Blog

Using Hotel Baby Cribs: Pros and Cons

When on vacation, it helps to know that there are baby cribs in the resort in the city you will be staying. That saves you the hassle of touring around with your own baby crib or being forced to settle your baby on a big bed with you in the resort. Even so, there are a few Do’s and Don’ts of utilizing baby cribs in resorts and paying extra attention to them might save a ton of trouble and discomfort for your infant.

1.       Phone ahead to know what size baby cribs the hotel has and take time to do a little research to see if the model they carry meets nowaday’s safety requirements. The Juvenile Product Manufacturer’s Association (JPMA) has standard safety demands when it comes to baby cribs. For example, a baby crib mattresses should under no circumstances be too soft because soft baby crib mattresses have been suspected to contribute to what is referred to as the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), which is at times caused by suffocation. There are other safety demands that baby cribs in a resort woud definitely need to satisfy in order for them to be secure enough for your infant to rest in. It is important to do your research and make sure that these requirements are adhered to.

2.       Provide your own bedding.  Don’t rely on resort crib bed linens.  Take your own, so you know it’s clean and fresh for your infant. It is by no means completely feasible to vouch for the cleanliness of a hotel’s bedding and while that can normally be ignored when it comes to your own bedding, it must not be ignored where the really sensitive skin of a child is concerned. For this main reason it is best to travel with some of your own bed linens and minimize any risk of an infection or other harm to your infant.

3.       Make sure the baby cribs in the hotel aren’t drop-side cribs and if they are, make other plans. Drop-side cribs are quite unsafe to your child as a child could really easily get stuck in the wooden slats and thus causing serious injury. Some of these injuries could be fatal. If the hotel only has drop-side cribs, you may possibly want to consider taking your own transportable crib. 

4.       Call ahead to reserve a crib in the hotel to guarantee it’s there when you get there encase your child is sleepy right away. You certainly do not want a child that is ornery from absence of sleep on your hands. This way, everything is ready for the little fellow when sleep comes calling.

5.       If you own a mobile that your baby is used to in his/her nursery, consider taking that with you to connect to the resort baby crib’s rail, so your little one has something that’s familiar in the unfamiliar environment.

6.       Ask questions regarding the baby cribs such as: how are they are cleaned immediately after they’re used, what kind of finish do they have, how old are the mattresses etc…  Don’t be nervous to ask; this is your baby and you are not about to take a chance with the safety of him or her.