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.

The post Get a good night’s sleep in a hotel with kids (for real!) appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

But you don’t need that. After all, you’ve worked hard to plan, schedule and make this family trip happen. All you want is fun quality time with your kids and your partner—so you need the kids’ sleep routine to hold steady.

I’m 100% with you precisely because I’ve done family vacations with sleep… and without. (It’s no surprise that we all prefer the well rested vacations.)

Here’s where you should really pay attention: In this blog post, I’m going to share 13 tips to protect your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation. Yes, I have earned—and tested—these nuggets of wisdom, but I’ve also brought in the brilliant Brittney Stefanic, a super-successful sleep consultant (who, by the way, lives what she preaches with her 2-year-old son).

Brittney is a traveler at heart, and she loves to explore the country with her husband and son. In fact, they recently finished a 4-week bi-coastal trip, including adventures in Colorado and North Carolina! She knows firsthand that when you don’t sleep, life is way too hard—especially on vacation—so she works with families with young kids to help everyone get the rest they need.

So don’t leave your littles’ sleep on vacation to chance. Safeguard your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation—and have a beautiful, relaxing and rested trip!

13 tips to save your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation—approved by a sleep consultant!

1. Split the difference on time zones

How to deal with changing time zones and kids’ sleep is one of the most common questions I get about family travel, and for good reason: It’s so confusing! Heck, even adults have trouble adjusting to a new time zone.

Brittney has a rule of thumb that works for her sleep consultancy clients and her own family: If you stay four days or more in your destination, split the difference between your home time zone and the time zone in your vacation spot.

For example, if you’re going from the West Coast to the East Coast and your daughter’s bedtime is usually 7pm, put her to bed at 8:30 eastern time—halfway between the two time zones.

2. Darkness #ftw

Tape tin foil to the inside of windows—this budget trick is like blackout curtains but super cheap, portable and easy to buy no matter where you travel. You can also blackout your windows with black garbage bags and painter’s tape.

In fact, this tip helped my kids sleep in an extra two hours on vacation—and I now swear by it. This is the #1 sleep hack I share with my friends when they travel!

3. Naps—at whatever cost

Schedule long drives during nap time so your kids will fall asleep in the car. The naps aren’t as awesome as they would be at home, in their bed and surrounded by loveys, but they’re better than skipping a nap entirely.

Level 10 travel tip: Use screen time strategically. We splurged for an in-car DVD player when we bought our minivan, but I don’t let my kids watch a movie during nap time because there’s no way sleep would win over My Little Ponies.

4. Lovey lifeline

Bring everything your child uses to sleep at home: lovey, white noise machine, sleep sack, blankie, extra binkies, etc. The last thing you want on vacation is a sleep strike because you forgot your child’s favorite Elmo doll.

5. Same-old, same-old

Keep the sleep environment as consistent as possible. If your kids are used to own their own crib, for example, don’t make them bed-share. If they don’t sleep in the same room as you, reserve a suite with separate bedrooms or get an AirBnB with as much space as you need.

6. Come on, feel the noise

Use a white noise app (I use and like White Noise; free). Even if a white noise machine isn’t a make-or-break deal at home, when you’re trying to protect your kids’ sleep schedules on vacation, they’re a life-saver. Your kids might be sleeping more lightly because they’re in an unfamiliar situation. Or you might find yourself in a situation like we did when we visited Seattle, when we stayed on a 5:30am garbage day route. Either way, white noise is your kids’ sleep schedule’s friend.

7. Bring sheets

One time I stayed at a hotel with Kiwi when she was about 8 months old. She stayed in a hotel pack n play, and when she woke up, she had hives all over her body. That was the last time I’ve ever used hotel sheets for my kids’ bedding.

Both of my kids have super-sensitive skin, so now I pack sheets from home. I know they’re used to the gentle detergent we use every day, not the heavy-duty cleaner they use at hotels, so I don’t have to worry about skin reactions overnight.

8. Less is more

Don’t overcommit yourself and your vacation schedule. When we traveled to San Diego as a family, I was tempted to DO ALL THE THINGS because hey, when’s the next time we’d be in San Diego? After a few days of overscheduled vacation, 2-year-old Peeper crashed, and we ended up spending 3 hours in a hotel room while she napped—during perfect beach weather. Womp-womp.

Now when I plan a family vacation, I plan on doing only two activities per day—one in the morning, and one in the afternoon. We’re less rushed, and we do a much better job of protecting the kids’ sleep schedule on vacation.

Brittney approves of my 2 activities rule. “That limit leaves time for a nap,” Brittney says. “It also cuts back on overstimulation: We’re so excited about all the new things to try and do, but the newness and cognitive challenge is more intensified for children, which can really throw off their sleep.”

9. Eat dinner in

I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced this just like me: You do a bunch of family-friendly activities when you’re on vacation and finally head to dinner. But by the time you order, get food, eat, pay the bill and collect the kids from their meltdown on the french fry-strewn floor, it’s late.

So at least once during your family vacation, skip that routine and eat in. Get takeout or cook something familiar (boxed mac n cheese, anyone?) at your AirBnB. “Eating in is especially helpful when you have a couple of late nights in a row,” Brittney says. “Keep the evening like your typical routine at home. The more relaxed time will also act as a reset if you’ve fallen into some bad kids’ sleep routines on vacation.”

10. Protect your (sleep) boundaries

I’d bet these words have come out of your mouth: “Just let the kids have fun on vacation; we’ll get back into a sleep routine when we get home.” But letting them stay up as late as they want and sleep in as long as they want will be hard to correct once you get home.

