Toddler Sleeping Arrangements

[magicbananas]

Hello,

 

Not my first cruise, but first with a toddler (18 months) is coming up. She goes to bed around 6, which is great at home, but I'm not sure what to do about it on the ship, so I'm wondering if anyone else has any experience with this. We are traveling on RCCL Grandeur of the Seas in a balcony cabin. I've never used this cruiseline, so I'm wondering if there is anywhere "out of the way" in the cabin that we could set her up to sleep so that we aren't constantly waking her up?

 

If you've ever traveled with a toddler, would you recommend trying to upgrade for space/sleeping reasons (may not be possible, we leave at the end of May)? My previous cruise was a junior suite on Carnival Pride, and there was a small vanity/closet area outside of the bathroom that would have been easy enough to put her sleeping place in (the little room, not the closet), since there was at least a door to close to provide a slight noise barrier.

 

I'm open to suggestions and any advice!

[pl281]

One thing we did was to get some magnetic hooks at a dark cloth shower curtain which we put around the pack-n-play

 

It was enough to block out the light and our little one was fine with it.

 

WOW! on having little one in bed by 6. I believe RCCL offers babysitting, if in bed that early you may want to take advantage of that.

 

The biggest thing is to be flexibly and remember you are on vacation - schedule may not be 100% like at home

[magicbananas]

One thing we did was to get some magnetic hooks at a dark cloth shower curtain which we put around the pack-n-play

 

It was enough to block out the light and our little one was fine with it.

 

WOW! on having little one in bed by 6. I believe RCCL offers babysitting, if in bed that early you may want to take advantage of that.

 

The biggest thing is to be flexibly and remember you are on vacation - schedule may not be 100% like at home

 

Thanks! So are the cabin ceilings magnetic (I assume that is where the hooks go)?

[pl281]

Every ship I've been on they are. Our little one was 20 months and we were on Celebrity - I know RCCL has tome toddler stuff on some of there ships -

 

here is a previous post I did

 

Bath Time - We were with family that had a cabin with a bath - but the general rule of thumb that i've seen posted is that if you get a small inflatable tub/pool you can use that.

 

Changing stations - We were on celebrity - but my understanding is that most of the lines don't have changing stations - we did a couple of floor changes in the bathrooms

1) We brought diaper trash bags with us

2) We planned / timed as best we could what we were doing to do diaper changes before we left for things

 

Activities - Celebrity had "toddler" time in the kids club where the under 3 (their minimum for the kids club) could come and play with the blocks and toys with a parent

 

We did a lot of walking around / exploring the ship - and we got off in every port just to walk around and have a change of scenery

 

The biggest thing I can say is be flexible and realistic as to what your child can / will do and what their attention span is. For example at meals (regardless of the buffet or MDR) my wife and I sometimes traded off walking around with little one and eating as he wasn't going to sit through that long a meal without being very unhappy

[magicbananas]

Every ship I've been on they are. Our little one was 20 months and we were on Celebrity - I know RCCL has tome toddler stuff on some of there ships -

 

here is a previous post I did

 

Bath Time - We were with family that had a cabin with a bath - but the general rule of thumb that i've seen posted is that if you get a small inflatable tub/pool you can use that.

 

Changing stations - We were on celebrity - but my understanding is that most of the lines don't have changing stations - we did a couple of floor changes in the bathrooms

1) We brought diaper trash bags with us

2) We planned / timed as best we could what we were doing to do diaper changes before we left for things

 

Activities - Celebrity had "toddler" time in the kids club where the under 3 (their minimum for the kids club) could come and play with the blocks and toys with a parent

 

We did a lot of walking around / exploring the ship - and we got off in every port just to walk around and have a change of scenery

 

The biggest thing I can say is be flexible and realistic as to what your child can / will do and what their attention span is. For example at meals (regardless of the buffet or MDR) my wife and I sometimes traded off walking around with little one and eating as he wasn't going to sit through that long a meal without being very unhappy

 

Thank you so much, that sounds easy enough to do. I am hoping that we won't be stuck on the balcony from 6 until whenever we want to sleep. :) Her early bedtime is so convenient at home, but when I realized that we would be in such close quarters, I realized it might be more difficult.

[Kerry's Girls]

Sounds like yours may be more wake-able, but I used let mine fall asleep, then put them in the stroller with a beach towel over to hide the light and wander around the ship until my bedtime. They're so zonked by the busy vacation day, they go down hard. You could walk around on deck and have a drink/look at the stars, etc if you want to keep it quiet and dark.

 

Best,

Mia

[cb at sea]

Cabins are quite tiny...there is no "out of the way" in a standard cabin...not even a balcony cabin! You can sit on the balcony, and be out of the cabin while baby falls asleep...but that's about it!

[Gardeneroflove]

What we did at 14 & 26 months, is I did bedtime with dd, while Dh went out. Since he didn't do bt at home, she freaked and wouldn't sleep. Daddy = play.

 

Once she was out, I ordered room service, sat on the balcony and enjoying my Mickey bar/warm cookies and adult drink. Then I went to sleep.

 

One night, Dh stayed in, I went to midnight release of a movie. Dd woke freaked out, wouldn't calm down, our wave phone didn't work. Fun times.

 

Rcl I think had a curtain to divide the pullout couch and bed. That was enough for dd. No curtain on ccl, but we had a suite, which had a little sitting area off the side. Still, I slept, Dh went out (I was pregnant with twins, so I slept a lot the last cruise.)

 

Other:

Rcl has toy lending from the nursary if you want to ask once on.

 

Be flexible. Dd took two naps on the ship, which let us do a bit later bedtime.

