I
love to visit family. I especially enjoy visiting my family over the holidays
when the kiddos and adults are off of school and work and have the luxury of
just hanging out. I know that traveling light as an adult can be pretty simple
and straight forward; when I travel without my children all I need is my
carry-on bag and I am good for a week! But when you travel with children,
especially a baby, the items tend to add up and pretty soon you can feel as if
you are traveling with a three ring circus. But you can travel light
with children!
Children
do not require as much stuff as you think they need. Babies on the other hand
require a bit more gear for traveling. Baby gear comes in all shapes and sizes
and can be a bit overwhelming at times. But if you choose to travel light there
are some great options out there {Thank you BabyBjorn
for providing me with a sample of the Travel Crib Light 2}. I have put together this
little list of some of my tips for traveling light with children for this
holiday season.
Tip #1: Schedule travel around your children’s nap
schedule. Make it easy on yourself. If your kids tend to fall asleep in the car
plan to drive during nap time. I have found that the best time for my children
to ride peacefully in a vehicle is during their afternoon nap time right after
lunch – even the baby. In the early morning my kids are bouncing off the walls
and do not want to sit still.
Tip #2: Bring Ziploc bags. It may not sound pretty
but blow out diapers, spit up, and messy food happens and the easiest way to
take care of this sometimes smelly part of having children is to seal it away
until you can deal with it at a later time. There are a gazillion other uses
for these little baggies, but I have found that I use them when traveling to
lock away the messes my children make so that the rest of our stuff does not
get contaminated… yes I said contaminated, because there is very little worse
than a blow out diaper mishap leaking on the rest of your clean clothing.
Tip #3: You do not need to pack up your entire playroom
to bring with you. You only need to pack one special toy just for the trip.
Since you are going somewhere that is out of the ordinary, simple things become
exciting. There are new parks to explore and new forts to build. One special
toy can do the trick. For us activity cards {usborne activity cards} that wipe
clean and come with a dry erase pen will entertain my older children for hours
– which is a life saver for restaurants.
Tip #4: Pack a small kid friendly snack for the
trip. A granola bar or little bag of pretzels that are easy to eat without
assistance and will not make a mess will make the world of difference to a
hungry cranky toddler and will save you from having to stop off to grab
something.
Tip #5: Pick the baby gear you bring thoughtfully. Baby
gear has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time and there are now
some pretty amazing lightweight options available for pretty much everything.
But just because you have it does not mean you need to bring it. There are only
a few baby gear items I bring with me when I travel that I consider a necessity
and they are a light travel crib, a baby carrier, and my umbrella stroller {and
that is only if I am bringing all three kids with me so that I can wear one,
stroll another, and have the third walk on his own}. Keep it simple. Keep it
light.
What we love about the BabyBjörn Travel
Crib Light 2:
The
Travel Crib Light 2 is noticeably light weight and
even comes with a carrying case that makes it a really great portable crib. It weighs
11lbs – which is half the weight of my traditional pack and play and it is easy
to carry thanks to the case handles. It is not awkward to maneuver in the
slightest.
It has an incredibly easy set up that only takes a
second to put together. You simply remove the Travel Crib Light 2 from its travel
case and unfold the frame. There is no pushing, locking, or popping necessary.
The legs automatically pop out and lock into place. And once the frame has been
opened all you need to do is place the mattress in the bottom and you are ready
to rock and roll.
The mattress has has
fastening straps on the underside that will snap and secure it to the base of the
crib frame for a safe and secure fit. This is especially fantastic for the
parents of those Houdini children that somehow find a way to remove mattresses!
The mattress is softer
than my traditional pack and play mattress making it more comfortable for baby.
Let me better explain this; my traditional pack and play mattress when unfolded
and in use does not fold flat all the time {this happens quite frequently due
to the inserts in the mattress not lining up perfectly -causing an
uncomfortable ridge} . The mattress in the Travel Crib Light 2 is soft without
being overly squishy.
The cotton mattress
cover and the fabric on the exterior of the crib are removable and machine
washable {Machine wash in warm water, do NOT tumble dry}. HUGE!!! I love that I
can take it apart and wash it. This is perfect for my daughter who has reflux
and can make quite a mess.
To
connect with BabyBjörn,
you can visit them on Facebook, on twitter at @BabyBjornUS, and on their Website.
Buy It:
The BabyBjörn Travel Crib Light 2 is available to
purchase online at various retailers such as Amazon, Buy Buy Baby, Babies R Us,
Target, and Magic Beans among others.
Win It:
BabyBjörn is going to give one lucky winner a BabyBjörn
Travel Crib Light 2 of their very own!
Open to US. Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to confirm
before a new winner is chosen. Mom Mart is not responsible for the fulfillment
of prizes. All prizes will be shipped directly from sponsors. Enter via the Giveaway Tools form below.
Traveling
with children can be daunting at first, let alone trying to travel light with children. But it can be done
and it can be done with relative ease. All it takes is some planning, prep work,
and patience. I love traveling and I love that I am able to bring my children along
for the ride. They enjoy seeing family and friends and look forward to our holiday
travels with excitement and anticipation.
Do you have any tips or tricks for traveling light with
children?
