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Original poster

leaving baby alone in a hotel room?

44 replies

mendipgirl · 22/02/2010 16:38

I have a family do to attend in November and am wondering whether to go or not. My daughter will be 2 years old by then and the hotel offers a baby listening service. I am not sure what this is and if it is safe to leave her in the hotel room sleeping whilst we have dinner downstairs? I have my doubts but am under some pressure to attend and am not sure if I am just being over protective. The hotel is in another part of the country, so we can't just get a babysitter as we will need to stay overnight. What does everyone think?

OP posts:

frogetyfrog · 23/02/2010 18:17

That is a very valid point actually chocolate that I had never thought of. If you were downstairs and the fire alarm went off, you wouldnt be allowed back to get her as they shut areas off in most hotels by sweeping through! You would probably have to wait until the fire brigade arrived and got her for you, or hope a member of staff did it. Nightmare.

ZipadiSoozi · 23/02/2010 21:29

I agree with ROSA

confuddledDOTcom · 23/02/2010 22:13

We were in a small hotel last year, like a large house. There were two guests (well our family and a couple) and we left Baby asleep in the room whilst we had dinner. We would have heard anything because it was so quiet and they had the monitor on too.

We have stayed in a few Premiers etc and usually I go out and he stays in with them - he will happily go to bed early whereas I don't need much sleep. I wouldn't leave them there with any level of monitoring. I did leave Baby when we had two neighbouring rooms with my parents - my aunt and uncle went mad and moved Baby into my parents room (that one I didn't understand)

mrsdisorganised · 23/02/2010 22:21

No. Never. My 2 year old would probably sleep in her pushchair, why not try that?

BariatricObama · 23/02/2010 22:24

these threads are so predictable

passive agressive 'i wouldn't but you must do what you are comfortable'
pointless mention of madeline mccann
hysterical talk of fire.

chocolatekimmy · 23/02/2010 22:26

Just another thought - would you really enjoy yourself if you did leave her up there? The very fact you are posting your thoughts demonstrates that you have doubts (you mentioned pressure) so I bet you would'nt relax

chocolatekimmy · 23/02/2010 22:29

Just seen comment 'hysterical talk of fire' - if you read my first post you will see that i had to evacuate a hotel (the village in Coventry) on Friday with my three girls so its very real. Most people want to justify their thoughts and give views that the poster might not have considered already to help them make a decision

Nefret · 24/02/2010 10:40

I don't think anyone was being hysterical about fire, it is something that should be considered, it may only be a small risk but it could happen.

I also don't think mentioning Madeline Mccann is pointless either. If her parents hadn't left her alone in a room she would still be with them now - fact!

Some people may be prepared to take risks with their children, it isn't something I would do and I wouldn't suggest anyone else did it either.

abride · 24/02/2010 10:50

The 'fact' about MM is that she was left in a room that wasn't locked.

confuddledDOTcom · 24/02/2010 15:47

Also the McCanns weren't in the hotel so it wasn't just a case of leaving the children alone in the room, it is a different scenario.

TBH (without wanting to start a MM debate) there are a lot of inconsistencies with the story - not saying her parents did it, I think there would be something wrong with them (on par with MbP) if they did and then spent so much effort on "finding" her.

Nefret · 24/02/2010 16:20

They were in the hotel, they were sitting outside and could see the room. If you left a child upstairs out of site and were sitting downstairs would that be any different?

I am not going to get involved in any more comments about Madeline Mccann as I'm sure it has all been said before but I stand by the fact that if she hadn't been left in the room she wouldn't have been taken.

frogetyfrog · 24/02/2010 16:49

I wasnt being hysterical about fire - just saying that the point about evacuation if alarm went off was a good one. You never know when somebody will have organised a test alarm, or the kitchen accidentally sets the alarm off, or a child hits the alarm buttons messing around. There may not be a fire, but if the alarm went off you still wouldnt beable to get to the room with your child in, and wouldnt know if the fire was real or not. Just saying that would be a nightmare situation that I had never considered and does give a very real perspective on leaving a child alone in a room.

confuddledDOTcom · 24/02/2010 17:21

They were in the onsite restaurant opposite with a patio and hedge between them and the hotel. They may have been able to see the outside of the room but they don't have x-ray vision so wouldn't know what was happening in there.

Yes she wouldn't have been taken if she hadn't been left in the room but it is still different to the OP situation.

giddybiddy · 25/02/2010 18:27

I guess you've already done this, but have you asked the hotel if they can find you a babysitter? Or if you join Sitters you can use them in any location and I think they're nationwide. For what it is worth I am in commplete agreement about not leaving a child in a hotel room, we've always paid for a babysitter so we could completely relax! And I think a fire alarm is a really valid point and I too have been in a hotel which was evacuated which would be a complete nightmare if you had left a child alone.......

flaime · 03/03/2010 20:22

My M&D were staying in a small hotel and found a kid about 3 or 4 years old walking down the stairs on his own looking for his mum and dad.

The staff found the parents who didn't bat an eyelid as they knew 'most' of the guests staying there so thought it was no bid deal. My parents were not part of that party and were really upset by it. What is so clever about sitting and getting drunk whilst your kid is left to do whatever?

I've had to leave parties early because we have kids but hey, that's life for the next few years, get over it!

Orangesarenottheonlyfruit · 03/03/2010 20:40

Agree with Ms Obama!

Surely Godwin's Law could be extended to include MM on hysterical parenting forums.

LadyBiscuit · 03/03/2010 20:51

I would, but if you are worried, then book a babysitter with Sitters - they are a really good service and a CRB checked pro child carer will spend the evening in your child's room.

I am soooooooo bored by MMcC being mentioned every time this topic comes up

iliveingroundhogday · 04/03/2010 12:34

www.sitters.co.uk

www.emergencychildcare.co.uk

they'll be happy to stay in your hotel room. Sure, there's a price to pay, but it's worth it if it means your dc is safe

bacon · 14/03/2010 15:47

The trouble is everyone is throwing the Maddy into the equation. Probably a one in a million chance and in my lifetime this was the only case I have ever heard. Secondly they were in a restaurant in view of the room and I wonder how many thousand of parents used to do that without a thought or worry???

Last year we eat in a restaurant opposite the room and it was very much in view (extremely close) and we checked every half hour.

I never take children out to dinner in the evening its far to stressful and at 2 too much taking into account how shattered they can be and I think its cruel to push them around when they need the bed. We wouldnt like it would we?

I did the baby listening in the UK at Bedruthan steps and it was fab!

Yes, there is a risk associated more with fire than abduction and should the child wake up and panic.

I assume in are talking about a UK hotel? If you were in the hotel and get guarantees that the baby listening is good, you can take it in turns to check then I dont see a problem.

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