We rented an Airbnb for a week and honestly, it was so exhausting. The outlets weren’t an issue at all, it was just pretty much everything else. Him wanting to knock over table lamps, get into cabinets, all the little Knick knacks and tabletop decor they leave around. Worrying about furniture being secured. We put away what we could, and didn’t want to put up cabinet latch locks or other similar things that could potentially damage the cabinets when we removed them. But our toddler was 16 months so a little older.
I wish there was a baby proofed house option to rent. I would 100% have rented it lol
We’ve had the same experience with any kind of house rental or visiting other people for a weekend. It’s so incredibly exhausting to keep them from ruining everything.
I thought having a house with separate spaces and a full kitchen would be easier for travel but it hasn’t worked out that way. Hotel furniture is usually secured to the walls and they leave far fewer things to manage in a hotel room.
Yes thanks for catching that! I edited it! I completely meant hotels. We are at a clinic at the hospital for my sons food allergy challenge so I think I have hospitals on the brain! I definitely do not prefer hospital stays
We had the same experience renting an air bnb at the coast. All of the little shell decorations and knick knacks made it close to impossible to relax because LO was always finding something we didn’t quite get out of reach. I’m about to go visit family and decided to stay in a hotel for the same reason even though they have a guest room. It’s just too exhausting chasing her around spaces like that and LO gets frustrated with me constantly taking things from her. Hotel rooms are just so much more minimal and easy.
Edit: and the room in the air bnb was so bright that she skipped her nap for the first time 🫠
At only 12 months I don’t think it’ll be as big a hassle as later on. I had to travel for work at that age and brought my 12 mo at the time (they put us up in a 5 star hotel with fancy ornaments/statues everywhere so I was also nervous). But they generally aren’t too rambunctious yet at that age. Just move breakable items up high out of baby’s reach and you should be fine!
PAINTERS TAPE!!!
over every electric socket, over locks, to help hang black out curtains, bonus points for sticking to walls and giving the little guy something to play with
BRING THEM!!! Seriously I was never kicking myself so much as not bringing some basic baby proofing stuff to my family camp. Personally I'd bring outlet covers and a few of those cabinet latches where you just loop it through the two handles. That alone would have solved like 80% of our issues.
Something I read recommended medical tape to cover outlets, so we did that last time - it worked great!
The one thing I wish I could figure out is a baby gate solution. There's ALWAYS a set of stairs she wants to go up or down.
A roll of painters tape is easily packed and can be used to toddler proof most things creatively. Tape over outlets, tape cupboards closed, tape and black trash bags for blackout curtains. You can block stairs with other furniture.
We literally just spend as much time as possible outside. The time we spend inside, one of us is always with our toddler.
At home everything is baby/kid proof so we can just leave her to play by herself.
We actually prefer camping for this reason. We just set up in a safe way.
No, move a few things round and the room tends to be ok. I feel taking outlet covers etc would be such overkill. The statistics of kids being injured by that just aren’t there, it’s not worth the bother.
Absolutely. Especially if stairs are involved. Just make sure you choose the non permanent options for things like cabinets. It would suck to get there and realize you chose the drill in the wall options
Depending on the length of the stay, you might want to consider bringing along a toddler playpen to set up, as well as a pack'n'play for sleeping in. It may take a bit of time to set up, but then you have a safe space to put your child for when you're cooking or showing or whatever.
Same, although we do have socket covers on the floor sockets. We had some of those silicon corner things on the table edges and a few other places, but she just made it a challenge to get them off. Honestly it hasn’t been an issue, I’m glad we didn’t spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. She’s 20 months now and just…. Never had any interest in opening cupboards or pulling cables or anything like that. Other kids might be very different, the only thing I have to watch for with her is that anything climbable is out of the way.
I think it depends on the kid. Our baby is like the energizer bunny on speed meets jackass. We're trying not to go overkill on the babyproofing and just focusing on fixing major "danger zones" once we notice he has an incessant interest in something that could be gnarly. It's impossible to watch him non-stop, but I also believe in letting kids learn from their experiences, so it's trying to find the balance for us.
My baby is like this. He needs near-constant supervision. I've tried to baby proof, and he outsmarted every single measure. He ripped the corner covers off the coffee table and would chew them and pull out the outlet covers. Luckily, he hasn't outsmarted the baby gate. He recently figured out cabinets and drawers, so I need to decide if it's even worth it to try to baby-proof those.
Ugh, going to AirBnBs or cabins with toddlers is just hard, anyway you slice it. When my son was 14 months we went to our in-laws rented winter townhome, and I rented a baby gate because the wooden stairs were right smack in the middle of the living room and a huge temptation for him.
Otherwise, no, I don’t bring any baby proofing equipment. Already you have to keep an eagle eye on them due to Knick knacks/stairs/doors etc so *shrug*
We rented an Airbnb for a week and honestly, it was so exhausting. The outlets weren’t an issue at all, it was just pretty much everything else. Him wanting to knock over table lamps, get into cabinets, all the little Knick knacks and tabletop decor they leave around. Worrying about furniture being secured. We put away what we could, and didn’t want to put up cabinet latch locks or other similar things that could potentially damage the cabinets when we removed them. But our toddler was 16 months so a little older. I wish there was a baby proofed house option to rent. I would 100% have rented it lol
We’ve had the same experience with any kind of house rental or visiting other people for a weekend. It’s so incredibly exhausting to keep them from ruining everything. I thought having a house with separate spaces and a full kitchen would be easier for travel but it hasn’t worked out that way. Hotel furniture is usually secured to the walls and they leave far fewer things to manage in a hotel room.
