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Social Story for Sleeping Somewhere New
A hotel room, a vacation rental, a cousin’s spare room: sleeping somewhere new is one of the hardest parts of travel for a young child. The bed is different, the room makes different sounds, and the dark is in different places. A social story helps by telling them what to expect before they get there.
The story below goes through a first night away in order: packing the things from home that come too, arriving in the new room, looking around it together, doing the same bedtime routine as always, and waking up somewhere new. Read it a few nights before the trip.
✨ Or make one starring your child, free in seconds ↓
What will happen, in order
- Pack Bear and the bedtime book
- A new room and a new bed
- Look around it together
- Same story, same song
- Wake up somewhere new
Read the steps together in the daytime, more than once. The free printable below has these steps at the top and the bedtime story underneath.
Rosa and the Hotel Bed
A free story to read aloud tonight
Rosa’s family was going on a trip, and they were going to sleep in a hotel. Rosa had never slept in a hotel. “What if I can’t sleep there?” she asked. “Then we’ll bring a little bit of home with us,” said Dad.
So Rosa packed her bedtime bag herself. Bear, of course. Her pink pajamas with the cats. The book about the owl who could not find his hat. And her nightlight, the little star that turned blue and purple.
The hotel room was big and white, with two beds and a huge window. It smelled clean, like nobody lived there. Rosa and Dad explored it together. They opened the closet. They found the bathroom and turned the light on and off. They looked out of the window at all the tiny cars far below.
At bedtime, Dad plugged in the star nightlight, and suddenly the room had purple and blue on the ceiling, the same as at home. Then everything else was the same too. Pajamas. Teeth. The owl book. Dad sang the song about the boat, all three verses.
There were new sounds, a door closing somewhere down the hall, and a hum from the air vent. “That’s just the hotel saying goodnight,” said Dad. Rosa held Bear and listened. The hum went on and on, soft and even, like somebody breathing slowly.
Rosa’s eyes closed before the star had changed color twice. And in the morning, she woke up in the big white room with the huge window, and remembered where she was, and there was Bear, and there was Dad, and there was a whole new day to explore.
Read it a few nights running rather than on the morning of. Familiarity is the part that works. The aim is that by the day itself, none of it is new.
How do I help my child sleep in a hotel or someone else’s house?
Keep as much of the bedtime routine the same as you can, in the same order, and bring the things that signal sleep at home: their toy, a familiar blanket or pajamas, the same book, and a nightlight if they use one. Exploring the room together before bedtime helps it feel less strange.
Should we bring things from home when we travel?
Yes, if you can. A favorite toy, a pillowcase that smells like home, a familiar book and a portable nightlight are small and do a lot of work. Some families also bring a white noise app or machine to cover new sounds.