How do you manage in a hotel/ B&B with a toddler who goes to sleep at 7:30pm?

[asicsgirl]

Dumb question I know; just from looking down the list I can see loads of people go to B&Bs/hotels with their toddlers. But: we haven't been to a B&B since ds was tiny and used to spend all evening feeding (I ate my dinner over his head!). Since then we've gone to cottages or stayed at friends' where we can put him to bed and use the baby monitor. I'm worried about leaving him in the room on his own, but obviously we can't go to bed at 7:30 too!! What do other people do? Really grateful for any tips.

We have always stayed in the room and read or watched tv.

Good question. AFTER we had spent the night in a B&B with the lights out pretending to be asleep so dd would go to sleep, someone on here suggested putting the travel cot in the bathroom.

get one with room service and once they have gone to slepp, chill out and have your meal brought to you

I wouldn't leave them in the room so it would be tv or a book for me too. You couldn't leave him in the room without locking the door and I wouldn't lock a child in a room. A b&b may be different it would depend upon the set up.

We have used the following strategies:

• staying in a very small hotel where the montior reaches to the restaurant
• staying in a larger hotel with a good babylistening system (Calcott Manor)
• putting LO to bed and then getting a babysitter from sitters.co.uk
• putting the cot in the bathroom so we can watch TV/read/chat...
• taking DD out with us and hoping she will sleep in her pram (never repeating that one).

If you are in a small place, then a baby monitor and a late dinner might do the trick.

The big problem can be that the baby's schedule is thrown when you are travelling. The the choice is either room service, or to take LO to the restaurant.

Can you ask the hotel for babysitter recommendations?

Otherwise, how old is DS. Can you take him down to the restaurant with you in a pushchair and will he sleep there? I was able to do this up until DS was about 18 months. I wouldn't be comfortable with the babylistening services. I feel much more comfortable with someone physically with the child.

Thanks for all these ideas. I'd like to do the 'stay in room and watch TV/ read' option but I can't see ds sleeping through it - too used to having his own (dark) room - when we stayed at my mum's he woke up without fail every time I came into the room to go to bed (and sometimes when I got up to go to the loo too!). Went back to sleep OK but I don't think I could have put the TV on.

He's generally pretty keen on his bedtime routine even when away from home - often doesn't nap during the day when travelling so is cranky and ready to conk out by 7pm. DS is now 2 years and 4 months incidentally, in a 'big bed' at home, and starting to like being left on his own to go to sleep.

Maybe we could rig up some kind of tent to keep the light out??