If you have children you'll likely know that they come with a lot of stuff. It's almost unbelievable how much gear is available for babies and children these days and it's sure tempting to collect as many things as possible that make your life easier as a parent. Generally, we try to live as simply as possible and not collect a lot of "things" that aren't necessities; we have a small house with small closets that fill up quickly! When we were expecting Miriam, we spent a lot of time researching strollers, car seats, high chairs, gliders, change pads, bassinets, crib mattresses, diaper bags...you get the picture. Some decisions we made we're very happy with, and some others not so much.
When thinking about our trip this summer (if you don't know what I'm talking about, read this post) it's sure a stress reliever that we pretty much have all the adult gear we need since we travelled a lot before Miriam came into our lives. It is becoming clear, however, that we're in need of some baby travel gear! We've been doing some research lately on the most functional baby gear for travelling and have made a few good finds.
We held off buying a playpen/portable crib until we really needed one. Since we're going to need one for the summer that we can strap to a backpack, our options are pretty limited. We've got our eye on this portable crib (Phil and Teds) called the Traveller.
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| find it here |
It weighs in at 7lbs and packs down to only 27 inches long but can be used up to age 3. It's considerably more expensive and harder to find than a typical playpen but it may just be worth it!
We also found this cool gadget from Phil and Teds called the Wiggle Wrapper.
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| find it here |
It enables you to strap your child to a chair, a bed, or to you and it packs down into a handy carrying case for easy travel. If a high chair isn't available (we won't be hauling one along with us!) this would make feeding a child while travelling much easier (if you've ever tried to feed a baby who was sitting on your lap, you know what I'm talking about).
And lastly, we're in the market for a new baby carrier since Miriam has outgrown our current one. For safety reasons while travelling we'll need to be able to carry her hands-free. Based on some good advice, we're looking at the ERGO Baby Performance Carrier.
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| find it here |
Do you have any advice for us on travel gear? Is there something that worked well for you in your travels? Is there anything we're overlooking?
That wiggle wrapper looks like a good invention. Could have used that with my son when we flew solo when he was 5 months old and I had to feed him between flights.
ReplyDeleteI would add a good travel stroller that collapses really small and is light. Like a Maclaren maybe. You can also get something called the Go-Go Babyz Travelmate that turns your car seat into a stroller. There are options for both infant car seats and convertible car seats. My friend used this while traveling to Brazil and she said it worked awesome. She had used an Ergo style carrier for her first cross country trip and it ended up being a major hassle. You are required to take off the Ergo style baby carriers at every single security checkpoint while traveling. Transferring sleepy baby from stroller to a parents arms is a bit easier then taking them in and out of a carrier IMO.
Oh, another thing I loved is the Boon Squirt spoon that let's you fill it up with baby food so you can feed baby with one hand. That was awesome to have.