Pesach Hotel with toddlers

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 9:19 am

How much they’ll charge you for them?
If the rooms can accommodate 2 cribs
If they have daycamp and/or babysitting and if there is additional charge (babysitting is usually additional)
What toddler friendly activities or attractions are either on site or close by
Will you need a fridge in the room, will they have one
Will they have milk (if needed) available for bottles
Do they have bathtubs

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 9:46 am

Ruchel wrote:

DO THEY ALLOW LITTLE KIDS AT THE TABLE ON CHAGIM
I had to fight to have my little kids for shabbes. People wanted quiet, they let them in the rooms. But I didn't want.

What?? I’ve been going away for Pesach for 25 years and have never heard of this! Pesach dining rooms are always teeming with children!

amother

Linen

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 9:54 am

Take along a double stroller. Be ready to be on your feet all yom tov. Take along to the meals blankets, snack, bottles, toys whatever you may need so you shouldn't have to be going to the room every time you need something. Dont expect it to be easy at all.

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 11:23 am

teachkids wrote:

What is the arrangement for Sedarim. Will you be able to get a babysitter reasonably, or will you have to stay upstairs with sleeping children?

3rd option. Many babies sleep in stroller at the table

None of these are ideal.

amother

Turquoise

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 11:26 am

Find out if you can book a babysitter now, in advance, for every night. That's often the most reliable way of making sure you have one, and is nice consistency for the kids. That also gets you to events on chol hamoed, and more importantly, to meals and sedarim on Yom Tov. When we didn't do this, we were often told that all the sitters were booked whe we asked for one for a particular night. BTW, in some hotels, there are different babysitters for the sedarim.

And make sure the babysitter will be in your room and just for you. There are places that will book one sitter for several rooms close by om the same hallway and have them watching them all by going back and forth.

Early childrens dining is a really good thing to have. Get to it early to make sure there is food left. Expect a bit of a balegan sometimes- go with dh and have one of you sit with the kids and one get the food. Alternatively, you may be able to just send one of you to get the food and bring it back to the room, or to wherever you want to eat.

Get a fridge for your room, with enough time to clean it. Bring extras of things you kids like (yogurts, fruit) and store for when they aren't beong served. If someone wakes up really ealry and wants breakfast, you want to have something to eat. This also lets you store milk.

Definitely clarrify the age requirements for daycare/camp!

amother

Blue

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 1:43 pm

pesek zman wrote:

3rd option. Many babies sleep in stroller at the table

None of these are ideal.

Strollers at the table work great for babies, not for toddlers. I have found Pesach at a hotel with an overtired toddler to be difficult.

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 1:53 pm

amother wrote:

Strollers at the table work great for babies, not for toddlers. I have found Pesach at a hotel with an overtired toddler to be difficult.

I hear you. I go away every year. Last year my 3 year old slept in the stroller at the table though.

mha3484

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 1:58 pm

It also depends on how flexible your kids are in general when it comes to sleeping outside of a bed. My oldest was okay at it but once number 2 and 3 came we really had stopped going out for night meals so they never really got used to sleeping in anything other then a bed. If I tried getting them to sleep in a stroller in a loud room no go it would be a huge fail. I have friends whose kids would be totally fine with it.

amother

Linen

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 2:13 pm

Amother blue, my 5 year old has slept in a stroller. If the child has their blanket/stuffed animal it shouldn't be an issue. A stroller is also important for keeping the kids contained and easy transport, not just for sleeping.

SuperWify

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 2:55 pm

Wow! Didn’t think of all this!

Following... thanks for the great tips so far.

Last year baby refused to sleep at the Seder in a carriage. Was a nightmare.

This year will be a different hotel and he’ll be a toddler plus very jet lag. I’m going to find out about the bsbysitting- thanks!

All I can say is if you need hot water in your room make sure to bring a small pesach urn or ask the organizers if they provide.

Reminder that everyone must clean out their chometz bags (like from the flight) before pesach starts... you could say we had an incident... better yet (and probably the smartest) don’t bring any chometz into the hotel at all.

amother

Blue

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 2:56 pm

amother wrote:

We don’t have a stroller anymore because my three-year old wasn’t using it for anything, not for sleeping or strolling. When we go out DC either walks or scoots. DC did not sleep in the stroller last year at a Pesach hotel when we were still using it for walks. DC doesn’t like stuffed animals/blanket to hold!

I personally don’t like the idea of a stranger looking after my child so wouldn’t choose the babysitting option.

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 2:57 pm

I can’t argue that going to a hotel is harder than staying home. The months of cleaning and all the cooking is less acutely hard than going away, but it’s still hard! Pesach is hard. Toddlers are hard. Putting them together is hard. For me, I prefer hard when I’m eating food I didn’t have to cook and sleeping in a bed I didn’t have to make. But everyone is different and going away isn’t to everyone’s liking

amother

Blue

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 3:03 pm

pesek zman wrote:

Last year we did half and half. Being at home for the sederim was much easier with a toddler than at an hotel and my DH and older kids could enjoy it more. And then we went away second half because I didn’t feel like making two more days of Yom Tov but I didn’t have the pressure of needing to stay up late. When our toddler needed to sleep, either myself or my DH took them to bed.

pesek zman

Mon, Dec 10 2018, 3:08 pm

amother wrote:

To me, that’s double work. My parents did that once with us when we were kids and swore never again: having to clean/cook AND pack?! But everyone’s needs and preference are different