Taking 3 yr old on holiday - same room dilema??

My friends did this with their 3YO, but they took the pushchair ,(he is quite diddy) went out for dinner and when he got tired pushed him back, he'd fall asleep and they'd play cards/watch telly the rest of the night. Maybe ask over on BT? x

We took ours and it was fine. In fact we had our 2 yr old and 13 yr old. This year I took the 3 & 14 yr old on my own and that worked out great too.

The hotel put on some cheesy entertainment so we watched that. Other than that, take a pushchair so you can get out and about. We also took a laptop with us and some DVD's so if we did go back for an early night, then we watched DVD's and drank alcohol to our hearts content!

It's a big no from me. Personally I wouldn't take a 3yo out to sleep in a pushchair for a number of reasons and I can't think of anything worse than being stuck in a room with a sleeping 3yo, unable to do anything fun for fear of waking them but unable to leave.

Having said that, I've never seen the appeal of AI either. I would definitely go for a s/c apartment so that you can actually enjoy your evenings.

Have shared a room with T when he was a baby, but he was 14 months I think on the last holiday where he shared a room.

Now we have 2 who are 3 and almost 5 they always have their own room, whether it be in hotel (suite or adjoining rooms) or something self catering.

We share a room with Master i (aged 5) on holidays unless we're in a cottage or similar. Hotels it's always one room. We last did AI when he was 2.5 and we did do the buggy to sleep thing. He'd drop off about 8.30- 9ish (i think) and we'd park him next to us for an hour or so while we had a drink. We didn't stay out mega late ever, we usually put him in bed and had a drink in our room.

Thanks for the replies. I think O would stay away all night if we took him out in the pushchair, so there is no joy there, but we don't stay up late even before O. Might consider it

Even if you're going all inclusive if you look for places described as apartotels usually there's a kitchen/living area with a separate bedroom which works well with little ones.

We did this recently with no trouble. How we got round it was insisting LO had a late afternoon nap for a couple of hours and then he stayed up later with us and we all went to bed together at about 11pm. Worked out perfectly for us. We have also done the buggy idea with no problems too.

Clarry-Love

We have never had a problem with holidaying with the kids (5 &2). We still stay in 5* hotels . We don't eat dinner until late 8ish, so time we finish it's 9ish , go for a stroll or sit in large comfy sofas, get hot drinks & then go back to chill out at 11pm. If the kids nod off, it's no hassle putting them to bed late . I don't think I woul;d be sticking to routine & getting them to bed at 8 & then sitting in the room/patio.

Most hotels we have stayed in give 2 king size beds in room as standard. Make the most of it, it won't be long before you are charged more & put into Jnr suites as some rooms only take 2 adults. So that's why it's cheaper to go 5* as they offer larger rooms.

Delphin Palace (lara area) in Turkey is a hotel I would recommend that gives the best of both worlds as a family, it an AI basis. Baobab resort in Gran Canaria has just opened , we have stayed at the sister hotel a few times (gran melonares) & went for a look around the new one, it's layout is fab & if it's like the other 2 on the Island well worth going too.

We're doing the same this year. We've done a mix of same room and seperate rooms in the past and never had any problems with either.

The things that makes it work for us are that he can easily stay up late and come out with us (and hence we get a slight lie in in the mornings) and he can also sleep through anything so we're able to have the tv on in the room/sit chatting etc.

Dh and I got married in June and took our very nearly 3yr old dd with us.

We had a large room with two double beds, but they put a single in for dd too. We took our buggy, and dd had a nap when it got really hot after an early lunch meaning we could eat our lunch and have a bit of a sunbathe in peace!

We ate slightly later than we would at home, went for a nice walk and then watched the entertainment or had a drink in poolside bar. We also avoided resorts that were really aimed at families, although there were other children and a small pool and kids club it wasn't heaving with children (my idea of hell!). Dd was too young to go to the kids club anyway.

Make the most of it while you can!!

We went to the Dominican.

We always go Half Board so MissSun shares with us and we've never had a problem. As she gets older it gets easier. We try and get her to have a sleep in the afternoon but she won't always. She comes out with us in the evening and when she's tired she climbs in her pushchair and goes to sleep, we very often put her to bed in just her knickers after slipping off her clothes. If she's not asleep when we get back to the room then she soon is once we put her to bed.

We went away in May and the only evening she was a pain was when she was over-tired, having not napped in the day, and we'd been invited to an a la carte meal in the restaurant. It was painfully slow and she wasn't having any of it so we ate our main course and left it at that.

We're going again in October and i'm already telling her she needs a nap in the day or won't be going out dancing at night ?

I have to ask, what are the reasons?