Sleeping Options for 2-year old

[schittenden]

My wife and I will be cruising in January with our then 27-month old son. As of now, he still sleeps in his crib at home. I'm sure he could get out of it if he tried, but he hasn't ever tried. We have a pack-n-play, but he's getting a little big for it. Last time we cruised with him, he was 11 months old. He slept in the porta-crib that Carnival provided and we had no issues. Our cabin will have one king bed and a sleeper sofa. Does anyone have any suggestions for him sleeping on the sofa? We've considered a rail like those you can get for beds at home that slips under the mattress (they're L-shaped, if that helps you visualize what I'm talking about). We also saw some blow-up bumpers that would go under the sheet. Anyone whose cruised with a child around this age have any suggestions as to what might work?

[Carolin]

I've read that parents have moved the couch so that the open end is against the wall and had the bed made up that way. Hope this helps

[Kamloops50]

My wife and I will be cruising in January with our then 27-month old son. As of now, he still sleeps in his crib at home. I'm sure he could get out of it if he tried, but he hasn't ever tried. We have a pack-n-play, but he's getting a little big for it. Last time we cruised with him, he was 11 months old. He slept in the porta-crib that Carnival provided and we had no issues. Our cabin will have one king bed and a sleeper sofa. Does anyone have any suggestions for him sleeping on the sofa? We've considered a rail like those you can get for beds at home that slips under the mattress (they're L-shaped, if that helps you visualize what I'm talking about). We also saw some blow-up bumpers that would go under the sheet. Anyone whose cruised with a child around this age have any suggestions as to what might work?

 

When our Granddaughters stay (2 & 4 yrs) stay overnight with us . They both sleep in a portable crib. It's an adventure for them to sleep in the crib at the Grandparents place.

Edited November 7, 2013 by Kamloops50

[suzyl62]

I've read that parents have moved the couch so that the open end is against the wall and had the bed made up that way. Hope this helps

 

yes we have done this many times.

[Onessa]

I've read that parents have moved the couch so that the open end is against the wall and had the bed made up that way. Hope this helps

 

yes we have done this many times.

 

Your room steward generally will help and will provide bedding and make up the "bed" like this.

 

If your sofa is a sleeper sofa, it will fold out to a double and you can use the seat cushions and request extra pillows if you choose to try to sofa as a bed. My DD was never a restless sleeper, so a standard double was fine for her (she was too long for the pack-and-plays by age 2 :))

[schittenden]

Thanks for the feedback. I was curious about that because I've seen people mention it. We might try that. It's going to be a new experience, unless we transition him out of his crib before then. I enjoy having him in his crib and having him call for us when he wakes up though. I'm not anxious for him to start wondering around the house when he wakes up--on the plus side, he doesn't know enough to be quiet and his first thought will (hopefully) be to come wake us.

[sandy toes]

Just sailed with a 2 1/2 yr old. She slept between us and also on a "blow up" sleeping bag bed unit that we purchased used from a friend. In years past we had other children that age...some slept fine on sofa with covers well tucked in (not even turned around), others we had steward bring us a bed rail that we covered with a blanket and slid under the cushions and once we had an almost 3yr old and a 4 1/2 yr old that HAD to bring sleeping bags and "camp out" on the floor for the week. There are a lot of workable options but honestly they really depend upon how your little one sleeps...restless or calm has a lot to do with it. Have a great cruise.

[Prinycesa07]

Last year my daughter was almost 3 and she slept on the sofa bed. We put the cushions around her and stacked our suitcases on the side. No problems. This year my son just turned 2 so he used the crib still, no problems with the fit. My daughter was 3.5 and we used this http://www.amazon.com/Regalo-Cot-Portable-Royal-Blue/dp/B000H1MRJO

[cb at sea]

You might consider a pool noodle....those long foam things....you can stick it under the fitted sheet, and it will form a "bumper" to keep your child from rolling out. It won't keep them from climbing out, however!

 

They are very lightweight, and can be folded to fit around the inside of a suitcase.

 

Or, put the bedding on the floor...call it "adventure sleeping"....kids love an adventure!

Edited November 7, 2013 by cb at sea

[Ashland]

When our Granddaughters stay (2 & 4 yrs) stay overnight with us . They both sleep in a portable crib. It's an adventure for them to sleep in the crib at the Grandparents place.