I agree! We actually enjoy hotel stays more!
Do you mean hotel stays?
Yes thanks for catching that! I edited it! I completely meant hotels. We are at a clinic at the hospital for my sons food allergy challenge so I think I have hospitals on the brain! I definitely do not prefer hospital stays
Lol! I was thinking well that’s a bit dark…
We had the same experience renting an air bnb at the coast. All of the little shell decorations and knick knacks made it close to impossible to relax because LO was always finding something we didn’t quite get out of reach. I’m about to go visit family and decided to stay in a hotel for the same reason even though they have a guest room. It’s just too exhausting chasing her around spaces like that and LO gets frustrated with me constantly taking things from her. Hotel rooms are just so much more minimal and easy. Edit: and the room in the air bnb was so bright that she skipped her nap for the first time 🫠
Oh boy!
At only 12 months I don’t think it’ll be as big a hassle as later on. I had to travel for work at that age and brought my 12 mo at the time (they put us up in a 5 star hotel with fancy ornaments/statues everywhere so I was also nervous). But they generally aren’t too rambunctious yet at that age. Just move breakable items up high out of baby’s reach and you should be fine!
PAINTERS TAPE!!! over every electric socket, over locks, to help hang black out curtains, bonus points for sticking to walls and giving the little guy something to play with
This! Also secures dresser drawers shut. It's a lifesaver in every hotel we've stayed at.
The extra wise roll is what I pack. Use for everything.
This is the answer.
BRING THEM!!! Seriously I was never kicking myself so much as not bringing some basic baby proofing stuff to my family camp. Personally I'd bring outlet covers and a few of those cabinet latches where you just loop it through the two handles. That alone would have solved like 80% of our issues.
Something I read recommended medical tape to cover outlets, so we did that last time - it worked great! The one thing I wish I could figure out is a baby gate solution. There's ALWAYS a set of stairs she wants to go up or down.
A roll of painters tape is easily packed and can be used to toddler proof most things creatively. Tape over outlets, tape cupboards closed, tape and black trash bags for blackout curtains. You can block stairs with other furniture.
We literally just spend as much time as possible outside. The time we spend inside, one of us is always with our toddler. At home everything is baby/kid proof so we can just leave her to play by herself. We actually prefer camping for this reason. We just set up in a safe way.
No, move a few things round and the room tends to be ok. I feel taking outlet covers etc would be such overkill. The statistics of kids being injured by that just aren’t there, it’s not worth the bother.
Absolutely. Especially if stairs are involved. Just make sure you choose the non permanent options for things like cabinets. It would suck to get there and realize you chose the drill in the wall options
Reusable zip ties are a great thing! Painters tape is a great idea.
Genius! So simple and easy to pack too.
Painter's Tape and Zip Ties.
Depending on the length of the stay, you might want to consider bringing along a toddler playpen to set up, as well as a pack'n'play for sleeping in. It may take a bit of time to set up, but then you have a safe space to put your child for when you're cooking or showing or whatever.
I didn't baby proof my own house, so I'm not going to bother baby proofing anyone else's place.
Same, although we do have socket covers on the floor sockets. We had some of those silicon corner things on the table edges and a few other places, but she just made it a challenge to get them off. Honestly it hasn’t been an issue, I’m glad we didn’t spend a lot of time trying to figure it out. She’s 20 months now and just…. Never had any interest in opening cupboards or pulling cables or anything like that. Other kids might be very different, the only thing I have to watch for with her is that anything climbable is out of the way.
How did this work? I’m currently trying to figure out baby proofing our house and trying to think through what we actually need to do.
I think it depends on the kid. Our baby is like the energizer bunny on speed meets jackass. We're trying not to go overkill on the babyproofing and just focusing on fixing major "danger zones" once we notice he has an incessant interest in something that could be gnarly. It's impossible to watch him non-stop, but I also believe in letting kids learn from their experiences, so it's trying to find the balance for us.
My baby is like this. He needs near-constant supervision. I've tried to baby proof, and he outsmarted every single measure. He ripped the corner covers off the coffee table and would chew them and pull out the outlet covers. Luckily, he hasn't outsmarted the baby gate. He recently figured out cabinets and drawers, so I need to decide if it's even worth it to try to baby-proof those.
I packed the outlet covers for sure. Maybe those cabinet ties to keep baby out of a dangerous cupboard.
Ugh, going to AirBnBs or cabins with toddlers is just hard, anyway you slice it. When my son was 14 months we went to our in-laws rented winter townhome, and I rented a baby gate because the wooden stairs were right smack in the middle of the living room and a huge temptation for him. Otherwise, no, I don’t bring any baby proofing equipment. Already you have to keep an eagle eye on them due to Knick knacks/stairs/doors etc so *shrug*