As we head into prime vacation season, here’s a bit of advice if you’re staying at hotels with your kids. First, know that it’s often no more expensive to stay at a all-suite hotel than a single-room one. Having a “living room” space can be good if you don’t want to bed down at the same time as your kids.
Second, remember to bring a nightlight, if your child is used to one. Hotel rooms are usually quite dark, but the desk lamps are often too bright to work as nightlights. If you don’t want to risk breaking a regular nightlight bulb, even packed in several layers of socks, try a book light or small flashlight instead.
I speak from experience here. I’m not used to packing a nightlight, since most of our overnight trips are to visit my parents, who have nightlights galore. On a recent trip elsewhere, however, my partner and I ended up cosleeping with our three-year-old for the first time, and leaving the door to the suite bedroom open and the bathroom light on. It wasn’t so bad, but a nightlight might have let him fall asleep on his own while we read in the other room. (A light would not, however, have prevented him from waking up at 5:45 a.m. to proclaim “It’s day! Wake up Mommy and Momma!”)
