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Original poster

When on holiday with a 9 month old, do you stay in your room from 7pm?

78 replies

pollyinyourpocket · 10/07/2021 04:57

Baby will go to sleep at 7pm. Obviously we wouldn't leave her in the room and go off, but I was thinking to attempt putting her in pushchair asleep and going out for dinner. Is this unrealistic? (Baby is very hard to get to sleep and wakes at minor sounds). Or do we just keep her awake until late? Or do you actually just stay in your room from 7pm?

OP posts:
Eminybob · 10/07/2021 05:17

We went away with DS1 when he was tiny and we would get him to sleep in the push chair, cover him with one of those sun shade things and go out to dinner (just at the hotel as we were AI)
He was fine and didn’t wake once.

When he was a bit older we could let him fall asleep in the pushchair after dinner and stay out for a bit for drinks or to watch a show when we were on holiday.

DS2 was another matter entirely. We were never able to do this, we just had to keep him up with us. Which again was fine, but sadly it didn’t mean that he slept any longer in the mornings Sad

When I look at booking holidays I always try to get a family room or apartment so the DC can be in their own room, and dh and I can have space to have drinks etc after the DC are in bed.

I think you just have to wait and see what happens. If I were you, I’d try and get her to sleep in the pushchair, but be prepared for your quite meal to be disturbed!

Eminybob · 10/07/2021 05:18

*quiet

daisyjgrey · 10/07/2021 05:20

Well you've said she's hard to get to sleep and wakes up easily so presumably putting her in a pushchair while she's sleeping and expecting to be able to go out for dinner is probably only going to result in disappointment.

At 9 months my daughter would sleep if she was strapped into a sling so I would've done that.

Have a decent early dinner, take drinks and snacks to the room and hope you've got a balcony would be my plan!

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Mumdiva99 · 10/07/2021 05:27

We didn't take our eldest away until he was a bit older....but yes we had early dinner with him and then stayed in the apartment.

Zerogravity · 10/07/2021 05:32

Try it! We did this all the time when mine were little. Also depending on where you are going, it might be the norm to go out with children late whether they are asleep or not. I wouldn't stay in the hotel unless absolutely necessary.

KihoBebiluPute · 10/07/2021 05:32

We generally only did self catering when DC that sort of age. Or at least a 2-room suite so that there can be one room dark and quiet for sleeping and one room for adults being awake longer. There was one night I recall when we were all in one travel-lodge room and DH and I sat in the bathroom reading while DC dropped off, then once sleep was achieved one of us went down to the bar and brought back a couple of pints of beer, and we got a movie on netflix up on a laptop and got 2 sets of headphones plugged in to it, so we could watch the movie before settling to sleep ourselves. I wouldn't want a whole holiday of evenings like that though, that would be miserable!

Self catering with takeaways, easy nearly-ready just heat&eat type meals and on a few memorable occasions use of a travelling personal chef service makes for a much better balance.

A friend of mine is a big fan of family-friendly cruise ships, and has told me of an idyllic childcare-during-dinner service whereby you check your child into a creche in the early evening and hou go off to dinner and to enjoy the evening entertainment, and meanwhile all the children are put to bed in this dormitory room but with all the beds on wheels. When the grownups are ready for bed you go and collect your child who is fast asleep in a wheeled cot, and you wheel your sleeping little cherub through the ship to your own cabin and go to bed (and obviously the child doesn't wake up despite being trolleyed along bright and possibly noisy corridors by somewhat inebriated parents) - it sounds great in theory but I have my doubts as to whether it really works.

Dustyhedge · 10/07/2021 05:57

Depends on the child but my second cannot cope at all with being kept up even now she’s a bit bigger at 2. She just becomes an overtired mess so there is literally no point. My first has always been an owl and I remember her staying up on holiday and being fine.

The 4 of us have a hotel stay coming up for the first time and I’m slightly dreading it. Child no.2 will want darkness and silence or will scream if not asleep and child no.1 will absolutely not want to go to bed then. It is a bit of an experiment for us. We may never book a room together again…

underneaththeash · 10/07/2021 06:23

We never managed to do that, we always got interconnecting room/suite or stayed in self-catering house when the kids were little. Then got a baby sitter a couple of times during the holiday to go out for a nice meal.

