We’re all in one hotel room and toddler won’t sleep.

[Anonymous]

It’s 11PM here and my 3.5 year old won’t sleep.

The past three hours have been nonstop “Drink please”, “i need to pee”, “is it day?”, “pet me”, “I’m cold”, “I’m hot.” He’s not jetlagged - the first few nights here actually slept well beside he was so tired. But now that he’s on a more normal routine, he just can’t deal with not having his own space.

If we ignore him he keeps talking louder and then screaming. If we go to our bed he follows. If we lay with it’s the nonstop talking. He’s no closer to sleep than he was 3 hours ago.

What do I do? I’m on the verge of losing it. Obviously I made a mistake, we could barely afford one room and next time we’ll just skip the vacation entirely, but now that we’re here, how do I get him to sleep??

[Anonymous]

Just be silent in the dark. Your bed, his bed, whatever, but no talking or responding. If he screams, he screams. Tough it out. No response. Except maybe some gentle back rubbing or something.

[Anonymous]

Hang in there OP. You'll get through this, and some day laugh about it.

[Anonymous]

I would send my DH for a walk and I sat in the bathroom and read a book. Once my DS was asleep, he was OUT!

[Anonymous]

Hopefully he fell asleep by now, but in a similar situation once we put the kid in the car and drove. He was asleep within blocks. Then carried him asleep back to the room.

[Anonymous]

Turn some cartoons on real low and let him watch until he falls asleep. Or use a white noise app and play soothing sounds like rain or waves. Basically you need to run him around all day until he falls into bed exhausted.

[Anonymous]

Do you have a stroller with you? Can you stroll him around the parking lot?

[Anonymous]

We used to have one parent leave (with older child if there is one) and the other parent stay in the dark room not responding. If kid is contained in pack n play type thing, I might even have sat in the bathroom in the dark. Without responses/feedback, kid eventually goes to sleep.
We did this for YEARS with two different kids.

[Anonymous]

Is he tired? Did he get a lot of steps/movement?

You say he's not jetlagged but given he's up 3 hrs later than usual and you're a 3hr time difference then I'm thinking he's adjusted to local time.
Its not bedtime for him yet.

And since he's up and alert anyway just let him play or take him down to the hotel pool or whatever. It's not like he's sleeping or showing signs of drowsiness.

What are his naps like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he tired? Did he get a lot of steps/movement?

You say he's not jetlagged but given he's up 3 hrs later than usual and you're a 3hr time difference then I'm thinking he's adjusted to local time.
Its not bedtime for him yet.

And since he's up and alert anyway just let him play or take him down to the hotel pool or whatever. It's not like he's sleeping or showing signs of drowsiness.

What are his naps like?

This doesn’t make sense to me because my three year old is the most wired when she’s really tired, and takes longer to fall asleep.

[Anonymous]

This is why we always get a suite with a closing door. I know hotels are absurdly expensive right now but this is why.

[Anonymous]

Cry it out.

[Anonymous]

I'd move to the hallway and sit or stand there for a while. I'm not sure why people are saying the bathroom. Just sit outside the door in the hallway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hang in there OP. You'll get through this, and some day laugh about it.

NP. I am laughing about it already. I could have written this post. Hopefully he sleeps in tomorrow! Or takes a good nap. He's excited to sleep in a new place and with mommy and daddy. I usually bring melatonin for the first night on a vacation.

[Anonymous]

I’m sorry, it’s so hard to travel with little kids. It gets better eventually. Stay strong and try to stay on routines and on the normal sleep schedule. He and you need to sleep. If he gets mad about it and cries, so be it.