Every year, my husband and I trek up to Canada to spend Christmas with family.  This year, we were bringing a little extra luggage: our 11-month-old baby girl, Saoirse (pronounced “seer+sha” – she will thank us later, much later) and a mountain of luggage that would have made my mother blush.

My husband Patrick was not looking forward to schlepping all this stuff to the airport, on the plane, off the plane, on a two and a half hour drive to Fort MacLeod, Alberta. Particularly since he double functions as the pack-mule in our family.

So we decided to rent a few things from One Tiny Suitcase, a baby equipment rental company serving Calgary and Banff.  Arrangements were easy and customer service excellent—they asked for our flight information, what toys Saoirse liked to play with, and gave instructions on where go when we landed.

We picked up a Britax Roundabout convertible car seat and a bag of age-appropriate toys at the Tourism Info Center at Calgary Airport.  The tourism center is open 7 days a week from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., and is conveniently located on the arrivals level.

The car seat and toys were sanitized and very clean (the car seat looked brand new), and Saoirse loved the toys.  After a week of holiday partying and grandma heaven we headed back.  While we were dropping everything off, I noticed another family picking up a nice, heavy-duty stroller and started thinking about all the other things we should have rented as well.

This was way more convenient than hauling all the gear with us or beg, borrow, and stealing old baby equipment from family. One Tiny Suitcase also has rental packages and special long term rental rates. If you’re headed to Calgary or Banff with kids, check them out.