Where does your 2-3 year old sleep

[cruzinlisa]

Okay, in April we are sailing on Carnival Conquest, in an inside. I believe it has an upper for the third person. DD will be 2 when we sail. She is very petite for her age (less than 20 pounds at 19 months). She currently sleeps in a crib at home, although I hope she will have graduated to a toddler bed by that time.

I am afraid of heights and DH is not a small guy, so I am not sure that either of us will sleep on the upper. We could have DD sleep with us, which would be doable, but probably not comfortable. We may be able to get one of the cribs, but she will probably be too big for it.

 

I am thinking about getting one of the travel beds to take with us. I also figured it would be nice for other trips, once she outgrows the pack n play. Any suggestions? I suppose if all else fails we can make a pallet on the floor. :)

 

I know its early but I am asking now because we are going to my mom's in a few weeks so I was thinking about getting a travel bed now to try it out and get her used to it.

[karinvt]

We are sailing with our 4 year old next month in the same room set up. I am really hoping he will sleep in the upper but I know he will probably sleep with us some nights.

 

You might want to call Carnival, I have seen other posts where Carnival has provided a crib in the room. I do not know if they charge but that may be a good option.

[cb at sea]

If your child is as small as you say, she'll do fine in a crib or P&P....or, you could take the mattress off the upper and put it on the floor! I wouldn't bring a bed...too much trouble for 1 week...

There is no charge for cribs or P&Ps.

[alise007]

A lot of times even now for my 4 yr old --who is a restless sleeper--- I make a pallet on the floor between the 2 hotel beds and add some extra pillows.

 

 

It might be easier to do that than to haul extra equipment with you!

[Onessa]

Most inflatable toddler beds even uninflated are relatively large -- if you are flying to port think about how it may impact your luggage costs. But if you travel alot, an inflatable toddler/child bed makes sense. My cousin has one that she brings with on road trips. Aerobed, Shrunks, and Cozy Kidz all offer them -- my cousin has had the Shrunks one for a while now.

[Mom2B&Z]

Our DS2 slept on the pull out sofa when he was 3. IMHO I wouldn't put a child that small on an upper berth, if the ship started rocking I would be terrified. If I were in your situation, I'd have the child sleep with us, or find a way of having them sleep closer to the ground.

[rebeccalouiseagain]

Yes- I agree with you on the upper berth. My son insisted on sleeping up there on one of our cruises (he was 8) and I think I slept with one eye open! When he was a toddler- I actually slept in the upper berth and he slept in the beds pushed together with his father.

[cincele]

You might want to speak with Carnival. A lot of the triple rooms have a pull out sofa that converts to an extra bed or a bed that pulls out from under the twin beds, rather than the pullman bed. Hopefully, it would be easy to just move you to a triple that is more accomodating for your family.

[cruisegalsince77]

There are lots of posts on this here on CC. One of my favorite suggestions is to turn around the sofa or loveseat in your cabin and make a bed out of that. She won't roll out because the back of the sofa will be facing the room and the low side will be facing the wall.

Or she can sleep with you. I have also used the toddler Aerobed and it works great. Also check out something called a PeaPod?(I think) Travelbed/tent thing.

[B_Mc]

ODS was 22 months and 33 lbs and he slept in a PNP just fine! Remember to bring your own sheet - what RCI provided was crap.

[Keith1010]

I would try to find a room with a pullout sofa.

 

Keith

[Julienatul]

Pull the made up mattress off the upper bunk and place it on the floor at night and it works perfect! It snot heavy and very easy to do. Thats what we did for DD when she was two. Then just put it back in the morning and the steward will put it back into the wall until the evening. We jusr did naps in the stroller or our bed.

[jules1121]

When we cruised when DD was 1 and again when she was 2 yrs we used a portable crib provided by Carnival (after age two they will not guarantee a crib but they did have one for us). When we traveled right after DD turned 3 she slept on the sofa in the suite that turned into a bed. We just pushed the coffee table and chair against the bed so she couldn't roll out. We are cruising again next month and we plan to bring her toddler air mattress which rolls up pretty small. The room we will have (first time in a non-suite with the kids) will have one upper (DS will sleep in that) and a trundle bed for DD. We will probably use the air mattress because it is smaller than the trundle (also trundle has a metal frame and lots of people have complained of bumping shins - no thank you) and when we went to NC lasty month DD used her air mattress for 3 nights without a wake up or a complaint (even slept in!!). We would love for her to repeat that kind of sleeping on the next cruise! :p

[Prinycesa07]

This was a huge reason we booked a balcony for our cruise next weekend. The insides didnt have a couch. My 2.5 yr old will sleep on the couch. If we had to book an inside she would have just slept with us. No way would i put her on the top bunk.

[Showtune]

I'm the user that has recommended the PeaPod Plus in the past. We love it and so does DS. He's slept in it easily since the age of 2. It packs flat. It takes up less floor space than a mattress, but with an inside cabin, I'd recommend picking it up and storing it on the bed when not in use. One of the best things about it is that it blocks the kid's view and filters some of the light. Many kids will sleep in their tent even if the light is on in the room. Alas, my DS isn't one of those, but your millage may vary!

[cruzinlisa]

There are lots of posts on this here on CC. One of my favorite suggestions is to turn around the sofa or loveseat in your cabin and make a bed out of that. She won't roll out because the back of the sofa will be facing the room and the low side will be facing the wall.

Or she can sleep with you. I have also used the toddler Aerobed and it works great. Also check out something called a PeaPod?(I think) Travelbed/tent thing.