Doublestar · 10/07/2021 06:26

No, we always put them in a pushchair and took them out for walks/to dinner or whatever we were doing. Blanket draped over the hood to block the light/noise a bit. Perfectly normal on holiday, they'll sleep in the pram!

yikesanotherbooboo · 10/07/2021 07:03

We took them out. Routines were completely different in any case . It never seemed to be a problem

ofwarren · 10/07/2021 07:10

We just took them with us too and they slept in the pram when they got tired.

Jessicabrassica · 10/07/2021 07:10

We did cottage holidays when they were little for that reason! Even now, if we're in a travel lodge sharing a room we'll all go to bed at the same time - between 8 and 9. Kids are 9&11.

sherrystrull · 10/07/2021 09:03

We did. It was easier sadly.

Babymamamama · 10/07/2021 09:07

Never stayed in hotels with a baby as too restrictive. Always self catering cottage or apartment so we could chill in the accommodation after DC bed time. To this day I still prefer to spread out on holiday and would feel very confined staying in a hotel with no separate living room kitchen etc. I generally love air bnb for that reason when on city breaks too.

wjg65ka · 10/07/2021 09:10

We stayed in our room from 7pm with our 20 month old. He's in a great sleep routine and I'm heavily pregnant so I didn't mind too much! We had two separate rooms, we just put the monitor on him and sat on our room and DH had a couple of beers and relaxed.

It was a different holiday than our pre-kids ones but it was great

NuffSaidSam · 10/07/2021 09:11

It will just depend on the baby.

Try all options.

If you're going somewhere with a time difference you may be able to use that to get baby to go to bed later/wake later.

Try getting them to sleep in the buggy.

Try keeping them up later.

If it doesn't work, make sure you've booked somewhere with space for the evening too so baby can go to bed and you can have a nice evening.

Maggiesfarm · 10/07/2021 09:11

I never stayed in my room with my baby, took them out in pushchair. They were fine.

AnotherDayAnotherCake · 10/07/2021 09:11

When on holiday with a 9 month old, do you stay in your room from 7pm?
Yes because
Baby is very hard to get to sleep and wakes at minor sounds

Tbh, we used to alternate one would stay in the room while the other went for a walk, watched a show, had a drink etc.
It was a bit boring but our DC was a complete nightmare the next day if they didn’t get a good nights sleep and it was therefore worth it to us.

If we had had a good sleeper/one that settled in the pushchair/one that could function the next day with less sleep then yes, we would have just got on with our evening. But we didn’t.

Caspianberg · 10/07/2021 09:12

We did a mixture recently when he was 11 months. Long weekend away. Booked room that was suite with private balcony. 2 nights we are together in restaurant with baby, he fell asleep in pram after 1 of those and the other we came back to room around 8.30pm, settled him to sleep in main bedroom then ordered desert and drinks as room service on balcony. 3rd night we did just room service for everyone as he was tired.

The suite room made all the difference as was basically like a one bed flat with balcony. So dh or I could use living room like normal and balcony when he was asleep

Laquila · 10/07/2021 09:15

@KihoBebiluPute whaaaaaaaaaaaaat??! Is that really true?! Huge if so! I'm off to Google 😁

Laquila · 10/07/2021 09:16

FWIW I think a key factor for success when holidaying with young children is to lower your expectations...I'm not saying you won't have a lovely time but it won't be like a normal holiday.

Frazzled2207 · 10/07/2021 09:18

Yep did this when ds was one. Put him in pjs then walk in pram and once asleep went for dinner.

CeaselessWatcher · 10/07/2021 09:20

We also just did self catering cottages at that age, made things much nicer.

Yolanda524 · 10/07/2021 09:23

Yes did that with number 1. Give it a try and see, the worse that happens is you have to leave and get a take away on the way back.
Only worth trying it with your first. Not so easy to do once number 2 comes along and you also have a toddler. So try it now, it worked for us one or two times.

BigSandyBalls2015 · 10/07/2021 09:26

I wouldn’t bother going on holiday if we had to do that. We always took ours out with us, they got back into their routine when we got home.

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