 | Lawana Esch is the manager at Holiday Inn Express in Miami, OK and Pittsburg KS. For more information please call 918-542-7424 or 877-863-4780. |
Travel
2012-08-02 11:23:22
How can I help my kids navigate a hotel stay?
Q- My husband and I have 4 small kids and planning our first real family vacation. Can you give me some tips on hotel stays for kids?
A- Gladly! A family vacation is an exciting time, but it can also be filled with stresses for the parents and kids alike. While the children may be anticipating all of the fun, they may also be anxious about sleeping in an unfamiliar place and afraid of unfamiliar noises.
Here are some tips to make your hotel stay fun for the kids and equally important, manageable for you.
1. Be sure to bring some of their comfort items like stuffed animals and blankets. Being away from their own bed may cause stress getting to sleep, so items that make that transition to sleep are important to have handy.
2. Get a room on the first floor. You need a lot of extra equipment traveling with children and lugging all of that around while holding on to children is no piece of cake.
3. Find out if the hotel has recreation areas and plan on a strategic use of them. An evening swim in the pool can make children so sleepy that when it is time for bed, there is little argument!
4. Bring items for personal entertainment for you and the kids. You may not all want to watch the same thing on television so electronic devises can be a real sanity saver.
5. If your kids are particularly sensitive to outside noises or the sounds you might typically hear in a hotel situation, play soft music at night to muffle the sound.
6. Put extra time into packing well. Since kids need help getting ready, make the job easy on yourself and consider packing what you need according to days. One trick of the trade is to pack an entire outfit neatly into a gallon ziplock baggie so you can grab a bag and know that you have all that you need ready. The bags always come in handy later for storing vacation treasures, dirty or wet items, or even trash.
7. Buy souvenirs ahead of time. Every parent knows how a trip can be plagued with rapid-fire requests for vacation trinkets. It is enough to make any parent want to go to their hotel room and hide for the entire trip! You can save on the stress (and expense) if you buy souvenirs ahead of time online.
I hope these tips help you have a wonderful vacation.
