Suggestions on staying in a hotel with bubs

[luua]

In September i'm flying to NY to be the Matron of Honor at a good friend's wedding.

We'll be staying in a hotel most of the time (haven't booked anything yet). Bub's will be 10 months by then. But it occured to me that Ella will be sleeping in the same room as us. That's fine but when she goes down for bed at 7pm what do we do? We cant go out. We cant' watch a movie in case she wakes.

And for the wedding itself...it'll be kind of boring for DH to sit with Ella in a dark room while I'm at a wedding banquet.

Any suggestions? How do people manage travelling with their babies? Oh and i was also wondering if they have jet lag...?

Ann

[visitor1]

Can you get a 2 bedroom apartment?

We are going away next week to QLD and thats what we have done.

[AnyDream]

We've done this in the past, and surprisingly, if we waited that first 30-45 mins until she was sleeping soundly, we could then make a degree of noise without DD waking. The other thing I found useful was to use an extra blanket draped over the side of the cot facing towards the light (most motel lights are mounted on teh wall and not overhead) to block out any light that might wake her. But there again we were always pretty noisy and expected DD to sleep through it, the thing that made the difference was the amount of light in the room.

Maybe experiment before then by putting Ella down one evening in the portacot in the loungeroom before you go o/s, and see what works and what doesnt...?

[christy]

Yeah we've put Matilda in the ensuite before and in a walk in wardrobe... we've done the draping the blanket over the side too. Usually we wait until 30 minutes have passed. The other thing is to start getting her used to it a month before by opening her door so she can hear house noise or turning on a night light after she's asleep to get her used to it.

[*Ali*]

As for the wedding reception does she sleep in her pram? If it was me Iwould get my friend tof ind out if there was a quiet room at the reception centre you could put her in a pram or portacot? Most reception places have extra little rooms even if it is a store room where you might be able to put her to sleep?

[RoyaUK]

Will she sleep in a pram? We've put DD in a pram and blacked it out with blankets as much as possible which bought us a couple of hours until she cracked it and really wanted to be in a quiet room for a good night sleep.

Yes, babies do get jet lag. DD took 2 weeks to recover (get sleep patterns right again) flying UK to Melbourne and 5 days to recover Melbourne to UK. Personally I also find flying west also causes more disruption than going east. But she was 4 months old then. Your DD may be more settled at 10 months. Sticking to the same routine and same night cues really helps. Allowing a quiet day or two of not travelling too much and just relaxing also helps (both parent & bub!).

[Mother Goose]

I've just come back from a trip interstate where DD "had" to share a room with DH and I. After the first night with no one getting any sleep I moved the portacot into the lounge room and she slept a lot better. I simply put her on her side facing the wall and something over the other side to help make it a little darker. I didn't turn off the TV if it was on or the lights but did turn any noise down. She slept wonderfully (although she did have an extra wake up each night but that had more to do with the thin mattress in the cot). I agree with getting her used to sleeping in a noiser environment than normal about a month prior. Just be prepared to be flexible when you're away. I found the biggest hrudle was the new environment and DD getting used to that.... and the fact that her grandparents wanted to hold her all the time! Have a great trip!

[mbear]

We had to stay in a hotel room in the city last year when sophie was 6 months old. ONce we put her in at 7pm, we drapped a blanket over the top of the porta cot, and was very quiet for 15-20 mins, once she was asleep, we could watch tele with the lamp on...she slept thru it all - i dont know if i could do it more than one night though....

We had a baby THEN got married....so our first DD came on our honeymoon... It was only a 1 x bedroom apartment, but we found when she was sound asleep we would move her into the loungeroom when we were ready for bed....worked a treat.

I found with my girls if we were out and about and there was no where for them to sleep, and it got way, way past there sleep time, they would eventually sleep anywhere. He may be so buggered by the reception time, he will sleep in the pram with music blazing and all !!!.