Kid’s sleep is often a challenge at home and under the best circumstances—believe me, I know. My younger daughter slept through the night for the first time when she was 2 ½. Trying to sleep in a hotel with kids is even harder: You’re all in the same room, you’re out of your element, you might be in different time zones.

But getting a good night’s sleep in a hotel with kids isn’t impossible. The more I travel with my two girls, the better we’ve gotten about sharing a hotel room with kids. And now I’m here to give you the tips we’ve learned along the way!

Are you ready to actually sleep the next time you share a hotel room with kids? You’re in luck: This post has 12 great tips to help your kids sleep on vacation. Get comfy—and get ready for the best night’s sleep in a hotel with kids you’ve ever had.

13 tips to sleep in a hotel with kids

1. Book a suite to sleep better

Whenever you can, look for a suite instead of a regular hotel room. A suite generally has a door that separates the sleeping area from a living area and kitchen.

When you can close the door, your kids can go to bed earlier than you do. Everyone will sleep better in a hotel room because of the separation.

2. Get two beds

A king size bed sounds luxurious—but make sure you book a hotel room with two queens so you and your kids have enough space. I’ve slept with my kid’s toenails digging into my back to learn this lesson.

3. Request a room away from the elevators

After you book your hotel, call the front desk directly and ask for a room away from an elevator. The area near the elevator gets the most traffic—and therefore noise.

When your kids are trying to sleep in a hotel, you don’t want the constant ding! of the elevator (or noisy hotel guests) to keep them awake.

4. Cover up noisy hotel sounds

My kids sleep with a white noise machine at home, so to make the sleeping environment in a hotel room as close to normal as possible, I bring it along. (We have used this white noise machine for 6 years!)

If you forget the white noise machine (and I’ve been there—oops!), turn on the bathroom vent. The noise helps cover the sound of the air conditioner turning on or people walking in the hotel hallway.

5. Keep the hotel room like home

In addition to the white noise machine, you’ll want to make the hotel room as close to home as you possibly can. Familiarity will help your kids sleep better in a hotel room—which means more rest for everyone.

So bring your child’s lovey, favorite bedtime book, nightlight or whatever else helps him sleep at home. That’ll help you sleep in a hotel room with kids on your next family vacation.

6. Stick to a bedtime routine

We follow the same bedtime routine every night at home, and sticking to that comforting pattern helps my kids sleep in a hotel room.

We can’t duplicate the bedtime routine perfectly; after all, at home I read my kids a bedtime book in a rocking chair. But do your best to match what you can. For example, I’ll pull the computer desk into the bedroom and swivel it back and forth, which mimics the rocking motion of the chair at home.

When you keep to the same bedtime routine even when you’re on vacation, it signals to your child’s body that it’s time to get sleepy—and not, you know, time to do flips.

Hotel Room Acrobatics from Catherine Ryan Gregory on Vimeo.

7. Help your kids share a bed

My kids share a bedroom but sleep in their own beds at home. Unfortunately, we don’t usually have that many beds when we sleep in a hotel room, so they end up sharing a hotel bed.

To help avoid turf wars over bed space and blankets, put a pillow in the middle of the bed. This acts as a barrier between the two so they don’t kick each other or complain their sibling is moving into their space.

8. Keep your kids from falling out of bed

My kids’ beds at home have railings, but hotel beds don’t have this safety feature. To keep kids from falling out of a hotel bed, tuck a pillow under the fitted sheet on the outside edge of the bed. It’ll act as a bumper, keeping your little safely in bed when you sleep in a hotel room.

9. Cover any electronic lights

Research shows that the light emitted from electronics can stop your body from producing melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep. I’m pretty sure we can all agree we don’t need any more obstacles in going to sleep in a hotel room with kids.

So when you first arrive, unplug electronics or cover them with washcloths. Don’t forget the bedside digital clock—it emits a surprising amount of light!

10. BYO pillowcases

If you’re like me, you try to pack light on family vacations—it’s less hassle trying to get your luggage from A to B! But bringing your own pillowcases is a family travel hack I wish someone had told me years ago.

Hotels tend to use harsh detergents to wash linens, and my kids have sensitive skin. Bringing pillowcases from home—where I use all-natural, unscented laundry detergent—prevents skin reactions and headaches for my sensitive kids.

11. Be flexible

We do our best to put the kids to sleep in a hotel room in their own shared bed. But sometimes Hubs and I end up taking a kid each.

Sleeping next to our kids (one of whom grinds her teeth and one of whom prefers to lie on top of me as she snoozes) isn’t ideal. But if it means they sleep, it’s sometimes a decent compromise. After all, when your kids are rested, family vacations go 1,000 times more smoothly.

12. Hide in the bathroom

If you don’t get a hotel suite and have only one room to share with your kids, the bathroom is your friend. You can leave a book, computer or tablet in there to keep yourself entertained after you get the kids to bed.

13. Prep your own bedtime routine

I learned this lesson the hard way: If you have to rummage around your suitcase to get your pajamas and toothbrush, you’re pretty much guaranteed to wake up your kids in a hotel room.

So as you prep your kids for bed, lay out everything you need for bedtime, too. I make a little pile for myself in the bathroom so I won’t disturb sleeping kids in the hotel room.

Level 10 travel tip: Pack what you’ll need the first night in the hotel at the top of your suitcase. This means I pack our toiletries and one set of pajamas last so they’re easily accessible at the top of the luggage.

Now that you’ve read these family travel hacks to sleep in a hotel room with kids, you can rest easy: You have the tips to get a lot more shut-eye on your next family vacation.

After all, you and your kids will be able to enjoy your family trip much more when you get extra zzz’s. Rest well, friends!

PS – Want even more tips to help your kids sleep on vacation? My post on pediatric sleep expert-approved advice to stick to a sleep routine on vacation has all the intel you need for better rest en route.