Sharing a hotel room with kids: what to pack
Written October 2026
Kids fall asleep a few feet from you in a hotel, so most of what's worth packing is about making their corner dark and quiet, and making yours a little nicer once they're down.
Where they sleep
A travel crib
Guava Lotus, in a foldable duffel
The Guava Lotus is the travel crib I bring. I shoved it in a big foldable duffel.
Guava Lotus travel crib
A travel crib that folds into a backpack, with a side that unzips so you can sit with a baby while they fall asleep. The mattress is made for overnight sleep up to age 3.
Vomgomfom 85L foldable duffel
I shoved my Guava Lotus in this duffel. It folds into its own pouch when it's empty.
An inflatable bed
With a little electric pump
I've also used an inflatable bed, with an electric pump to blow it up.
Hiccapop inflatable toddler travel bed
An inflatable kids' bed with bumpers on all four sides that takes a standard crib sheet. It comes with an electric pump and a travel bag.
FLEXTAILGEAR Tiny Pump
A rechargeable air pump about the size of an egg that blows up an air mattress and lets it down again for packing. It charges over USB-C.
A blackout tent
SlumberPod, over the crib
The SlumberPod goes over the Lotus.
SlumberPod blackout sleep tent
A blackout tent that goes over a travel crib or a toddler air mattress, so a kid sleeps in the dark while the lamp stays on for everyone else. It has a pocket for a monitor and two for a small fan.
Dark and quiet
Kids' Band-Aids
For scrapes, and for the hotel lights
Band-Aids, which can also be used to cover up annoying hotel lights. My son loves the ones that have fire trucks and police cars.
Boo Boo Buddies kids' bandages, police car and fire truck
A pack of 24 kids' bandages with police cars and fire trucks on them.
White noise, and a blackout curtain
Next to the crib, and on the window
I used to travel with a portable white noise machine, a USB-charged one, but never with a blackout curtain. I know some people do, though.
Yogasleep Rohm white noise machine
Palm-sized, runs all night on a charge, and covers a sibling's cough and the hallway.
Amazon Basics portable blackout curtain
A blackout panel with suction cups for the hotel window.
Bedtime from home
Books, stuffies and blankets
From home
I like to bring a few kids' books when I travel too, plus the kids' stuffies, and their blankets if space allows.
The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton
A board book of silly animals who take a bath, brush their teeth and rock to sleep.
Llama Llama Red Pajama, by Anna Dewdney
Baby Llama waits in bed for his mama to come back upstairs, in a board book that rhymes.
Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown
A little bunny says goodnight to everything in the great green room, as a board book.
Eloise, by Kay Thompson
Eloise is six and lives at the Plaza Hotel in New York, where she knows everyone from the desk clerk to the bell captain.
Downtime
Watercolor painting books
The ones with the brush attached
The watercolor painting books for kids that have the brush attached and only need water. Not the Water Wow, but actual painting.
SOCOLER paint with water book, traffic
Twenty pages of cars and trucks, each with its own little paint palette printed on it, and two brushes.
A workbook
For the school days you're missing
A workbook, if it helps alleviate guilt about missing school days.
Brain Quest Workbook: Kindergarten
Brain Quest's kindergarten workbook, with pages on phonics, spelling, time and money and science, plus stickers.
For you
Sleep mask, earplugs, lip mask and slippers
For when they're down
A sleep mask and foam earplugs, Laneige's lip mask, and the slippers I travel with.
MZOO sleep mask
A sleep mask with deep eye cups that block light without pressing on your eyes.
Mack's Ultra Soft foam earplugs
Soft foam earplugs, 50 pairs in a box.
Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask
A thick overnight lip balm in a little pot.
FamilyFairy women's fluffy slides
The fluffy slippers I travel with, open toe with a rubber sole.
Melatonin
Kids' melatonin
Depending on the time zone change
Melatonin for kids, depending on the time zone change.
Zarbee's kids' melatonin gummies
Strawberry melatonin gummies for kids 3 and up.