Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

Small babies and wedding receptions

35 replies

Smiler2 · 06/04/2004 12:41

Have just found this site - isn't it great?!

Have a dilemma I'm hoping folk can help with. We're off to a wedding reception in a hotel in a fortnight. Do people think it's acceptable to put a sleeping baby down in a hotel room and then to leave baby alone while parents go back for speeches etc if baby is checked periodically? Any other advice about coping with weddings would be appreciated! dd is 4 months old and sleeps quite reliably when down.

OP posts:
Twinkie · 06/04/2004 12:44

I'd put her in her pushchair by my table - don't think I would leave her on her own - if she wakes just after you have checked her it is an awful ong time for her to be fretting until you go up again!!

If they have invited you and they know you are bringing DD they have to expect some noise from her or even you moving about to sort her out IMO!!

dinosaur · 06/04/2004 12:47

Hi Smiler2, yes mumsnet is great and I am a complete addict.

I may well be overly fussy but I think I would be uncomfortable about leaving a sleeping baby alone in a hotel room unless it is slap bang next door to the reception area so you can check on baby every five minutes. Otherwise I think I'd just spend the whole time fretting about fires, someone breaking in to the room, baby waking up in a strange place and crying... If your baby will sleep in a buggy, I'd be more inclined to do that, and leave buggy slightly away from the main reception area but within view and earshot.

Have you asked whether the hotel has a baby-listening service?

bossykate · 06/04/2004 12:50

hi smiler, only if there is a baby-listening service, or you bring your own monitor and it works over the required range. otherwise, i think you would need to do what others suggest and put her to sleep in her buggy.

have a good time

Original poster
Smiler2 · 06/04/2004 12:50

Good advice Twinkie! Yeah, had wondered about just having her in her bouncy chair thing by our table. Reckoned loads of people must have done this sort of thing before. Had heard that some hotels do some sort of baby listening service so will need to see if this one does. Thanks.

OP posts:
Original poster
Smiler2 · 06/04/2004 12:55

Thanks everyone! Sometimes it's difficult to decide whether you're being too fussy about things or if this is the sort of thing that everyone does. Feel a bit like a bad parent for suggesting it!

OP posts:
LIZS · 06/04/2004 12:58

Hi smiler2, welcome to MN !

It is a real dilemma. We have left kids in rooms with baby listening facilities but not until a bit older than your dd, so they really would sleep through, and only in one hotel in UK. Not sure you will enjoy it if you are wondering all the time. Is the hotel small enough, or a bedroom near enough, that you could use a Baby Monitor ? Otherwise I think I'd go for the buggy option - you could always wheel her to the back for speeches so that if she stirs you can easily take her out.

Lara2 · 06/04/2004 13:23

I took 3 month old DS1 to a wedding by myself (DH was ill)and kept him with me and went to BF him in a private room later. He was in his carseat and no trouble. Did get a td grizzly at one point, but a walk up and down in the hotel sorted it out.

twiglett · 06/04/2004 13:26

message withdrawn

SoupDragon · 06/04/2004 13:51

When he was 2y10mths, DS1 fell asleep at a wedding and we put him under a table in a corner You could just see his feet poking out! We just warned people he was there and kept an eye on him. DS1 (10 months) was asleep near the bar in his pram.

Sorry, not much help for a 4 month old. I'd keep her with me - she should stay asleep in her pram quite nicely and you won't need to worry about her.

elliott · 06/04/2004 13:58

welcome to you - should warn you that even the most innocent of questions can spark off, ahem, vigorous debate here - in fact I'm sure we've had one on this very subject!
anyway to answer your question - I took ds1 to a wedding at 7 months and put him down in our room with a baby monitor on so that we could enjoy the evening celebrations. It was all absolutely fine and I didn't have any qualms about it at all. It was a fairly small hotel, I'm not sure if there was anyone staying who wasn't part of the wedding party.
I think my choice would largely be based on whether your baby sleeps easily in such an environment - if so, then no problem keeping her with you. My ds1 would have been a total nightmare so it was much better for all of us to have him sleep elsewhere. Oh, and although we had a monitor on, I'm not entirely sure how effective it was - I did check every so often as well - but it did make me feel a bit better about it!

Browbeaten · 06/04/2004 14:01

DS was 10 weeks old at my brother's wedding and I kept ds in his car seat during the meal and speeches where he snoozed quite happily.

