Sassy Mama Nicola shares her top 5 tips on childproofing your hotel room

So you and your family fall into your hotel room exhausted after a 12-hour flight. One parent starts unpacking the suitcases – desperately searching for the toddler’s favourite teddy – whilst the other goes to the bathroom. Then you think… hang on, where’s my toddler gone? And it turns out that she’s sitting in front of an electrical socket about to put her fingers in it…

Sound familiar? So what can you do to childproof your hotel room? While you can’t grow eyes in the back of your head, you can ensure a few basic safeguards that should put your mind at rest just a little. Here are my five top tips:

1. Phone your hotel in advance of your trip to see what they can offer. Some super family friendly hotels actually provide socket covers, table edge bumpers, anti-slip bath mats and will even remove the alcohol from your minibar on request.
2. If you are truly obsessed with baby-proofing your room to an at-home standard, bring what would make you feel comfortable… from a corner protector to a blind cord wind-up. If you are in the US, you can even buy a Travel Childproofing Kit containing – amongst other things – a sliding door lock and a doorknob cover. Whilst this is a nice idea, realistically for many of us the extent of our baby-proofing will probably mean remembering to pack the baby monitor (don’t forget all the extra parts!).
3. As soon as you get into your hotel room, assess for immediate danger (I know, I sound like a spy!). I always check balcony doors first to make sure they’re locked, and I also move any furniture away from the balcony edge where it might be used as an impromptu climbing frame.
4. This might sound completely loony – but actually get down on your hands and knees and have a quick look at what’s within your toddler’s reach. Can they pull down a kettle cord? Eat shampoo? Stick a spoon into those aforementioned sockets?
5. Curtain and blind cords can be a serious danger, so make sure you do a once-over on all the windows in the room and try to put any cords well out of reach. Be careful to never position a travel cot near a hanging curtain cord.

Happy travels, mama!