Travel Sleep Arrangements

We're flying to Chicago in November to visit my parents. The boys will be 18 months old and I have no clue where they're going to sleep. My parents don't have cribs or pack n'plays, and I'd rather they not go out and buy them for our 1 week trip. So my question is, what are my options? Can the boys sleep on an air mattress on the floor at that age? how about a real bed with bumpers? I haven't seen any good "travel bed" options - have you?

Any ideas? TIA!

 

Have you thought of bringing your own pack-n-plays? When we have traveled that is what we have done. Or do your parents have any friends that they can borrow one from? At 18-months I would not have mine sleep on the floor unless I was right there with them the whole time. I don't have any experience with travel beds.

 

When we go visit my parents they borrow pack-n-plays from friends. A lot of them have grandchildren that visit.

 

Let them sleep on an air mattress - they will be perfectly fine.

 

Another option is to rent real cribs. For us, at least, it was well worth the money so they would sleep, and it really wasn't that expensive. When we went on vacation with our then 7 month olds, it was a life-saver to have cribs so they were used to it. They just wouldn't sleep well in PNP's.

Have fun!

Suzanne

 

You can rent everything you need! Ta-da: http://www.babysaway.com/ - they have a location in Chicago. I think they'll deliver. My friend used a similar service in Florida last winter and rented everything from cribs to high chairs to a double stroller - fabulous!

 

We have done two trips this year to Florida. Both times my daughter has slept in a pack n play that we took with us and my son has slept on the floor.

We made him a nice little bed with blankets and put sofa cushions all round it. He was so exhausted he went to sleep no problem and it worked really well.

When we go to the UK for 2 weeks in August we will be buying a packn'play and having it shipped to where we are staying. Not sure if one or two at the moment. It works out to $60 for one which is cheaper than renting and I will donate them to a charity before we leave.

 

I was just dealing with this same thing for our vacation in August. I wound up buying 2 PeaPod Plus's. They are really cool, have wonderful reviews all around and can be used until they are like 6 years old... We have yet to do any test runs, but i plan to have the girls sleep in them a couple times before we go away..

 

Our DD and DS were a little older (23 month) during our first family trip. We stayed at a hotel and I had lots of questions regarding sleeping arrangements, too. At that time they each had their own cribs and their own rooms at home. They had never slept in their PNP and I doubted that they would. I didn't feel comfortable renting a crib(s) nor renting PNP's. I purchased (and then returned) portable bed rails. I considered the inflatable bed rails, but didn't want to spend time inflating them. Another TS member recommended that we just take lots of pillows and tuck them under the bed's fitted sheet to make a "wall." This is the option that we did and it worked out PERFECTLY! We did have 2 double beds and my DH and I each slept with one child. Since the beds could not be moved against a wall, the pillow "wall" was great. We did this again the following month at another hotel. I was a little concerned about how they would transition back to their cribs when we got back, but it was no problem. In fact...a few weeks later they actually decided to sleep in their own big beds at home. No more cribs!

 

At that age we borrowed from people in the area we were staying at. I did always bring my own sheets though. Around 2 we started letting them sleep on the floor, but I did have to sleep with them till they fell asleep.

 

QUOTE(CHJH @ Jul 23 2008, 09:52 PM) [snapback]892660[/snapback]
You can rent everything you need! Ta-da: http://www.babysaway.com/ - they have a location in Chicago. I think they'll deliver. My friend used a similar service in Florida last winter and rented everything from cribs to high chairs to a double stroller - fabulous!

I had NO IDEA!!!!! I'm letting my mom know - thank you!

QUOTE(kajulie @ Jul 24 2008, 09:35 AM) [snapback]893394[/snapback]
I was just dealing with this same thing for our vacation in August. I wound up buying 2 PeaPod Plus's. They are really cool, have wonderful reviews all around and can be used until they are like 6 years old... We have yet to do any test runs, but i plan to have the girls sleep in them a couple times before we go away..


Very cool! May need these for a cruise we're taking in the fall. WHere did you find these?

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE WONDERFUL SUGGESTIONS! this was stressing me out and knowing I have so many options is very reassuring!