michellemck99

Does anybody have a toddler bed that they like to take for use during hotel stays (or anywhere away from home, for that matter)?

I bought this one from One Step Ahead, but the mattress was really rather flimsy, as was the sides of the contraption.

An inflatable type bed like this one might be the next thing to try.

Any recommendations? Thanks!

baglady

I bought both of these and have been very disappointed in both. One thing we've done is if the room has a sofa - we take a toddler bed sheet which fits over the cushions - drape a blanket across the top and back up chairs to provide a barrier. If it's for a night, we usually put her in bed with us - not ideal and we tend to not get much sleep! If it's longer than that, we've been getting 2 connecting rooms and her sister and she each get a bed and we build a pillow fort around her. Again, I still don't get much sleep because I get up and check on her constantly!

Sarah Hanel

How old is your child? If she or he is on the younger side of the toddler age you may want to see if the hotel will provide you with a large crib and then, if they are not provided, get plenty of towels to use as bumpers. If he or she is too big for that a roll away bed may do since they tend to be rather low. Alternatively you can get extra pillows and use them to make a pocket in the middle of the hotel bed. In my case my daughters, who are 4, always end up next to me no matter what I do so I now just get a king sized bed and we all sleep together. I am always amazed by how my girls who are so petite can manage to take up an entire king sized bed between them leaving me with a thin strip in the middle.
Good luck

Sarah Hanel

.....or Kelly or Birkin?

baglady

LOL

michellemck99

Thanks to you both.

Maybe there's nothing out there for me. My kid is just over 2 - so certainly on the younger side - but the last time I was in a hotel a month or so ago I got one of those white iron cribs and there wasn't a lot of room for him in it (he's a bit tall for his age). Plus, I am going to be delivering my second kid here next week and so I was hoping to avoid having to request two cribs for my two boys when we are traveling for Thanksgiving.

This seems like such a good thing for someone to sell! I certainly don't want to put him on a rollaway, that high off the floor. The couch + bumpers (towels or extra pillows) might be the ticket.

(Oh and, why yes, I am VERY excited to be traveling over Thanksgiving with a 3 week old son....why do you ask???)

jonesing

Congrats on the new addition!

We've had good luck with Westin's Heavenly Cribs for BabyJ, er BigBoyJ who is also 2 and tall. When he was a little baby, we used a Graco Travel Lite crib which worked like a charm! About 30% lighter and smaller than the full sized play yards. We bought a duffel bag for it for a little extra protection when flying.

mechteach

I agree with the others that for a 2 yo, you can easily improvise a bed, but I do want to say that we had the second bed that you originally linked to (the blue inflatable one), and I actually really liked it. We almost never took the pump with us - it's just extra space and weight, and an adult can easily blow up the bed in < 10 minutes (although I was always a little winded at the end!). Rolled tightly, the uninflated bed takes up about 40% of a rollaboard.

We hauled that bed around three continents with us, and it finally sprung a leak after about a year of decently heavy use. It is a comfortable bed, and my 2 yo daughter did really well in it. A heavy tosser-and-turner could roll out, but the sides are high enough to contain most sleepers.

txskygal

Wouldn't a simple pallet made up of blankets and pillows be sufficent? I've slept on many a pallet in my day, and toddlers don't seem to be too picky. Just don't step on him!

Uniter

I've got the inflatible bed from One Step Ahead and it's awesome .. the only problem we had is that the inflater stopped working after a few years and we had to get another one (bought one at Target for about $10).

My son used it from age 2-4 and we hope to use it for my almost one year old when she gets a bit older.

themicah

How bulky and heavy is the inflatable OneStepAhead bed (with pump)? Can you easily pack it in a small suitcase with the kid's other stuff?

zansu

Just pull the mattress off of the rollaway bed or sleeper couch, and put it on the floor.

No muss, no fuss.

fleet7

Hi - would you consider a sleep sheet? It is a single sheet with a vest type thing (?) attached. The sheet fits over any single bed and the toddler goes inside the vest. They can roll from side to side, sit up but just can't stand or fall out of bed for that matter. Then all you need to pack when you go away is this sheet.

I'm not sure if they are available in the US but if you think you like the look of it PM me and I could help get you one. I haven't used them but I've got friends who have and swear by them.


http://www.thesleepstore.co.nz/shop/...ml?id=7dtRRsmj

Have just re-read the website and I see that they will ship overseas.

michellemck99

Hi all,

Wanted to pop in and post that we are currently traveling with the second link from my original post (the OneStepAhead inflatable bed) and so far so good. The bed plus pump comes in its own case and is around the size of a standard sized bed pillow folded in half, something like that. We have not had any leaks thus far, knock on wood. Also, we thought at first the pump was faulty, as it was seemed to be losing power immediately, but we figured out that it needed to be charged up, and was shipped with a low charge. After charging it up, it seems fairly powerful.

We are successfully traveling this Thanksgiving week with the toddler in this bed and my newborn three week old son in the Pack-and-Play. Other than the fact that there's no space on the floor, we're doing well with this set up!

Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions.

ancac22

This http://www.portable-bed.net/2013/04/...ve-some-money/ is a great portable bed for kids.