Would you let your baby crawl around on a hotel floor?

[lellian]

Help me decide what to do, please! DD is 8.5 months, and all over the place! DH is leaving for New Orleans on Sunday and asked us to go with him. We'd be in the hotel while daddy is working, so I'd imagine most of our time will be playing on the ground. How gross is that? Especially considering baby's hands are in her mouth due to teething as much as they are on the floor!

What would you do?!?!

I just thought of something else: her semi-structured bedtime routine. I guess that flies out the window with traveling. Will it take weeks to get her back on track if I take her to NO?

[ShwarmaQueen]

I would, and have....in addition to airport floors, the grass outside, other public places, and on and on. I don't even worry about those things. Just wash her hands periodically and it will be fine.

[Mosaic]

I've done it. I tried putting a blanket down, but of course LOs don't stay put, and it just became hard to walk around without tripping. When I think of the things my DD touched and how much her hands went into her mouth over the first few years... oy! Honestly, at some point I think you just have to give up and convince yourself it's good for the immune system!

[Vancouver Mommy]

Yeah, that used to wig me out too, but in reality there isn't much you can do about it. The only option I can think of would be to put her in a pack and play, but that might frustrate her too much.

[ErinYay]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

I would, and have....in addition to airport floors, the grass outside, other public places, and on and on. I don't even worry about those things. Just wash her hands periodically and it will be fine.

^This. We do quite a bit of "blowing the germs off;" I think routine exposure to bacteria is really very good for kids.

9 months in, and V's had 1 cold, which she caught from me, which I caught from the eye doctor!

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by ShwarmaQueen

I would, and have....in addition to airport floors, the grass outside, other public places, and on and on. I don't even worry about those things. Just wash her hands periodically and it will be fine.

This. But I TOTALLY wouldn't be hanging around a hotel on a business trip! Get out in the city. Visit a garden, children's museum. Post in Finding Your tribe and find some good things to do. Partially paid for travel is a great vacation in my book. I've taken my DD on several business trips. Once with DH (Disney in Ca) and once with my parents (Boston in the fall). It was wonderful and no one hung around the hotel.

[liliaceae]

The only place I wouldn't let a baby crawl is the floor of a public bathroom.

[Tway]

I worry more about people's hands than what they cart in on their shoes. Like a PP said, a public bathroom is off-limits (heck, my OWN bathroom is off limits!), but other than that I let her roam around where there's space and it's appropriate. A little dirt won't kill her, and she's only had 2 episodes of the sniffles--once at 3 months and right now at 11.

I'd just scan the hotel carpet for any objects she could swallow and let her roam free!

[rhiOrion]

At least hotel rooms get vacuumed frequently. That's more than I can say for my floor.

[Summersquash]

Yup, I let mine play on a hotel floor at right around that age. Also let her play on the floor of a rowing club at a wedding reception during the same trip. I just can't let myself get all worked up about germs. As long as I wash her off periodically I think she will be fine.

Are there a few aspects of the night time routine that you could bring along? We always travel with our white noise machine, her burpies (the burp cloths that have become a favorite bedtime snuggle item), and a couple of bedtime board books. I didn't find traveling got DD that thrown off at night time but she has never been big on sleep, so there wasn't a whole lot to mess up.

[aramat]

We would play on the bed or go play somewhere else, outside. I much prefer sidewalks and grass over floors in enclosed spaces--excepting houses of friends & family. I also do not walk barefoot in hotel rooms. ...But I was a flight attendant for a little while and have seen lots of hotels; I guess I've gotten squeamish.

[Nicole730]

I would have let my first baby do that, but I would have hated it! I agree with PP - get out and explore the city.

I wouldn't hesitate to let baby #2 on the floor pretty much anywhere (well except bathrooms, ew!), I am older and wiser now

[redvlagrl]

I totally would let either of my kids crawl on strange floors, except for anywhere really gross, like a public toilet. I also think exposure to normal germs is healthy and as such we don't use anything antibacterial in our house.

As for the bedtime routine we have totally done this while travelling. For us it's just a bath, nurse, bed so it's easy. Even if it's at a different time than usual I would still do it. It gives your LO's a real sense of security in a strange place.

[Llyra]

I wouldn't worry about it. Not at all. But I also wouldn't hang around a hotel all day.

[lellian]

Thanks Mamas. I guess I tend to over think these things being a first time mom. I appreciate all your feed back.

[redvlagrl]

It's totally hard not to be a worry-wart with your first one. Then your poor second one is neglected and subjected to terrible conditions, LOL.

[julie80]

It really depends on the hotel.

But worst comes to worst, you could always just get outside and do something.

But now that I think about it.... There's probably much grosser things in a hotel room than the floors. At least those get vacuumed. Comforters on the other hand don't get washed very often.

[cocoanib]

Nope. I barely let my bare feet touch a hotel floor.
All those peoples shoes tracking in all kinds of nasties.
I would put a couple sheets down and let her crawl all over those.

[chel]

Originally Posted by cocoanib

Nope. I barely let my bare feet touch a hotel floor.
All those peoples shoes tracking in all kinds of nasties.
I would put a couple sheets down and let her crawl all over those.

i agree. while i seem to worry less than most about germy food. i hate hotels. on our last trip, dd was 7.5m. i only let her crawl on a sheet on the floor.

and that was only after she fell off the bed
i had to be able to put her down when the family was unwilling/unable to help me. thought i could quickly get dress while standing right besides dd, but she rolled like the wind.

[Jelinifer]

No... alot of these places (even the nice ones) are getting frequently treated for bed bugs now and I'd worry about possible pesiticide exposure.