Last cruise, no nap, but she wasn't sleeping at 8pm, and she was up with the sun. I kept milk box, Cheerios, and apple in the cabin and let her play her iPad till a more reasonable hour. Overtired kid all week. (I really question why I cruise with kids!). I really suggest a nap before dinner. We did breakfast, toddler time, wake up with Disney Jr, something, food, nap time, then food/splash pad, nap before dinner, early dinner.

 

Mdr is easier than buffet. One of goes does 1st to order. After app, we walk around. On Disney this was great pic op!, then dinner. After dinner, Dh & dd leave. They walked/played. I stay enjoying dessert & coffee. Getting ice cream to go for Dh.

 

Diaper changes, at 14 months, I don't remember. I know I packed diapers, wipes, disposal bibs, swim diapers (Disney has splash pad) in a diaper box. Ebf of cruise threw box away.

 

Food- dd wanted for normal, she loved having a coffee cup of cow milk and banana before bed. Something about her asking for milk or a banana then getting it, kid was easy!

 

Downtime. I made magnets for the cabin door, and packed a few crafts/coloring/new small toys. Kid was easy though. An apple & my flip flop and she was happy.

 

Sleep- I pack dds pillowcase, blanket and she packs her bag of friends, and sippy cup then. We also have a MP3 player and speaker for lullaby music. If yours falls alseep in stroller or being carried, change into pj's after dinner, brush teeth the go for a stroller walk to see the stars /moon/water.

 

Hth

Edited April 22, 2016 by Gardeneroflove

[bcakes]

We did a cruise with my son when he was a little older than 18 months. His bedtime at home was around 7, but we found that the cruise got him so tuckered out that he did a much longer afternoon nap and then wound up staying up until 8 most nights. I brought a book-light and my husband uses a Kindle, so we just read in bed until my son fell asleep. (He slept on the pull out couch with a side rail added by our steward.) Sometimes, we would watch a movie in bed after my son was asleep and sometimes one of us would wander the ship while the other stayed behind in the cabin.

 

On our land-based vacation last year, we discovered -- much like Kerry's Girl -- that we could pop our son into his stroller once he was asleep, cover the stroller with a towel or blanket -- and go out. It was nice to have the option of having an adult dinner or just a walk in the evening.

[Foxinspace]

Might also take a white noise machine. It helps sooth out the slamming doors, people in the hallways, bumps from above and below.

 

Make sure you bring along any props from your normal night time routine. Favorite plushy, pillow, sippy cup or whatever.

 

 

Have fun!

[magicbananas]

Sounds like yours may be more wake-able' date=' but I used let mine fall asleep, then put them in the stroller with a beach towel over to hide the light and wander around the ship until my bedtime. They're so zonked by the busy vacation day, they go down hard. You could walk around on deck and have a drink/look at the stars, etc if you want to keep it quiet and dark.

 

Best,

Mia[/quote']

 

It's more the "falling asleep" that will be an issue, but I think as long as we have a visual barrier (like a curtain) we will be ok. We can always sit on the balcony until she falls asleep. I was hoping we could block off the "sitting area" so that we could sit on the bed and she could sleep in that section.

[magicbananas]

We did a cruise with my son when he was a little older than 18 months. His bedtime at home was around 7, but we found that the cruise got him so tuckered out that he did a much longer afternoon nap and then wound up staying up until 8 most nights. I brought a book-light and my husband uses a Kindle, so we just read in bed until my son fell asleep. (He slept on the pull out couch with a side rail added by our steward.) Sometimes, we would watch a movie in bed after my son was asleep and sometimes one of us would wander the ship while the other stayed behind in the cabin.

 

On our land-based vacation last year, we discovered -- much like Kerry's Girl -- that we could pop our son into his stroller once he was asleep, cover the stroller with a towel or blanket -- and go out. It was nice to have the option of having an adult dinner or just a walk in the evening.

 

I'm definitely hoping we can do the stroller thing! I have hope that as long we have "blankie" she'll be ok to sleep anywhere.

[cruiselovincouple]

This. We've used for our son for years, and now have one for our daughter. Lifesavers and then you don't have a pack-n-play taking up valuable stateroom space. No blankets/hooks/lengthy setup required. Kids go to sleep fast, we close the flaps at bedtime and open when it's bedtime for us.

 

Seriously. Best travel purchase we've ever made. My son is a tall almost 5year old and fits in the large one with plenty of room to spare.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited April 30, 2016 by cruiselovincouple

[BDsquared]

Our dd also goes to bed very early. Even now she is 6 years old, and if she is not in bed by 7, whoa, look out. :eek:

 

When she was a toddler, we learned the hard way that that we couldn't stretch her bed time, even on vacation. The nice thing was, because of the time change, her bed time was 8:00 in the ship. Not sure if that will be the case for you?

 

DH and I took turns every night. One night, I would go out, the next night it would be his turn. It was strange the first few days of that cruise, but we got used to it. We still do it this way! It works for us :)

 

We also make sure to be in the dining room as soon as they open for dinner. We always had an enjoyable dinner without the rush to hurry up and get her to bed.

 

We have a white noise app on our phone that we use with a small bluetooth speaker to block out slamming doors, etc.

 

It may take a few days to get into a groove for you guys, but you'll figure out what works best for you and your kiddo! Have a wonderful time!!

[DkswartzFamily]

A sound machine might help too- we always bring ours : )

[vaka08]

We've been on both grandeur and pride with a Toddler. At home her bedtime was 8 we would let her stay up till 9 on the cruise and it didn't affect her mood or our routine when we got home. On grandeur we had an ocean view- worst mistake cabin tiny and had nowhere to go once she was sleeping. We found a lot more for our daughter to do on the pride. As for sleeping- will she sleep in the stroller? The cabins on rccl tend to be a little smaller than carnival. We also had to put the pack n play under the tv, it was the only spot in the cabin for it- so we had the tv off every night