Instead, Brittney recommends, hold fast to your sleep boundaries. This can be harder if you vacation with other families that are more lax about their kids’ sleep schedule on vacation. If the cousins get to stay up late to eat popcorn and watch movies every night, your kids will want to, too. But guess whose kids will be overtired, cranky and a pain to be around the next day? Answer: Not your well rested angels!

Here’s where I, personally, make an exception: If there’s a once-in-a-lifetime special occasion, I’ll bend the rules for my kids’ sleep schedule on vacation. For example, we’re going camping during the Perseid Meteor shower this month, and I’m going to let my kids stay up. Normally I’m doing my darnedest to get them to bed by dark, but I’m totally willing to compromise so that they can see comet debris burning in the upper atmosphere at 37 miles per second.

11. Everybody puts Baby in the corner

Raise your hand if you’ve set up your baby’s pack n play in a closet while on vacation: I have! #noshame This make-do technique gets the thumbs-up from pediatric sleep expert Brittney. “If it means the best sleep for everyone and it’s safe, then there’s no need to second guess yourself,” she says.

If you still feel weird about it, listen up: Brittney—the expert sleep specialist—recently put her son to bed in a pack n play in a closet at her mother’s house while they vacationed. If this trick is good enough for a pediatric sleep consultant, it’s good enough for me.

12. Shrug off the #fomo guilt

Resist friends and family’s pressure to stay at gatherings that would disrupt children’s sleep schedule. (One way to do this: Describe their crankiness—and the disruption that would cause the next day—if they don’t get their much-needed sleep.)

If your loved ones continue to press you to let the kids stay up, suggest that they get to handle all the childcare the next day while you sleep in/get a massage/visit an antiques store/enjoy time free of a meltdown-y child.

13. Alternate busy days

Sometimes packing a day full of activities is unavoidable—like if you’re part of a wedding party. On vacation days like that, your kids might skip a nap or stay up late.

Follow up hectic days like that with a low-key day, Brittney recommends. “It can help get everything back on track,” she says. “You’re more likely to follow your at-home routine and get back on your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation.” So plan for a mellow day at the beach or the pool, or simply playing board games in your AirBnB.

Get more sleep on vacation

When you have all these tips and tricks to protect your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation, you’re basically guaranteed to get the R&R you want—and so deserve.

What sleep hacks have you tried? What’s your #1 way to make sure you and your kids sleep on vacation?

Brittney Stefanic has much more sleep wisdom to share! You can visit her website to learn more about ways she supports clients, follow her Pinterest which is full of sleep tips, like her Facebook page for virtual sleep Q&A sessions and stalk her on Instagram to see adorable pictures of her son!

PS – If you’re staying at a hotel, you definitely want to read my other post on getting kids to sleep more on vacation: How to get more sleep when sharing a hotel room with kids!

The post Foolproof your kids’ sleep schedule on vacation: 13 expert tips appeared first on To & Fro Fam.

Until—drum roll please—in a stroke of genius/fit of desperation, I discovered this brilliant, cheap family travel hack to make my kids sleep on vacation—for real!

Make your kids sleep on vacation for mere pennies

Now, dear friends, I’m passing along the wisdom. For just $2 you, too, can buy the supplies for a magic sleep-making invention.

So instead of praying or hoping or resigning yourself to the nightmare of being up all night with your kids, behold: my tin foil trick to make your kids sleep on vacation.

How to make your kids sleep on vacation

This parenting hack isn’t complicated. Here’s how I discovered it:

One day on vacation, after Kiwi got up well before dawn, I stopped by the Dollar Store after grabbing Starbucks. (OMG THANK YOU CAFFEINE!!!!!!!) And while wandering the aisles looking for sand toys, I had a creative epiphany. I dropped a few dollars at the counter and rushed home to try out my idea.

Here’s what I did to make my kids sleep on vacation:

I covered each bedroom window with tin foil.

Simple as that.

Yes, I know there is a little light peeking through the gaps of the tin foil. (Cut me some slack, I was functioning on like 4 hours of sleep.) Perfect is never the goal round my house—good enough is good enough—so I let it stand.

And my tin foil travel hack was good enough got both kids to sleep longer the next night—by about 2 hours.

The family travel hack that will save your vacation

One particular family vacation, in which I met my husband at the coast and where he competed in a weekend-long disc golf tournament (love ya, Hubs!), was the worst for my kids’ sleep. I nearly lost it, and I nearly swore off family vacations altogether.

That’s when I discovered my parenting hack to make my kids sleep on vacation.

This little trick basically made me willing to take my family out of our comfort zone and continue to see the world. Yep, that’s right, this $2 hack saved family vacations for us.

You see, moms, I get that family vacations aren’t easy. You have to plan. You have to research kid-friendly activities and AirBnBs. You have to weigh the pros and cons of missing your kid’s nap time and letting them see one more exhibit at the aquarium. And you do all this on way less sleep because your kids wake up when the sun peeks through the definitely-not-blackout curtains.

Being a mom isn’t always easy, and it definitely doesn’t get easier when you plan a family vacation. That’s why anything to make your job easier—including a parenting hack to make your kids sleep in—is gold in my books.

After all, when mama’s happy, everyone’s happy.

So the next time you take a family vacation, don’t resign yourself to early wake-ups and bedtime protests. Just buy a few rolls of tin foil, thank your lucky stars for this family travel hack—and revel in the fact your kids may just sleep in.

Do you have any tricks to make your kids sleep on vacation—or any other time? What’s your favorite family travel hack?

The post Make your kids sleep on vacation: The $2 hack that will save your sanity appeared first on To & Fro Fam.