SoupDragon · 06/04/2004 14:14

If you're using a monitor, put something like a ticking clock next to it or leave a radio on quietly so you know it's working.

Bozza · 06/04/2004 14:56

Took DS to wedding when 6 months. Kept him with us during day which was a bit of a problem because he's always been one for sleeping in a bed. Eventually he fell asleep and was laid in his pushchair during speeches. In evening put him to bed in travel cot in room with baby monitor. Wasn't sure baby monitor was working so kept checking him (PILs were also at night do so shared duties). He was by this point fairly reliable at sleeping through until the early hours.

Tinker · 06/04/2004 16:15

I took my daughter to a wedding when she was 11 weeks old and kept her in her car seat. Can't say I found it a very relaxing occasion though.

Original poster
Smiler2 · 06/04/2004 20:56

Great to hear everyone's experiences - so helpful to get an idea of what works and what doesn't. I'm hoping that this will mean we'll enjoy the whole occasion a bit more...will share our own experience at a later date! Thanks all.

OP posts:
tabitha · 06/04/2004 21:05

Hi Smiler,

I would (and have) left a baby sleeping in a hotel room in similar circumstances although it was a small hotel and not too far from function room to bedroom.
I think you should do what you feel most comfortable with, ie if as dinosaur says you would be constantly fretting about your dd and wouldn't be able to relax and enjoy yourself, there's no point leaving her in the room. Similarly, if you wouldn't be able to enjoy yourself with your dd in a buggy or carseat at your table, in case she couldn't sleep and started crying because of the noise or in case someone bumped into her, then you might be better leaving her in a quiet bedroom.

Original poster
Smiler2 · 06/04/2004 21:12

Yeah, that's what I was worried about Tabitha - that dd just wouldn't sleep in noisy reception room and we'd spend hours walking up and down with her. Whereas I know that once she's alseep that's her for most of the night so had thought that a couple of hours in quiet bedroom would be okay. Reassuring to know that you have done a similar thing. As with others, think hotel will be exclusively booked so not too worried about random people. But will see when we get there I guess, and if our room is miles away for instance, we'll probably just keep her with us - thanks for the advice.

OP posts:
Hulababy · 06/04/2004 21:15

Friend of ours left their Ds when little in the room, and carries a baby monitor around. Rememeber it clearly being propped up on the bar Might be worth checking.

Codswallop · 06/04/2004 21:17

I am sorry but a 4 moth old called tabitha sounds utterly delicious.

Codswallop · 06/04/2004 21:18

whre is i the wedding? I'll have her!

miranda2 · 06/04/2004 21:21

I left ds in a hotel room on the other side of a big courtyard when he was about 4 months old - i wondered why people in the bar who knew about him gave me funny looks, I didn't realise this was unusual! I was perfectly happy about doing so as i knew he always slept through. My one concern was if there was a fire, but our room was right next to the door so i figured in that very very unlikely event I'd have a fighting chance of getting to him...
I took him to a wedding at 5 weeks and kept him in a sling; but by 4 months he was in a routine and needed a dark room and cot to sleep properly.

Codswallop · 06/04/2004 21:21

smiler? not in witshire are you?

smellymelly · 06/04/2004 21:26

The problem with most hotel's baby listening services is that they only listen in periodically, i.e. every 10 or 20 mins, which is not enough for a 4 month old.

I went to a wedding reception when ds was roughly the same age and the hotel very kindly put me in the room closest to reception and then listened constantly on my baby monitor.

I generally take my kids to family parties normally and they just bed down wherever's comfortable. ( not often I hasten to add!!)

Also, I'm getting married in July and babies are being invited as they are so easy to have in car seats, bouncers etc, whereas all other children are thankfully being babysat elsewhere, except for mine of course!!!! Ooooh I'm such a meany!!

kid · 06/04/2004 21:58

I took DS to my BIL wedding when he was 4 1/2 months old. We took his car seat and he was as good as gold. Once he got tired, gave him his bottle and he slept soundly all night. We didn't stay at the hotel. We travelled home and just after we got dropped off by the coach we realised our bag was left on there, containing door keys and all of DS's bottles / milk. We ended up having to pay a locksmith £150 to break into our house at 3am, so not a good end to an otherwise perfect day!!!

MadameButterfly · 06/04/2004 22:07

Last year we went away to a hotel when DD was 8 months old. Our room was on the other side of the carpark. I just took the baby monitor with me and she was fine.

Swipe left for the next trending thread