Traveling / Booking Hotel with 13 Month Old Twins?

Discussion in 'The Toddler Years(1-3)' started by newdad2girls, Mar 11, 2010.

  1. newdad2girls

    newdad2girls New Member

    I have business in New Orleans for a week in May. My wife and I want to make a vacation out of it. The girls will be 13 months old.

    We are looking at hotels. Suites are very expensive compared to single room hotel rooms.

    So my question: for those of you who have traveled with twins, do you think we can get by for a week in a single room (PNPs in the same room; partition?)?

    Our concern is that the girls usually go down around 7:00 and we go down around 10:00. We don't want to disturb them or they will be real crankpots!

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. nateandbrig

    nateandbrig Well-Known Member

    I would pay extra for the suite. I wouldn't even attempt to do it in the same room, mostly because they need their sleep and I need my alone quiet time. Time to get things ready for the next day and be able to unwind while watching tv or reading. Mine at that age would not sleep if we were in the room.
    Good luck and have fun in NO!
     
  3. betha

    betha Well-Known Member

    We're going to San Diego soon for a mini vacation. We're dealing with the same issue. I decided we must have a one bedroom suite or the equivalent. I just don't think ours will sleep if we are all in one room. Our also go to bed at 7 and we go to sleep at 10 or 11.

    Have you looked into renting a condo or something similar? We are renting a small guest house through VRBO (vacation rentals by owner). I've used it several times in the past with success. I don't know if it covers New Orleans. We are paying the same price as a suite, but we will have an enclosed yard, patio and hot tub. I have a fantasy of hanging out on the patio while our twins play peacefully in the yard. :rotflmbo:

    Good luck and enjoy your trip!!
     
  4. vharrison1969

    vharrison1969 Well-Known Member

    I haven't traveled with my boys for that long, but I did just spend the weekend in a hotel this past weekend for a funeral. We had a "suite", but it was a Comfort Inn Suites type room where there was a half partition between the bed and the sitting area. We moved the coffee table and set up the 2 pack-n-plays next to the couch, enough behind the half wall so that they could not see our bed. The boys went down really easily and napped pretty well too.

    HOWEVER, this would not have worked for us for a long trip. We pretty much had to go to bed when they did; my guys are decent sleepers, but going back and forth and/or watching TV would have disturbed them.

    Can you get 2 adjoining rooms instead of a suite? Then you could leave the door open or cracked between the 2 rooms so you can check on your girls.

    Another thing I highly recommend (no matter which route you go) is a white noise machine. We use one at home already, so we just packed it with us. It was great for drowning out ambient hotel noises. And if you can get a hotel room with a fridge/microwave you will be all set for milk sippies! :good:

    Good luck and have a wonderful time! :D
     
  5. christie76

    christie76 Well-Known Member

    If you can't afford a 1-bedroom suite or 2 adjoining rooms, I would make sure you have some sort of patio or balcony that you can go sit on while they go to sleep. We just got back from a 10-night trip with our girls. They slept in the same room as us, but we had a condo, so only went in to the room to go to sleep. We also had 2 adjoining rooms with my parents at the hotel we stayed at, so they could watch them while we went out. We just made sure they were really asleep before we went in the room. I left the tv on, so when we did go in, it wouldn't wake them up. We just watched tv in bed and fell asleep early most nights. Abby was getting up super early the whole vacation. Be prepared for that. Sometimes, they don't sleep well when they aren't in a familiar place. Good luck and have fun!!!
     
  6. SMax

    SMax Well-Known Member

    I would HIGHLY recommend a suite...or two rooms with adjoining doors. Last summer, we went on vacation to our cabin and only had the option of one room for 5 nights. We put the kids to bed close to their normal time and we would just hang out in the main cabin until we snuck quietly into bed. It was STRESSFUL because I was even afraid to roll over at night for fear of waking them :) In the morning when they woke up, they would pop up in their PnPs, then giggle and point at us...very cute, but not at 6am!!

    I would also recommend bringing everything that you use in your current bedtime routine. For us that is a white-noise machine, 3 lovies per kid, sleep sacks, blankets, bedtime book, etc. We also relent and let them have their pacifiers at night (we got rid of nighttime pacifiers at 6 months...they still get them at naptime). Ours are pretty decent sleepers at home, but have more night wakings when traveling. The pacifiers seem to keep them more quiet :)

    Enjoy your trip!
     
