The season of beach vacations has arrived! While baby’s first (and second, third and fourth) trip to the beach is a memorable occasion, there are still a few areas where vacation can be more of a nightmare.
No matter where you’re traveling, these baby travel gear items are our favorites for keeping kiddos happy and on-schedule on-the-go.
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Phil & Ted’s Travel Crib
Pack-n-Plays were a no-go for our little guy. He’s a very active sleeper and the moving bottom constantly woke us him up. Luckily this required us to do a bit of research and we found a travel crib we LOVED!
I was hesitant with some of the reviews – but I honestly don’t understand them at all! It is so easy to put together after you figure it out the first time. We never had issues with him even remotely pushing it over. AND it packs up so small we packed it in our checked luggage! Way lighter than a pack-n-play.
The travel crib lasted us until about 18 months when he was just too long to sleep comfortably. Back to the research and I found the bed of all beds.
Intex Kids Travel Bed
This bed has been a lifesaver! It’s been on 6 trips in 2019 so far with more to come. The outer shell is like an inflatable kiddie pool. The inner piece is the size of a crib mattress. The kid travel bed comes with a hand pump (which takes about 15 minutes), but you can easily get an electric pump that would be smaller to pack as well.
The bed is surprisingly comfortable. I speak from experience as I usually spend most of the our first night cuddled with Little Man as he gets adjusted to new the surroundings. I don’t know how you can top this $30 baby travel gear find!
Carseat Travel Bag
Once we moved up to the convertible carseat, air travel became a bit trickier. The ease of the carrier clicking into the stroller and strapping into the car were gone… and a new heavy piece to lug around had arrived!
There are basically three carseat options: 1. Take your own carseat. 2. Buy a cheap, lightweight carseat just for travel. 3. Rent a car seat from the car rental.
It’s a completely personal decision. We opt for number one since we know the safety factors and know he will ride happily in it. But it’s heavy!
Enter the rolling travel bag!
It’s a bit of an investment for a case, but it protects your expensive carseat well and makes maneuvering the airport a breeze with it’s 4 wheels. If we’re short on space in our luggage, we place the air mattress (above) in the seat and strap it in. Most airlines will check carseats for free, which just makes things so much easier! We’ve used this travel bag on five trips this year and it has held up great!
Snooz Sound Machine
This one’s simple – keep the sleeping environment as close to at home as possible! Sure there are white noise phone apps, but the Snooz Sound Machine is so travel friendly that we just take it with us! Always. Drowning out unfamiliar sounds helps little ones catch their zzz’s – which means mom and dad get some too!
Rijer Pop Up Beach Tent
Enough of the boring stuff – bring on the beach stuff!
Think pop-up laundry hamper meets beach tent. When you pull the tent out of the convenient, lightweight bag, it instantly pops up. Instantly. Just place in your sought after beach spot, add a few stakes and you’re ready to lounge in the shade. It’s large enough for adults to sit and toddlers to stand. Our little guy loves the coziness of crawling inside for snacks and lunch where sand is always on the menu.
The folding instructions are sewn into the bag – thank goodness. I still have to reference them every time and probably create quite the spectacle trying to fold it back up. But, the five minutes of figuring it out far outweighs ten minutes of set-up/tear-down and the extra weight down the boardwalk.
They’re still babies
While vacation is full of new experiences, schedules and environments, it’s important to remember that your little ones are still little. Their needs and tendencies don’t change just because you’re traveling – in fact they will probably be escalated. Try to recreate the experience of “home” with the big items and the smaller things will fall into place.
Traveling as a family is a sweet memory making opportunity – as long as everyone remembers to be flexible and understanding!
