Hotels and Sleeping Babies

[Anonymous]

For the OP -- What kind of parent would even consider leaving there baby alone in a hotel room!!??? I'm shocked --- you are in need of parenting classes!

[Anonymous]

FWIW - i can't even get my monitor to work in my own yard (and I live in a townhouse - so small yard!) so the monitor thing would never work.

[Anonymous]

Would you leave your wedding ring or camera sitting out in your hotel room while you were away?--No, because you'd be afraid someone would come in and steal them. So, why would you consider leaving the most precious thing you have alone in a hotel room?

Seriously, grow up! Your kid is only going to be this young for a little while--you still have YEARS to get crocked in hotel bars.

[Anonymous]

Hire a babysitter. Call the hotel in advance and ask for a list.

[Anonymous]

I have done this before, but honestly, I probably wouldn't do it again.

We did this several times traveling with our infant daughter in Europe (this was many years ago). The circumstances seemed to lend itself to this - we were just traveling the 3 of us (me, husband, and daughter), she was going to bed really early (7:30 p.m.) and she was an excellent sleeper. We'd lay her down, she'd fall asleep, and that was it.

We made several trips when she was between the ages of 16 months and 30 months where we would put her to bed, bring our monitor, and go downstairs in the hotel/guest house and eat dinner, have a drink, talk or whatever before returning to the room to go to bed. We were not leaving the premises, not staying away for long, and checking on her periodically.

At some point the Madeline McCann story broke and then we realized this may not be the best idea, even though it was very common throughout Europe.

More recently, we've been on trips where we've been traveling with family and have an adjoining room and we will put her to bed and then someone will stay in the next room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you leave your wedding ring or camera sitting out in your hotel room while you were away?--No, because you'd be afraid someone would come in and steal them. So, why would you consider leaving the most precious thing you have alone in a hotel room?

Seriously, grow up! Your kid is only going to be this young for a little while--you still have YEARS to get crocked in hotel bars.

I didn't get the impression the OP was looking to party until the wee hours. But was instead looking at how to avoid making the infant's bedtime her bedtime since sitting in a dark room with a sleeping baby isn't the most interesting evening in the world. I agree, that heading downstairs to the bar or lobby or whatever probably isn't the safest idea, but wouldn't call her a barfly based on this one question.

OP -- look for a hotel room with a balcony or patio. Or, as a PP suggested, can you afford to get two rooms or stay in a hotel with suites/jr. suites that have a separate sleeping alcove?

[Anonymous]

Put the pack and play in the bathroom. My kids have slept in bathrooms around the world!

[Anonymous]

My parents did this all the time when my brother and I were kids/babies. I would (maybe) do it too depending on the situation. Many friends of mine have used the "baby sleeps in the bathroom" trick and it worked like a charm.

[Anonymous]

PP 13:18 here again, I'm not sure that leaving a baby alone while you go downstairs is really less safe than leaving your baby with a babysitter you don't know (even if the hotel has recommended him/her).

[Anonymous]

A lot of hotels have pack'n'plays as cribs and sometimes they'll fit in the bathroom. We've done that a bunch of times -- put DD to sleep in the pack and play in the bathroom, then we'd move it out when we were ready to go to bed. You couldn't leave, but at least you could read, watch TV, order room service.

[Anonymous]

So many times random people knock on your door and then enter at a hotel, to bring new towels, turn down service, whatever. I cannot imagine someone having access to my child when I wasn't there....even if they didn't take the child...

[Anonymous]

My apartment dwelling friends told me -- when they were pregnant -- they planned to leave the baby upstairs sleeping while they were downstairs in the restaurant in the ground level floor of their building. (They were European, and amazed at the negative reaction their American friends had to this). They decided it wasn't a good idea before their baby was born when they came home one night from that restaurant and found that their next door neighbor had had a kitchen fire that had caused the sprinklers in their unit to go off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of hotels have pack'n'plays as cribs and sometimes they'll fit in the bathroom. We've done that a bunch of times -- put DD to sleep in the pack and play in the bathroom, then we'd move it out when we were ready to go to bed. You couldn't leave, but at least you could read, watch TV, order room service.

We've done the same thing. I used the fan in the bathroom as a white noise machine and my son was asleep in 10 mins. Then we turned on the TV and a light near the window and had a regular night watching TV.

[Anonymous]

I would be concerned mostly about someone going in and kidnapping the baby, and I dont think a monitor would work in a hotel that has an elevator.
I travel all the time with my kids, toddler and baby and we never have a problem. Sometimes (depending on the hotel) we have to just suck it up and get a suite with a separate room to let the baby sleep in peace while we all watch tv in the other room and eat if we havent earlier anyway.
It is too risky with all the freaks in the world these days....not worth it in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many times random people knock on your door and then enter at a hotel, to bring new towels, turn down service, whatever. I cannot imagine someone having access to my child when I wasn't there....even if they didn't take the child...

I totally agree!!