  7. twinsnowwhat

    twinsnowwhat Well-Known Member

    Is a condo an option? We took a short trip when ours were about that same age. It was a 2 bedroom condo and we took my parents with us. So we put the PnPs in our room, but were still able to be out in the living room area with the kitchen and my parents had the other room. We could still hang out, clean up, relax, visit when they went to bed at thier normal time. Then just went to bed when we wanted to. Hope you are able to find a solution at a reasonable cost.
     
  8. bekkiz

    bekkiz Well-Known Member

    I refuse to sleep in the same room as the twins. None of us sleep well, and even for one night, the money is well spent.

    I'm sure there are parents out there who could make it work. We are not those parents.
     
  9. kingeomer

    kingeomer Well-Known Member TS Moderator

    I would recommend getting a suite/adjourning rooms if you can. On our vacation last year, we had to get an emergency hotel room because we got a flat tire and no place was open to fix it. We did not have PNP's with us because we were staying at my aunt and uncles and they had PNP's for us, so the kids slept with my Mom in her bed. They did pretty decent, but none of us got a good night's sleep.
    I definitely also recommend bringing a fan or a white noise machine with you and anything else they use at bedtime (their nightlight, loveys, special bedtime books). Good luck with your trip!
     
  10. Rach28

    Rach28 Well-Known Member

    When we travelled to the UK with our then 14 month old twins, we all slept in one room but we werent in a hotel, we were at my parents´ house. I think I´d want a suite so you can have some quiet time and watch TV or whatever. Are you flying? If so, I recommend buying some new small toys for the flight. Also, I recommend taking familiar objects for them from home.

    GL & I hope the business trip goes well for all of you.
     
  11. AmberG

    AmberG Well-Known Member

    I would definitely get a suite or 2 adjoining rooms. That way you and DH can enjoy yourselves after the little ones go to sleep. Hopefully you can find a good deal.
     
  12. june07girl

    june07girl Well-Known Member

    My DH and I travelled with the girls at 14 months and we rented a house. We found it on vrbo.com and it was cheaper than a hotel by about $200. It was a three bedroom with full kitchen. I would highly recommend this route especially since you are going to be there a week. It was so nice to cook all our own meals and for the girls to have their own room. Good Luck!
     
  13. katzmeaow

    katzmeaow Well-Known Member

    Great advice from everyone! My husband and I travel a whole lot and in January we took a trip with our moms for a week and had adjoining rooms. It was great in part because we set up the cribs in one room with a small fan for white noise and made sure the curtains were very well closed to make sure the room was ultra dark. We even placed a towel under the door to block hall light from pouring in. We were all able to watch t.v. and talk and relax until late in the night withough disturning them and we could use the bathroom and take showers if we wanted to without disturbing the kids. We found that turning on the fan in the room was perfect white noise to block out noise from people walking down the halls.

    A couple of weeks ago we did not have the luxury of getting 2 rooms due to the rates being so incredibly high, so we just couldn't do it. It was NOT pleasant! The kids did not want to go to sleep. It was really hard to get them to sleep because they saw us there- we had no place to go. The light from the t.v. was so bright that they could not sleep, so we had to go to sleep at 7:30! Every time we rolled over in our beds we were afraid of waking them up and we certainly didn't want to wake up to use the bathroom due to the noise and light. I would certainly take the advice of looking for a rental location that can provide better accomodations if a suite or extra room is too pricey.

    It was really great traveling with the kids and we did enjoy ourselves, so I hope things work out for you!
     
  14. Aeliza

    Aeliza Well-Known Member

    When we moved. we had to stay in a hotel. We stayed in a suite...along with both our large dogs!!! YIKES!

    The boys stayed in the bedroom and we camped out in the living area's sofa bed. Very uncomfortable, but the boys got their rest and the dogs got to have some freedom at night with us. The boys were not used to sleeping in the same room, so they'd wake each other up earlier than usual in the morning, but for the most part, they did at least sleep through the night and no one disturbed them.

    So I do recommend at least a suite. A single room hotel could make your vacation more difficult to relax with.
     
  15. Babies4Susan

    Babies4Susan Well-Known Member

    I'd go for the suite. Are there any Residence Inn's or Towneplace Suites near where you want to stay? We have great luck with those and the price is usually decent.
     
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