Globe and Mail: Style - Rebecca Eckler
Mommy Blogger: Travels With Baby
March 2007

All parents know that nothing is worse than travelling with baby. It's not the child that's the problem (at least not always), it's the stuff. Your bags are jammed with diapers, clothes, toys and snacks, to say nothing of the equipment -- everything from car seats to stroller. By the time you've lugged it all to the airport, you'll need a second vacation.

With March Break approaching, it's worth knowing about gogoBaby, a Toronto-based baby equipment rental service. The one-year-old company's motto is, "Bring the baby, not the stuff." (gogobaby.ca)

Founder Michelle Thoms came up with the idea when she and her husband were living in Manhattan where they had a baby. "We had to travel back and forth to Toronto to see our folks," says Thoms. "We couldn't bring everything we wanted, so my mom had to borrow stuff for our visits, but it wasn't always what I wanted."

GogoBaby rents everything from high-end strollers, cribs and highchairs, to car seats, toys and baby monitors. A Bugaboo stroller costs $100 for a week.

With gogoBaby you can leave the kids stuff behind - but not the kid.

"I think our generation," says the 33 year-old Thoms, "had already established our lives before we had kids. That's why many of us travel with them. We're not going to give up our business or personal trips."

Before coming to Toronto, visiting parents can browse online, then e-mail Thoms, who will call to discuss details. Thoms will meet visitors at the airport, or drop everything off at hotels or family homes.

So far, she's had customers from the United States, Japan and England, but most are coming from other parts of Canada. "I had a director filming in Toronto from Vancouver who rented equipment for two months. His wife would come with the kids on weekends and she never had to worry about bringing anything. I have a family renting the Fisher Price exersaucer walker because her child loves it. That's not something you would want to bring with you," says Thoms. "Even with two parents, that's only four arms."

Recently, an airline called her in desperation wanting to rent a car seat, which they had lost for 10 days. "So many car seats and strollers get broken and banged up when they go through baggage," says Thoms.

And even though most hotels provide cribs, her customers worry about how clean they are. "A lot of parents can't help but wonder when they see hotel cribs or car seats from rental places who has used it before them," says Thoms, "but my equipment always looks brand new." Now, if Thoms could just do something about those tantrums, travelling with baby would be perfect.