The Big Question – Portable Cribs Versus Travel Cribs
A family that loves to travel will certainly be familiar with the plentiful sleeping arrangements for babies whilst you’re heading off on your next adventure. Co-sleeping, travel cribs, portable cribs, finding hotels with their own cribs provided, and roll up crib mattresses – these are all options available to families, but if you’re wanting to take your own crib, which should you go for?
Your options are basically a portable crib or a travel crib. You can choose from a portable crib or a travel crib according to their pros and cons, and whilst they do the same job, they do have slight differences from one another.
Which one should you choose? Well, it depends on your circumstances, the age of your child, how far you’re going to be traveling, as well as how you’re going to be traveling in the first place. Think about what you need the crib for, and check out our pros and cons below, before making your final decision.
Portable crib
The advantages of a portable crib are basically about product life; a portable crib basically lasts longer, because it is sturdier, built to last, whilst still being designed to move around, i.e. the word ‘portable’. Despite that, a portable crib can easily fit into the trunk of car, yet can be a pain to fly with, simply because of its size and weight. ‘Portable’ in this case means it can be moved, but not that it is lightweight or designed for a large amount of travel.
Read our guide to the best portable cribs here.
Travel crib
On the other hand, we have the travel crib. You might confuse the two and think they are the same thing, but a travel crib is designed with travel in mind, hence the name. The advantages of choosing a travel crib are that they are generally more lightweight, so easy to fly with, and generally easier to move.
The downside is that they are a little more expensive to a portable crib, and for the limited time you will be using it, the cost may turn out to be false economy. On top of this, a travel crib is generally closer to the ground, so can only be used during a limited age span – again, when weighed up with the amount of time you’re using it for versus the cost, you may feel that a travel crib isn’t worth the outlay.
Read our guide to the best travel crib here.
At the end of the day, there really is no clear winner between these two, and it depends entirely on your personal circumstances as to which gives you the greater benefits for your situation. If you travel a lot and you want something which can be picked up and moved with ease, then a travel crib is for you; on the other hand, if you want something which is sturdier and can be used for longer, i.e. for an older child, then a portable crib could be the option of choice.
Which is the winner?
You decide!
