How to travel with a toddler without checking a pram or portacot
There's a particular kind of arithmetic that happens the week before a family holiday. You start adding up everything that has to come with you, and somewhere around the pram, the portacot, the highchair and a suitcase that's now mostly nappies, the trip starts to feel less like a holiday and more like a house move.
Here's the part most parents don't realise: you don't have to bring all of it. You can travel with a toddler without checking a pram or portacot — it just takes a bit of planning and a few options worth knowing about before you book your accommodation.
This guide walks through how.
Why the pram and portacot are the hardest things to pack
Almost everything else for a toddler is soft, squishable, or replaceable at the other end. The pram and the portacot are neither. They're bulky, awkward at the airport, easily damaged in transit, and — in the portacot's case — the one piece of equipment where "she'll be right" isn't good enough. A cot is where your child sleeps unsupervised for ten hours. It's the last thing you want to gamble on.
So these two items are usually what tips a family into checking a second bag, paying oversized-luggage fees, or wrestling a stroller down a jet bridge. Leave them at home and the whole trip gets lighter.
The question is what you put in their place.
Your options for travelling without bringing the gear
There are four realistic ways to arrive without a pram and portacot in tow. Each suits a different kind of trip.
Option 1 — Use what your accommodation provides
Plenty of hotels will put a portacot in your room on request, often at no charge. It's the simplest option on paper.
The catch is that you rarely know the brand, the age, the condition, or whether the mattress meets current safety standards until you're standing in the room with a tired toddler. And a cot is usually where the offer ends — few hotels stock a pram, a highchair, or any of the consumables you'll burn through in a week.
Worth doing: ask specific questions before you rely on it. "What kind of portacot is it, and when was the mattress last checked?" tells you a lot. A vague answer tells you even more.
Option 2 — Hire individual items at your destination
Equipment hire businesses operate in most Australian cities. You'll find pram hire in Melbourne, cot hire for a holiday rental, highchairs, car seats — generally booked and collected item by item, sometimes with delivery.
This works well if you only need one or two things. Where it gets fiddly is the full kit: separate bookings, separate collection or delivery windows, and you're usually the one assembling it once it arrives. The admin you were trying to avoid has a way of creeping back in.
Option 3 — The arrival shopping run
Buy a cheap portacot and a few basics at Kmart or Big W when you land, then donate or bin them at the end of the trip. It's the cheapest option upfront and fine for some families.
Two trade-offs: you lose an afternoon of your holiday to a shopping centre and a flat-pack, and the safety of a budget cot bought in a hurry is exactly the thing you were hoping not to think about.
Option 4 — Have the whole kit delivered and set up before you arrive
This is the newest option, and the one most parents don't know exists yet. Rather than hiring pieces individually, baby equipment delivery for travel means the full setup arrives at your accommodation and is in place before you check in.
Services like Travel Tots deliver and set up baby and child equipment — prams, cots, high chairs — ahead of your arrival, so you can travel without the gear. One booking covers the whole child travel equipment setup: portacot, pram, highchair, nappies, wipes, playmat and toys, with baby gear delivered to your accommodation and ready to go before you walk in the door.
Travel Tots currently operates across Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula and the Yarra Valley, so it's a fit if you're flying into Melbourne with a little one or you're a local heading away for a few nights. The appeal isn't only the saved suitcase space — it's arriving to a room that's already sorted, instead of spending the first evening building a cot.
What to check before you trust someone else's gear
Whichever option you choose, the same question decides whether it's a good idea: is the equipment as safe as what you'd bring yourself?
Before you rely on a hotel, a hire company, or a delivery service, it's reasonable to ask:
Does the portacot and mattress meet current Australian Safety Standards?
When was it last cleaned and condition-checked?
Is the pram a recent model in good working order, or whatever was in the back room?
A provider that does this well will answer plainly and won't mind the question. If you can't get a clear answer, that's your answer.
A quick pre-trip checklist
If you're aiming to fly with carry-on and skip the gear entirely:
Sort the cot first. Confirm what's waiting for you — hotel, hire, or delivery — before you book the flights.
Decide on the pram. Many airlines let you gate-check a stroller for free, but if you'd rather not bring one at all, line up a hire or delivery option at the destination.
List your consumables. Nappies, wipes, formula, snacks — work out what you'll buy there versus what's included if you use a delivery service.
Check the room. A highchair, a bath, and somewhere safe to put a baby down make a bigger difference than you'd think.
Pack for the child, not the house. Clothes, comfort items, medication and travel documents. Almost everything else can be sourced at the other end.
Do that, and "travel with a toddler without checking luggage" stops being a fantasy and starts being a packing list.
Frequently asked questions
Can you hire baby equipment in Australia? Yes. Equipment hire companies operate in most major Australian cities and offer prams, cots, highchairs and car seats, usually booked item by item. Travel Tots handles the full kit in a single booking instead.
Is it safe to use a hotel portacot? Sometimes — but you often can't tell until you arrive. Ask the hotel what brand and model it is, when the mattress was last checked, and whether it meets current Australian Safety Standards. If you can't get a straight answer, bring or arrange your own.
What baby gear can you get delivered to your accommodation? Delivery-and-setup services typically cover the full child travel equipment setup: portacot, pram, highchair, nappies, wipes, playmat and toys. In Melbourne, Travel Tots delivers and sets all of it up at your accommodation before you arrive.
Do I still need to bring anything? Yes — the personal things. Clothes, comfort items, medication, formula if your child has a specific brand, and travel documents. The bulky, hireable items are what you can leave behind.
How does baby gear delivery work? You book ahead and provide your accommodation details and dates. The equipment is delivered, set up and waiting before check-in, then collected at the end of your stay. You don't pack it, carry it, or assemble it.
Planning a family trip into Melbourne? You can leave the pram and portacot at home — here's everything Travel Tots can have set up before you arrive.