Your porta-crib must be a very large one :)

[flhokie]

DD was 2 years 4 months when we sailed on Allure. We had planned on her sleeping on the sofa bed (she was too tall for a pack n play), but we found on the 1st night that she didn't want to sleep on it (& it left very little room to walk when it was open). We were going to have her sleep on the sofa, but the cabin steward suggested we let her make her a little bed on the floor using the linens & comforter from the sofa bed. She was concerned about DD falling off--wasn't a high sofa & we had planned to put pillows around, but we told her we would be open to her idea. It ended up being perfect & she would make up a little bed on the floor every night.

[luvsviola]

Took my 2 year old a couple weeks ago. I used one of the blow up rails under the sheets on the sofabed. It worked perfectly for us. :) Thankfully, I found it for $5 on a local Facebook marketplace.

 

This pic is my 6 year old already asleep, but the 2 year would have gone in the open spot.

 

Edited November 8, 2013 by luvsviola

[larronry]

My son wouldn't sleep on the sofa bed and ended up sleeping between us. Only issue is when we got home he still wanted to sleep between us. :(

[keltpa]

We cruised in September with out 2 1/2 year old and are going again on a week long on Sunday. She sleeps in a toddler bed at home and has for months but we asked for a crib in our room in September and she slept in it with no problems, even though she is very tall for her age (40" at 30 months). We also brought a travel cot in case the crib didn't go well, but it did. She never tried to get out of it, even though she was CONSTANTLY climbing out of it at home before we moved her to a bed. I think she was so tired on the cruise she would have slept anywhere. I know they can accommodate anything on the cruise, but if you are concerned look at the Regalo Travel Cot on Amazon. It folds up very small with a travel bag, puts together and collapses in seconds and is only about 4" off the ground in case they fall out. My daughter uses it all the time at grandma's house and sleeps like the proverbial baby in it. Well worth the $24 as a just in case item :)

[cruisegirl06]

Our 2-year-old transitioned out of a crib this summer, meaning I had to scramble to reconfigure sleeping arrangements for our September trip (I had been planning on using pack-and-plays).

 

One hotel had the pull-out sleeper sofas, I posted on another board about if you could use bed rails on these, and general consensus was not well - but the noodle suggestion was made. I bought a noodle and, of course, left it at home. We figured we would see how it went with her on the sofa and move her to a "nest" on the found if need be (which is what we do at the grandparents' houses). The arms of the sofa act like partial bed rails, and the full size bed is so large that we had no issues with DD wiggling out - she was also exhausted from all the fun on vacation and no enforcement of bedtime (unless her behavior necessitated it).

 

We did DCL and they have a pull out sofa that converts to a single bed, they were able to put a bedrail on this, which was perfect (otherwise we would have had to get creative).

 

If he's still in a crib at home when you sail, I would try for the pack and play, although they do take up a lot of space in the stateroom (we had one when we sailed with her at 16 months and just had them leave it out all the time and our room felt tiny!)

[angromarsi]

We haven't cruised yet but I didn't see a rec my TA mentioned. He said my 23 month of nephew could sleep on the sofa bed as a sofa (ask the room steward for sheets) and ask for a pack and play to set up right in front of it to act as a barrier to prevent him from rolling out. We were also concerned he would try to climb out of the pack and play.

[Sooner-Cruisers]

We just got back from a cruise with a 2 yr old, I requested the crib mattress only and we made a bed on the floor.

[Prinycesa07]

My 4 yr old can still fit comfortably in the travel crib. She is quite short for her age though, 38 inches.

[SunnydayKim]

Here is a picture of the couch turned around in our Carnival Victory balcony room in May. Our son 2.5 years at the time and it worked out great for us both for naps and night-time sleeping: https://plus.google.com/photos/113755214272177301029/albums/5874522214918120065?authkey=COnn_qHahpCZPQ

[itsmecarrie]

Here is a picture of the couch turned around in our Carnival Victory balcony room in May. Our son 2.5 years at the time and it worked out great for us both for naps and night-time sleeping: https://plus.google.com/photos/113755214272177301029/albums/5874522214918120065?authkey=COnn_qHahpCZPQ

 

Thanks for posting the pics. I think I will do the same for our 2.5 yr old son on our upcoming cruise. He's used to sleeping on a queen mattress on the floor but he will have to make do with this. Thanks again for the great idea!

[kh6275]

My daughter has slept in the PeaPod Plus travel tent and loves it. It is just a touch smaller then a crib. I put it on the bed pushed up against the wall and sleep next to her. You have to read about the safety issues.