There are many options out there for Travel Cribs (AKA baby cots, pack n plays, etc). I am not even about to go into comparing them ALL to each other, but I wanted to share a few of the best pack-n-plays for travel.

First, I will share which is the best lightweight travel cot. Then, I will compare a standard travel crib to an extended length travel crib. If you’re looking for a portable playard that doubles as a long term travel crib - you’re in the right place. I have found the best packnplay for a tall toddler.

We traveled to 7 different countries in our baby’s first year. our guava lotus was with us the entire way!

These are my personal reviews of the top Pack-N-Play options specifically designed for travel, ensuring that your baby or toddler has a safe and comfortable space wherever your adventures take you. Whether you're planning a weekend getaway, a road trip, or an international vacation, I am hoping to help you make the decision for the best packnplay for travel for your baby.

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our 5 month old baby sleeping in his guava lotus inside the slumberpod in our airbnb in guatemala

The Best Lightweight Travel Cribs

We used to lug around the standard pack-n-plays when we traveled, but after having our third baby, we decided to move to a lightweight travel bed. We narrowed it down to the Babybjörn Travel Crib, Guava Lotus, or the 4Moms Breeze.

After reading reviews on several blogs, asking about real life experience in Facebook groups, and other research - we decided to go with the Guava Lotus. To date we have traveled to 7 countries with either the bassinet attachment or regular Guava Lotus.

There are several things we absolutely love about this portacrib:

Durable backpack carry bag with heavy duty zippers and straps.
Extremely fast set-up, (similar to the BabyBjorn travel crib)
Very lightweight, weighing in at only 15 pounds (including travel bag)
No upper weight limit since it's a floor resting mattress
Extremely fast set-up, (similar to the BabyBjorn travel crib)
360 degree mesh sides ensure excellent airflow
Free from PVC, fire retardant chemicals, lead, phthalates, formaldehyde, arsenic, mercury, or cadmium.
Greenguard Gold certified

our baby at 6 months old taking a nap in our hotel room in the ecuadorian amazon

Now, the price of the Guava Lotus is up there and not a budget item. We splurged on this pack-n-play knowing how much we would travel with it. A budget friendly option that is similar is the Chicco Alfa Lite or the Pamo Baby.

Even though we absolutely love our Guava Lotus, it will be a short life item in our travels. It’s biggest con is that the sleep area is so small. All of our kids are tall, so we will need to upgrade to the extended length pack-n-play before long.

Shop My Recommended Travel Cribs

Our Guava lotus and slumberpod fit together inside of our suitcase.

Travel Cot Size: Standard and Extended Length

Normally, we call ahead to hotels and request a pack-n-play or baby cot. Inside the USA it was always the standard size. However, on our last trip to Europe we noticed these beds were considerably longer! Every single Airbnb we stayed in had a LONG baby cot and Charletta (2 years old at the time) would sleep through the night with no issue. She even had ROOM to move around and lay on her stomach.

Now that we have two kids, we aren't always able to secure TWO baby beds, so we started the hunt for our own Extended length packnplay!

Standard Size Pack-n-Play

OUr son at 5 months in a standard pack n play and a dockatot grand (We did not realize dockATot was unsafe to sleep in back in 2017, so we now do not recommend this or use it for our third child)

Almost all standard [ack n plays sold in the USA are 40L X 28.5W inches -- they typically weigh somewhere between 18-30 pounds. (Our particular bed weighs 18.5lbs) Different beds come with different options such as bassinet attachments, changing table attachments, co-sleeper attachments, etc. I am only talking about the STANDARD, NO FRILLS bed, so that means just the bed. Like the pad, the frame, the carrying case only.

We used a standard pack n play for close to 2 years with our daughter. She started resisting it around 19 months and by that point was almost completely refusing sleep in it. Why? Because she was too dang tall. Most of these standard size beds are only for children 35 inches or smaller, which is more like 33 inches when you consider the dimensions are to the outside of the crib frame.

Cost for our basic pack-n-play: $50 NEW on Amazon Prime (HERE) or we bought one second hand for $20

OUr daughter (2 years old) sleeping in an extended pack n play -- she has So much room

Extended Length Travel Cot

It took an embarrassing amount of time scouring the internet and reaching out to Airbnb owners to find out where I could buy a longer pack-n-play and what the brands were. I eventually found a couple of brands, but we're a no-frills kind of baby bed user, so we went with the most basic. We seriously could not be happier.

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Here you can see the beds are pretty much the same size when packed into their travel bags(extended on Left, Standard on Right)

HERE is an extended length Travel Cot we decided to go with. This bed measures 47.3L X 23W inches and weighs 17.5lbs. It's slightly thinner, but the extra SEVEN inches of length is a total game-changer with toddlers (or giant infants like our son). This is the perfect travel crib for tall toddlers.

We bought our Extended Length pack-n-play off AmazonUK for about $100 after we paid for shipping. Amazon Prime doesn't work from Amazon UK. Here is the link to the Extended Length Travel Cot.

You will need to find what works for your family, so shop around. This Travel Bed has been SO great to us and we will be using for a long time!

Scroll down to see how Charletta has gotten taller and needs more space. First two are in a standard size and the last is in the extended. She has considerably more room and is able to stretch out and sleep whichever way she wants.