Travel BaBees: Pack Light, Travel Right

As summer winds down, many of you over the last few months have no doubt taken a trip with your family. If you have small children, I hope — for your sake — that it went smoothly…But I also know (first-hand) that traveling with a baby can be tough, for all involved. I have to say that what I look forward to the least is packing. You want to bring as much as you can to keep your little one surrounded by the things they’ve become accustomed to, but at the same time, space is almost always an issue. Fortunately, depending on your destination, help is on the way in the form of Travel BaBees. This full-service baby gear rental agency will cater to your every whim, delivering and setting up everything from cribs to exersaucers, all before you even arrive.

My husband and our 20-month-old son Sammy recently took a week-long trip to San Francisco to visit family. The flight(s) went well, but by the time my boys finally set foot in my brother-in-law’s house Sammy was in full-tilt, having been awake for 12 hours straight. My husband needed to put our son down for a nap — immediately — and he was able to do exactly that, because earlier in the day Travel BaBees delivered a full-size crib ($75 per week) to my brother-in-law’s house, they even set it up, so that cranky, sleepy Sammy could go straight to bed after his long journey. The crib was a Jenny Lind-style (see photo at right), and incredibly clean and sturdy. It didn’t look at all like those bleak, prison cell-like cribs you often receive while staying in a hotel.

As an added bonus, my husband didn’t have to worry about lugging a pack-n-play across the country. Nor did he need to worry about bringing a stroller ($35 per week) or a table booster seat ($15 per week; check out Sammy and his cousin Elise at left), because Travel BaBees delivered those items at well! Like the crib, both were in phenomenal shape and were from popular, reliable brands like Graco and Fisher Price. We opted to send Sammy out to California with his car seat, but had we wanted to, we could have also easily rented a car seat ($30 per week)…or a baby monitor ($15 per week)…a safety gate ($10 per week)…or even bed rails for a toddler ($20 per week). Travel BaBees — quite simply — can and will rent you just about anything you might need while traveling with small children.

At this time, Travel BaBees has 13 locations across the country (primarily along the West Coast), including franchises in San Diego, Atlanta and Seattle. If you’re only heading out for a long weekend, no worries; Travel BaBees offers all it’s gear by the day, in addition to weekly pricing. I really, really like this service and it has changed the way we’ll travel as a family in the future. The staff is courteous and knowledgable, plus they work around your schedule to make sure that everything you need is ready and waiting for you when you arrive. Taking a trip with baby is complicated enough, as-is; Make things easier on yourself next time around and leave much of the packing to Travel BaBees!

– Missy