Traveling with a toddler can be hectic to say the least. Last weekend we went on a last minute trip to Dallas and stayed at the Hilton Anatole. We took full advantage or their Jade Waters Resort, which allowed us to get some much needed R&R.  I wanted to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve picked up from staying in hotels with Isla, who is currently 21 months old. These are a collection of hacks that I’ve done her entire life while traveling so I know they are baby and toddler tested and approved. Without further ado, here is my guide to traveling with a toddler and the hotel room hacks that work for us!

Before you go…

1. Call ahead to see if there is a fridge in the room (if you need it).

   • Isla still drinks milk 3 times a day so we stopped at Walmart near our hotel and got some milk and some snacks that she likes. The snacks were really nice to have because Isla likes to eat breakfast as soon as she wakes up and apple slices were a nice distraction while we got ready for the day.

2. Pack a soft towel.

   • I don’t know what it is about hotel towels but they are usually the equivalent of      80 grit sand paper. Not so great for drying off the little ones. Luckily we had one of our soft unused beach towels from home and I used that to dry Isla off instead. She was already in not so great a mood because our hotel room had a shower instead of a tub. We should have asked about that before our stay but it didn’t cross my mind. She has never taken a shower and it was kind of difficult to get her long hair washed while holding her.

3. Pack a stuffed animal, blanket, pillow, or whatever will make your kiddo think of home.

   • This will make sleeping in an unfamiliar place a little less scary. I know this might seem like common sense but it might actually help for the pillow case or stuffed animal to not be freshly washed so that they smell like home a little. Isla’s stuffed bunny ends up smelling like my perfume most of the time because we all like to snuggle before bed. She doesn’t sleep as well when the bunny is fresh out of the dryer.

4. Don’t trust hotel cribs/mattresses or crib sheets.

   • I’d rather bring the pack and play and our own sheets, blanket, and pillow for Isla. If you do decide to use the hotel crib, make sure to call ahead to request one because they only have so many. Dallas is only a 3 hour drive so it wasn’t a big deal to bring our own.

5. Pack the sound machine, baby monitor, baby book, etc.

   • We used an amazing app that I’ll tell you about in a second. Bring a night time book and anything else you would use in your bed time routine at home. The key to a successful hotel stay is being consistent with the bed time routine.

6. Bring a 32oz Yeti style tumbler.

   • I fill one of these with hot water and then put Isla’s milk cup in it to warm for a few minutes. She still only likes drinking warm milk. This also works for bottles. We had a fancy bottle warmer that broke after only 6 months of use so we have been using this hack for quite a while.

When you arrive…

1.  Wipe down the surfaces, door knobs, remotes and light switches.

   • I’m not a germaphobe by any means, but I like to be sure that wherever Isla is touching has had a once over with an antibacterial wipe. I carry the travel packs of the wet ones. I keep a package in my purse, the diaper bag, and the glove box.

2. Move any unneeded furniture out of the way.

   • On the most recent trip that we took, there was a huge coffee table that needed to be moved out of the way so the pack and play had room. It makes life a little easier since a hotel room with kids can be crowded.

3. Set up the pack and play so that it was near the window.

   • I like to use the sound machine as a noise barrier in between our bed and the baby bed. It makes it easier to tune out when we have to flush the toilet or make any noise moving around. Plus, the air vents are near the window and Isla tends to get hot when she sleeps.

4. Use a baby monitor.

   • The app we used while on this last trip was the Baby Monitor 3G. If your baby has trouble falling asleep when they see other people in the room, the monitor will allow you to step out in the hall until your little one drifts off to sleep, all while you are keeping an eye on them.  The Baby Monitor 3G app costs $3.99 but you can use it with multiple devices. It has a two-way chat, video, will alert you that the baby is awake, and can even play music to calm the baby down. You just download it and open on both your phone and iPad. Set one as the parent station and one as the baby station. It works through Wi-Fi, but you can be on different networks also. So glad I found this app. It’s such a great option for when we travel instead of bringing our actual camera monitor.

5. Bring a cushy closer.

   • If you don’t already have one, you need it. They are about $10 or you can make your own. I forgot it on our last trip but I love to bring it to use on the hotel bathroom door or when we stay with our in-laws. When I get up in the middle of the night it seems like the hotel bathroom door latch is CRAZY loud. This makes things so much quieter, so we don’t wake Isla.

6. For summer trips where the family will be swimming, bring your stroller to the room.

   • Our hotel room was full of wet swim suits and towels on this trip so we used our travel stroller to hang some of them on. I hadn’t thought of this before but when traveling with a crowd there are only so many hooks and surfaces in a hotel room for towels. I even threw one on a giant lamp shade (lamp was turned off at the time).

Before Bedtime…

1. Scrubba-dub-dub!

   • We bathe Isla every single night. We don’t wash her hair every night but getting her to sleep quickly means having a clean, relaxed toddler. Lotion is also a must after her bath. Isla will drink her milk while we read a bedtime story. Usually Evan reads and I get the room ready for bedtime.

2. Darken the room.

   • I turn the lights down, close the curtains (tip: use a chip-clip or hair clip to keep the curtains completely closed if there is a small gap). Nothing is more frustrating than a little one who wakes up at 6am because a sliver of sunlight is peeking through the curtains. I also used a towel stuffed under the room door to make sure the light from the hallway didn’t come through. Just be sure to use the light from your phone to move about the room. Nobody likes a stubbed toe.

3. Prepare the next day’s wardrobe.

   • I like to make the mornings easier by laying out our clothes the night before. It always seems like it takes forever to get ready in the mornings and get out the door so I like to lay out the clothes, make sure the beach bag or diaper bag are packed and ready to go. I also plug in the iPad to charge and the camera batteries for the next day.

4. Think about sounds!

   • If we plan on staying up later while Isla is sleeping, we open all the snacks and drinks before we put her down so we don’t wake her up by opening a bag of chips or can of pop.

5. Normal bedtime routine.

   • Once we have read, given Isla her milk, sang, and prayed, we turn off all the lights, put Isla in her pack & play with her stuffed bunny and blanket and get in our bed and wait for about 10-15 minutes (usually we are scrolling Instagram while we wait for her to fall asleep). She is a sleep champ and we’ve never had a problem with her sleeping in a travel situation. I attribute this to keeping her bedtime routine the same wherever we are. That said, if you can keep the bedtime routine as close to the one you do at home as possible, the little one will know it’s time for bed.

6. Mom & Dad time!

   • When she is for sure asleep, we can break out the headphones and watch a movie on our laptops or read or whatever we feel like doing. I don’t mind going to bed early while on vacation. I’m usually ready to fall asleep after being out in the sun all day but if we wanted to, we could have gone down to the lobby for dessert or walk around a bit since we had the monitor app.

7. The lower the floor, the better.

   • One last hack that Evan likes to do when checking into the hotel is to request a lower level room. The bank of elevators at resorts can get very backed up when there are are a lot of guests. On Friday night during our time at the Anatole, they had a fireworks show. After it was over, it felt like the every single guest was in the lobby waiting for an elevator. I have never been more thankful to have just been on the third floor since we ended up taking the stairs. We were in our room in a matter of a minute or less, while everyone else waited 20 minutes or more to get a ride up the elevator to the higher floors.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this list of helpful tips. Let me know if you know of something that isn’t listed here. I can’t wait to share our trip with you soon! Isla had so much fun swimming everyday.

Be sure and check out my other posts about traveling with kids:

20 Road Trip Essentials for Baby

First Flight with Baby: Tips and Tricks

Whats in My Diaper Bag

XO, Payton