 

The room we have does not have a couch unfortunately and we would have to upgrade to another room type (in a less desirable location) to do so.

I thought about the Pea Pod. it looks interesting in pictures but was hoping someone had one to tell me about it.

 

She can sleep with us or on a pallet on the floor- maybe. We will have to see. I would not trust her to do that now, but who knows.

[cruzinlisa]

I'm the user that has recommended the PeaPod Plus in the past. We love it and so does DS. He's slept in it easily since the age of 2. It packs flat. It takes up less floor space than a mattress, but with an inside cabin, I'd recommend picking it up and storing it on the bed when not in use. One of the best things about it is that it blocks the kid's view and filters some of the light. Many kids will sleep in their tent even if the light is on in the room. Alas, my DS isn't one of those, but your millage may vary!

 

Can you tell me about it? How big is it? Is it a pain to lug around. We are driving, not flying so we can have the space, but hauling around a bunch of luggage, toddler and stroller is not my favorite way to spend my time so I HOPE to try to travel as light as we can. :rolleyes:

[Showtune]

Sure. It's a large oval footprint when opened. It comes with its own air mattress that's about 2 inches thick when inflated, and sleeping bag that fits inside. We've never used the sleeping bag, because it would be too hot. We use a crib sheet over the air mattress and place it inside the tent. I think it came with a small hand operated pump, too.

 

When folded, it is a large flat circle (maybe 18-20 inches in diameter) and has its own carrying bag. There's enough room in the carrying bag for the sheet and pump if you leave the sleeping bag out. We put a small stuffed animal in there too, and my DS likes to carry it. If you have a stroller with you, it will easily loop over the handles.

 

I would check the dimensions online before you buy. We went with the slightly larger and more expensive PeaPod Plus model, in the hopes that we can use it longer.

[092306]

We're going to put our son in bed with us, easiest thing to do. He's 2 now, but from what I recall of the Carnival cribs, he would probably still fit so it might work for your daughter since you're looking to pack light. You can have them set up the crib and if it doesn't work out then the worst that happens is your room steward removes it.

[ArchMom]

Hey - saw this thread, and thought of potentially getting the peapod. May still get it for our oldest, but in researching saw a review on amazon that was a bit disturbing. I understand I can't post links on CC, but if you search google for peapod recall, you'll see the report indicating you may not want to use it for babies. Just FYI. Like I said, we're still considering for older.

[Showtune]

ArchMom- I've read that review too, and I agree with the warning. I would NOT use the PeaPod for an infant.

[milton333]

DS slept between us when we sailed when he was 20 months. We'll be sailing on Disney when he's 3, which has smaller queen beds (the twins pushed together are closer to king sized, but Disney Dream beds don't separate, just twins), and the plan is for DS to sleep in bed with one of us, while the other sleeps on the pull-out sofa.

[tikcho]

On our first and second cruises our son was 11 months and 2 years old respectively and both times we brought a pack-n-play and he slept there. With that said, I'd carefully look at the layout of the cabin to determine if there will be space to place the pack'n'play. We were on Princess and they have something which resembles and open walk-in closet (no door) and we placed the crib there. Worked perfectly. When he was older he would sleep either between us on the big bed (not very comfortable for anyone) or on the bed with me while my husband slept on the upper bed (not very romantic). Now that he is 5 he sleeps on the upper bed but I feel that for younger kids it is not very safe plus if they wake up in the darkness in the middle of the night they may forget where they are and fall off

[tkportersat]

I am in the same predicament and we are traveling on the Magic in 23 days....we are just going to figure it out when we get there. My son is 2 1/2 and is very wiggly and a climber, the upper will definitely not work as he has fallen out of his toddler bed a few times.

 

The peapod folds down to the size of a large purse, we had one but my son will not stay in it peacefully any longer and wants to bust out...sold it at the garage sale we just had.

 

Unfortunately some are suggesting the sofa but there isn't one in this room.....and I don't know if there would be much room for a pallet or mattress on the floor unless beds are kept apart.

 

So...he will probably either sleep with us with beds pushed together or we will do twin set up and let him have a bed with me in a bunk bed. Not the best set up but honestly we never let him sleep with us at home and don't really want to start now and have to try to break that when we return home.

 

Can you tell me about it? How big is it? Is it a pain to lug around. We are driving, not flying so we can have the space, but hauling around a bunch of luggage, toddler and stroller is not my favorite way to spend my time so I HOPE to try to travel as light as we can. :rolleyes:

[tkportersat]

I broke down Saturday and got the balcony....the price difference between inside and balcony had dropped to $349. I am hoping everything I read here about toddlers and balconies is true and he won't be able to get the door open. :o

 

I am in the same predicament and we are traveling on the Magic in 23 days....we are just going to figure it out when we get there. My son is 2 1/2 and is very wiggly and a climber, the upper will definitely not work as he has fallen out of his toddler bed a few times.

 

The peapod folds down to the size of a large purse, we had one but my son will not stay in it peacefully any longer and wants to bust out...sold it at the garage sale we just had.

 

Unfortunately some are suggesting the sofa but there isn't one in this room.....and I don't know if there would be much room for a pallet or mattress on the floor unless beds are kept apart.

 

So...he will probably either sleep with us with beds pushed together or we will do twin set up and let him have a bed with me in a bunk bed. Not the best set up but honestly we never let him sleep with us at home and don't really want to start now and have to try to break that when we return home.