Answers for every step of your Baby Ship journey.
We collected the questions families ask us most, from how pickup works to what happens if plans change. Browse the sections below, or jump straight to what matters for your next trip.
About Our Service
Baby Ship is a service designed to help parents ship their baby essentials, such as strollers, car seats, and pack-and-plays, directly to their travel destination. This allows you to avoid the hassle of lugging bulky gear through the airport and dealing with oversized baggage fees.
You book a shipment online, prepare your items by condensing them as much as possible, place them in a travel bag, and apply the provided shipping label. You then drop them off at a carrier location, and we handle the rest, ensuring your gear arrives at your destination.
Shipping with Baby Ship eliminates the stress of navigating airports with bulky items, avoids potential oversized baggage fees, and prevents the risk of your gear being lost or damaged by airlines. It frees your hands to focus on your family and makes the airport experience more manageable.
BabyQuip is a rental marketplace where you rent baby gear at your destination, which is sometimes a better option than Baby Ship. Baby Ship is a shipping service that allows you to send your own familiar gear to your destination, which is sometimes better than BabyQuip. They are complementary services that serve different needs.
Travel agencies help you book your trip. Baby Ship focuses on the logistics of moving your gear, eliminating a major pain point of family travel. We're a specialized service that complements your travel plans.
Preparing your Shipment
You can ship a wide range of baby gear, including strollers, car seats, travel cribs, and playards. We can ship items like the Nuna TRIV Next, UPPAbaby Vista V2, and Mockingbird Single-to-Double strollers, as well as travel cribs like the Phil&Teds Traveller V5.
Shipping your own gear ensures your child has the familiar comfort of their own items, which can reduce meltdowns and make the trip more enjoyable. You also have peace of mind knowing the item's history and cleanliness, and that your car seat has not been in a previous accident.
While many airlines allow you to gate-check a stroller and car seat for free, this can be a chaotic process. With Baby Ship, you avoid the long walk through the terminal, the security checkpoint struggle, and the wait at the baggage claim.
In general, strollers and car seats fly free and can be checked at the curb, counter, or gate. Pack-and-plays and playpens count as standard checked bags and are subject to regular baggage fees. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, it is always a good idea to check the airline’s official website directly.
Specific Airline Policies:
● SkyWest
We provide detailed packaging guides on our website with step-by-step instructions on how to properly pack the most popular baby gear brands to ensure they are safe for transit.
Shipping carriers use dimensional weight, which means the cost is based on the size of the package, not just its actual weight. We have populated the appropriate shipping dimensions for the most common baby gear and brands. We also recommend consolidating your items as much as possible to help keep your shipping costs down.
For larger items, you can use a travel bag, and our service still applies. We will provide guidance on how to best prepare your items for shipping to keep them safe and secure.
Destination & Delivery
Yes, we can ship your items directly to a hotel. We recommend coordinating with the hotel’s front desk or concierge to let them know a package is arriving, as some have specific addresses or processes that must be followed. It is your responsibility to follow a hotel’s instructions to ensure a smooth delivery.
Yes, we can ship to a private residence, such as an Airbnb, VRBO, or other vacation homes. We advise coordinating with the host to understand their package delivery instructions, as it is your responsibility to follow them.
Yes, we can but sometimes service is less reliable. You can always ship to the closest carrier location to your rural destination.
Yes, our service uses major shipping carriers like FedEx and UPS - we will let you know which one to use. Once you have your labeled package, you can drop it off at an authorized carrier location.
No, not at the moment but it’s something on our to-do list.
Currently, we are focused on domestic shipping within the United States but international shipping is on our to-do list.
We don’t recommend you ship baby gear to cruise ships given that they can be tricky (and if the delivery is late, it misses the boat). If there is enough interest, this is something Baby Ship may put on our to-do list.
Pricing & Protection
We strive to offer competitive rates that are often lower than the total cost of airline baggage fees and surcharges. Our pricing is based on a combination of the item's weight and dimensions, so you get an accurate estimate upfront that is typically more affordable than shipping on your own.
Yes, we offer declared value protection to cover your items in case of loss or damage during transit. We recommend this for all shipments to provide you with peace of mind.
We do not currently offer specific discounts for military families or frequent travelers. However, our pricing model is designed to be transparent and cost-effective, helping you avoid airline fees and surcharges.
You can get a real-time quote on our website by providing details about your shipment, including the dimensions and weight of your item. Our pricing algorithm will factor in dimensional weight to provide an accurate estimate.
Our Business & Mission
As a small, dad-built business, we want to grow with our customers. We're starting with shipping, but we envision adding services like travel advice, pre-packed kits, and even origin and destination services. For our frequent travelers, we’re also exploring a potential subscription service to help them save even more on their trips. Our goal is to provide a single, integrated solution for all your family's travel logistics.
We are open to partnerships with other travel and baby-focused businesses to provide a more comprehensive experience for our customers.
We are donating a percemtage of our net income back to select universities we partner with in a dedicated effort to support future business leaders through experiential learning. Our partnership will provide a unique educational experience for students while allowing us to operate with a low overhead.
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