Toddler and bed on holiday abroad?

[december2020]

We're travelling at the end of the year with DS who will have just turned 2.

I'll need to ask, but I don't think the hotel provides cots

There is a sofa bed he would sleep on, all good.
However, how do I make sure he doesn't fall out of the bed in his sleep (or when he wakes up)?

It feels like it needs a guard rail or something!

Any tips or tricks?

I don't know if there are bed rails that are safe on a sofa bed or not, I have travel bed rails for mine and put them on a single or double bed.

If not I'd put him on a travel cot if he's not too tall just for peace of mind.

Would you not be able to take a travel cot with you? When we traveled abroad with our 9 month old we took our travel cot with us and it didn't count towards our luggage allowance, might be worth checking with your airline.

Take a travel cot.

I was hoping to avoid buying and lugging a travel cot - but it seems I may need to consider this.

What guard rails did you opt for @TheAverageUser if you don't mind me asking?

Would a ready bed be a viable option?

I have this one: Safety 1st Portable Bed Rail, Toddler Bed Guard, Bedroom Accessory for Boys and Girls, Bed Rail for Toddlers, 18 Months to Five Years www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0187EEUHO/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_PVA77HE86XGRCT036P7Y?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

They're a bit of a pain because they're big!

Are you worried about him getting out or just falling? I used a pop-up tent style bed when I needed him to stay put due to no stair gate in a holiday home. They zip up and keep them 'locked' inside.

Also good for taking to the beach when you don't use it as a bed anymore.

But for hotel rooms and apartments without stairs I prefer the blow up beds.

We have used one of those inflatable beds a PP linked too with our toddler but he often ended up escaping (he's a wriggler). I actually think easiest is just a mattress on the floor so there's not far for them to fall. I was impressed that my two year old took to it so quickly and easily!

Bed sheet with a pool noodle under and along the side where the drop would be.

A tip I found handy was to roll up a big towel lengthwise, and tuck it under the mattress on the floor side; this "tips" it slightly and makes it less likely for him to roll out. Not sure this would work for a sofa bed, though.

Also, put a spare duvet on the floor for a soft landing if the worst happens.

Just buy a guard rail. If you aren’t willing to so that then one option is to buy a swimming noodle locally then you can put that under the bottom sheet and it helps. Can also use towels for this. We did that from age 3. At age 2 DD got the double bed with me and DH was on the sofa bed 😬

Plus lots of cushions on floor, even a guard rail may get bashed away!

Have a look at the holiday destination and see if you can hire something like a travel for. There are sometimes small businesses who do this sort of thing. I think one of the tour operators used to do it too

Is it not a normal single bed? We put the mattress on the floor each night and surrounded it with cushions and tidied it away on a morning.

We took a ready bed to Tenerife with us when DD was two, was much easier, or you could use the mattress from the sofa bed and put it on the floor instead

We rented a holiday apartment recently we took the sofa cushions off and placed two of them on the floor in our bedroom as a makeshift bed for DS (2.5)
I then just wrapped a spare sheet round them and he happily slept there for the full week.
He loved it so much that he was very confused/upset at nap time on our last day when his bed was no longer where he thought it was!