European Accommodations for Children PART 2

Paris apartments in the 7th arr. 

Beautiful home
You will be spending plenty of time here: at nap time, at mealtimes, at rain time. So make sure your holiday apartment is NICE, but not so nice that those sticky toddler hands will destroy the place, or that you'll go insane trying to keep the little one off the Louis XIV furniture. Check out Homelidays.com or Air B&B for a short term "gîte" rental.

Little Warning: what Europeans call the "1st floor", is what North Americans call the "2nd floor" and so on and so forth. The ground floor is called "Rez-de-Chaussée" in France.

Bonus: Find out if a city apartment has an inner courtyard you can use. This will only be available to the people who live in the building and have a punch code to get in. Many apartments will have that inner courtyard, but some are nicer, or bigger, than others.

Baby beds
What we call a crib in North America, is called a baby bed, or a baby cot, in many places in Europe. Most places have portable baby beds available. I found them to be quite safe. You can also purchase one of these foldable beds at a children's store for about 49 euros.

Warning: I have found that blankets are often not provided for the crib at the hotels and apartments.

Bonus: better baby sleep = better parent sleep = less crabbiness all around.

Bathtubs
Bathtubs are not a standard in Europe. Check if the hotel or appartment has one. Kitchen sinks can double as a bathtub (lots of fun; don't forget to remove breakable kitchen items from the reach of tiny inquisitive hands), or slowly introduce the fun of a shower (experience: if at first this doesn't succeed, don't rush it, but persevere. It might come to work).

Bonus: Many shower heads are detachable and can be lowered to a child's friendly level.

Warning: The Wonderful Husband says that detachable shower heads make fun toys, but can also make for very wet parental clothing.

Scary stairs and tiny kitchens are pretty normal.

Stairs and Railings
This is actually just a warning. No bonus: It seems as though there are no real safety standards for railings on stairs. Many apartments and hotels have scary stairs that are either extremely steep, or have wide apart guards on the rails. If they have a guard rail at all. Look carefully at the photos before renting.

Pools
I have been told that in some European countries a fence is required by law around pools. However, I have not seen this law applied very often. Check website pictures and ask questions, you will never relax when there is an un-gated pool on the property.

The Adorable Son enjoying a public park

In summary: Location location location! Get a rented apartment that is close to the attractions, with pleasant walking possibilities, a nearby play space (park, courtyard or square) and groceries.

Bonus: now that you're well-prepared, enjoy your trip!