How to stay in an Airbnb with little kids
We’ve always been a big fan of Airbnbs when we travel because we save so much money having our own kitchen vs. eating out. But even more so now – when we don’t want to stay in a hotel where there’s other guests, employees, and a higher risk for coronavirus transmission – we are all in on Airbnbs.
Especially in the last few months, I’ve gotten questions from mom friends asking how we do it because it seems harder than a hotel. How do you make it safe? What about all the breakable stuff? Where do the little ones sleep? Don’t you have to pack way more stuff? Since we’ve been airbnbing (yup, it’s officially a verb now) with Cimorene since she was probably 3 months old, I wanted to pull all our best tips into one place for any other families who are feeling wanderlust. And so: here is the ultimate guide to Airbnbing with little ones.
Extra things to pack
Pack’n’play if you have a kiddo still in a crib
Inflatable toddler bed (totally optional, we often just build a nest for C with pillows and blankets and she thinks she’s sleeping in a fort)
Battery powered white noise machines
Baby monitor
Ziploc bag of outlet protectors
Two sliding cabinet door locks
One or two sets of kid dishes (bowl, plate, spork)
Collapsible travel potty, if your kiddo needs it
Portable high-chair (we like the ones that clip to the table since they fold flat)
Two or three favorite books
Small collection of travel toys (for M this is blocks, for C this is arts and crafts, and we actually started packing a small inflatable kiddie pool which has been amazing)
Extra snacks for the trip (hangry kiddos = doesn’t feel like vacation)
Double stroller for naps
If your kids need complete dark to sleep in, extendable curtain rod and blackout curtain
When you arrive
Do a walk-through. When we first arrive (after a COVID cleaning pass where we wipe down doorknobs, surfaces, and cabinet pulls) we take a walk through looking for anything that looks breakable or valuable. We take a photo of how the shelf/bookcase/whatever is arranged, and then move the at-risk items.
Make it kid-safe. We cover outlets in the common areas and kids’ rooms and lock up any cabinets that have cleaning supplies. There’s typically one kitchen sink and one bathroom sink that need to get locked up. We check for sharp corners on tables (it’s only been an issue once and we moved the coffee table to sit against a corner), and we look for dressers that kids might want to climb and we block them with suitcases or something else bulky. We’ve also started checking for ant/bug traps, since that’s been an issue in the last few places we’ve stayed. We check under couches, dressers, beds – anywhere a kid might crawl or stick little fingers looking for a lost toy.
Show your kids the cool stuff. I show Cimorene all the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen with cool stuff she can play with (moving all glass items to other, higher cupboards). Sometimes the Airbnbs will have board games, and she loves to play with the pieces. I’ll show her the plants and flowers outside that she hasn’t seen before. Moseah is at an age where he’s happy to just do whatever Cimorene is doing, so he’s pretty cheerful no matter where we go.
Find places for the kids to sleep. If we don’t get an Airbnb big enough for the kids to have their own room, Moseah’s crib will often go in a bathroom or a large master closet (with the door cracked open, since there’s no air circulation in closets!). If we didn’t bring the toddler bed, we’ll make a nest for Cimorene with extra blankets folded and put in a corner in our room, and we ring the nest with extra pillows from our bed. (We make sure ahead of time that the house is stocked with extra linens). She’s 3, so we’re not worried about the safety of pillows the way we would be with our one-and-a-half year old. She sleeps in a toddler sleep-sack so we don’t have to worry about there being a kid-sized blanket. She LOVES it. They both get white noise machines, and we bring a baby monitor with two cameras (just because I’m more comfortable if I can keep an eye on them in a new place after they go to bed but before we do).
All in all, we pack maybe an extra suitcase worth of stuff to make Airbnbs work. I love having a kitchen and a fridge, I love having a yard for the kids to play in, and I love having more space than we’d get with a hotel. Does it feel the same as a luxury resort with poolside Piña Coladas? Nope. But it has its own charm, and since luxury resorts aren’t in the cards for us right now, I’ll take it!