no blackout curtains on holidays-could anyone give advice on how to deal with this?

[alibo]

will be going away in August for a week, am getting a bit worried as ds will only nap in cot in darkened room. Has anyone got round this on holiday?

Take a thick picnic blanket/rug, which you'll probably need anyway, and drape it over the curtain rail as an extra blackout.

I had some leftover blackout fabric and a roll of sellotape which I used to take with us when kids were small. Then I just taped the fabric up as best I could. Otherwise a dark towel will do well too.

I was going to suggest hanging a towel over the rail, but someone has already suggested similar!

i actually took some blackout lining with us!
we all have blackout blinds at home so the loose linings are just in a cupboard. as we were staying in a caravan i knew the windows would be small so took the linings. did 2 jobs in one really as kept the heat out. we put 'em up on day one and just left them there

Bin liners taped up at the windows work every time (and are light to pack!)

Definitely take something with you as suggested. We just had a week away and ds2 was up between 5.30 and 6 every day - as soon as we got home and he was back in his blacked out room he went back to an 8 - 8.30 wake up.

I agree with all the others. My last trip to my mums blackout-free house saw dd up at 5.30am every morning which she normally NEVER does. So this time when visiting MIL (also blackout-free) I took a length of blackout cloth and draped it over the window and dd woke up at her usual time.

Yep, we also take a length of blackout material with us and tape it up or use fine map pins. Works a treat and is not expensive. We bought quite a big piece so as to cover windows big or small!

Have a good holiday.

Yeah can I ask though what you do when you are in a tent we just went camoing at the wknd and dd wouldn't settle mumbled for 2 hours til it got dark! She was then very miserable the next morning as had a late night - Any suggestions for next time, we are going for a week. DD is 16 months and in travel cot. Thanks

Thanks for advice, where can you buy blackout lining on its own and whats the best way to fix it to the window? Next problem, how to tackle remarks from mother and sister as they cannot understand why he needs it to be darker to sleep well? They think it is over the top and that babies should be able to sleep well, light or dark!??

For the tent... what about a face mask? DS found it difficult to go to nap/sleep when we were travelling, one day I was so tired that I lay a bib over his eyes and he immediatly stop crying and went to sleep, now I carry a face mask but only use it when I have him in my lap or close proximity as I know the cord can be a problem.

Suitable for midday naps but definitively not for nights

NOt for the tent... just when very near to you (as when having lunch at a terrace with the pushchair at the side of a the table.

alibo, I have the same comments from my in-laws, it used to bother me, now I just smile sweetly and walk away when they come out with unwelcomed comments! They've since stopped but I'm sure they talk about me behind my back.
I just think, well if they'd like DS for the day and try to get him to sleep in the bright light then they are more than welcome to him

I agree wellsie, we just visited MIL who made numerous comments about my arriving with blackout material (including an absurd suggestion that it would pull her curtain railing down ). But I thought well, let them all get up at 5.30am when she wakes with the dawn if they want to.

alibo, we bought ours from John Lewis but I would think you could get it from anywhere that sells curtain fabric. As for fixing it, as I said tape or pins. We usually use pins, very fine map pins so the holes aren't noticeable. It's quite heavy so these keep it in place well (but take tape in case you can't put pins into whatever the window frame is made of).

As for the remarks, suggest that mother and/or sister get up with your ds when he wakes at the crack of dawn every morning, while you have a lie-in (after all, you are supposed to be on holiday aren't you? ).