suck it up at night? I'm guessing the monitor would not work at this range if we wanted to go to the lobby or something . . .

LMH1209

We went on vacation with DS in January, and because SIL and her boyfriend were joining us, we got connecting rooms.  [Note:  One thing I didn't realize is that it's important to ask for "connecting" rooms not just "adjoining" rooms.  Connecting = door connecting the rooms.  Adjoining = rooms next to each other but you may have to go in the hallway to go between the rooms.]

Looking back, I'm honestly not sure what we would have done without the second room.  We put DS to bed at 7:00 in our room, and then the four adults would hang out in the second room, eating take out and playing games.  If we hadn't had the second room, I guess we would have had to hang out on the balcony or sit quietly on the bed, which wouldn't have been fun. 

I wouldn't have felt comfortable leaving him in the room alone while we were any farther away than the next room.  We did bring our monitor and used it just to be sure we could hear him from the other room.

Sofka

I think it all depends on the baby. Mine would not sleep in a strange bed/crib and even when we brought our PnP she would not fall asleep in it so I'd nurse her to sleep every 2hrs when she woke up. Just something to keep in mind if you do get a 2nd room - you may end up wasting your money. But if your work is paying for it, then definitely go for a connecting room!

secuccaro

We have done both -- had a separate area/room for DS OR had DS in the room with us and yeah, just stayed quiet after he went to sleep.  But our son goes to bed around 8 PM, so a little later than your LO. 

We find hotel travel to be pretty hard and try not to do it that often ;-)

victoria1212

We have gotten a suite when we have traveled with DD because she is not good about falling asleep when she knows we are right there. So we would put her in the PNP in the bedroom and then we could be in the 'living room.'

What time does your DS go to sleep? We got the suite because DD crashes at 7pm and we did not want to go to sleep then.

Artslvr

Last trip with both kids we got a suite, so we could be in the living room while they went to sleep in the bedroom.

I'd just plan on bringing quiet things to do in your room at night.  Will your LO sleep with the tv volume on low?  Bring a book, your laptop, etc.

DCHappy2B

we've travelled quite a bit with her due to weddings/work/family stuff.

We usually get a crib from the hotel and bring our own sheets/blankets for it, and we tell the hotel we're bringing a baby, so don't put us in a noisy area (i.e, near a pool or bar)

Unless its insano expensive, we get a suite, its just easier. We put her down in one room and we hang out in the other.. same for when we get up earlier than her.. 

while at home we will go to our neighbors with monitor in hand while she is sleeping, I havent done that in the hotels.

also, we always give room service a heads up that we have a sleeping baby and they've always been great about soflty knocking and bringing stuff in quietly.

good luck!

DCtoLowcountry

I was wondering how this turned out...I have an overnight in a couple weeks without DS since it's just not feasible to bring him and don't know if I can stand it! Keep us posted!

tomandcourt

Thanks for your advice, everyone! I went ahead and booked a connecting room (cheaper than a suite, apparently). It's another couple hundred dollars but worth it for the peace of mind and extra sleep for everyone involved. I'll let you know how it goes!

mek10976

We have only stayed in a hotel 2 times with DS and both times he was at least 1yr.  The first hotel happened to have to areas - a living room space and a bedroom space.  They weren't separated by a door, but we could make the bedroom area dark enough that DS went to sleep without trouble.  Can you ask the hotel for a floorplan or description of the setup?  The 2nd time was at a Comfort Inn and it was just one big room.  It took DS much longer to fall asleep. 

Jennlulu

Glad I came across this... Our family will be traveling in Oct w/ our new baby who will be just 4 months when the time comes, a 12 year old daughter and my husband. I never would've thought about a suite or connecting rooms until I read this.

We're flying to San Jose for a week for a work function- 

I've learned a lot from this post! Thank you ladies!

Jenn

 

rubride

I've always gotten suites. Check out Marriott's Residence Inn or Towneplace Suites. They are reasonably priced and have 1 and 2 bedroom hotel rooms.