Parenting Tip - Prevent Rolling Out of Bed

This past weekend we spent the night in a hotel room as part of our trip down south for a wedding.  With just the three little kids with us, one room with two queen beds was a tight fit but doable.  To prevent the inevitable musical beds routine in the night we just decided to start the night with me in one bed with Logan and Joey, and Jeff in the other bed with Emmie.

This arrangement worked out as well as it possibly could have until Emmie started rolling out of the bed and onto the floor in her sleep.  I don't care how exhausted you are, or how deeply you are asleep, when you hear that thud and immediate crying you jump out of bed.  At home her bed has a guardrail so she can't roll out of bed, but the hotel beds are not designed for tossing and turning toddlers. During previous hotel stays I have spent fitful nights half awake with my arm around her so she doesn't take a tumble.  But this time it was Jeff who was with her and he doesn't do "half awake" - when he is asleep he is very asleep.  So, throughout the night she rolled out of bed, and rolled out of bed, and rolled out of bed.  It was ridiculous! Pillows next to her didn't work, putting her in the middle of the bed didn't work, and Jeff laying her on his chest didn't even work.

By 3 a.m. I was desperate and remembered a Pinterest tip I had seen about using a pool noodle under the mattress pad instead of a guardrail.  I obviously don't travel with a pool noodle, but the hotel beds were made with those decorative bolster pillows and those worked great!

Line up the pillows on the bed to block the edge.

Cover the pillows with the fitted sheet so they can't slip off the bed with your child!

Viola! An easier solution than staying up all night with your arm around your wayward toddler!