Two young mothers have launched a baby equipment rental site for visitors.

Little Longtails hires out a huge range of items, from beds to beach toys, meaning parents do not have to carry extra baggage on vacation.

Linda Cook and Michelle Viera, founders of the online service and who have five children between them, said they know the problems of travelling with young children.

Ms Cook said: “For tourists coming to Bermuda there wasn’t an online site they could use.

“Having used these kinds of businesses overseas on trips and having loved the way it made our holidays so much more relaxed and easy for everyone, I thought it would be great for Bermuda to have a baby equipment rental site.”

Ms Viera added: “I’ve experienced stressful travel with young kids and having ‘like home’ accommodations has always made our family travel much nicer and everyone happier.”

Little Longtails offers essentials like car seats, high chairs and strollers, as well as useful items like cradle swings, baby bouncers, bath equipment and breastfeeding cushions.

Ms Viera said: “We also rent entertainment for babies, toddlers and kids from boxes of toys and books to sand toys for a day at the beach.”

The two said that they had picked top names in the baby world to ensure quality and that all the items are stored in an air-conditioned storage space and cleaned using high quality products to rigorous hygiene standards.

Ms Cook said: “We stock the latest brands and rent new and recently purchased equipment. If it isn’t in the best condition or immaculately clean, we won’t let it be delivered.

“We supply all the cribs with sheets and spares — we try to make everything as easy as possible and will deliver directly to people in vacation rentals, Airbnb and even hotels.”

The business partners said that the growth of vacation rental properties, including Airbnb, was one of the driving factors behind the decision to start Little Longtails as smaller properties might not have the ability to provide essentials for families with smaller children.

But they said people with family and friends visiting them in Bermuda, as well as hotels that may be in need of extra resources or families that did not want to carry large amounts of toys and books to keep their children entertained on holiday, were also a potential market.

Ms Cook said: “Little Longtails will allow for rental and hotel accommodations to appeal to a wider range of visitors without any extra effort on the owners’ part as the visitors deal directly with ourselves.

“Our goal is to help make a vacation in Bermuda with little ones as easy and fun as possible, leaving plenty of time for guests to relax and explore our incredible island.

“Our website is easy to navigate and we encourage people to take a look around and see what fantastic products we have to offer our guests.”

Ms Cook last year won the Pitch Pink category — for tourist related businesses — after submitting Little Longtails’ business plan to the Bermuda Economic Development Corporation’s Rocket Pitch competition.

She said: “We were competing against some great ideas so I was surprised that we won. It has helped with the connections and people who have been willing to support us and back as we set up the business.

“It also gave me the push to get it going rather than just planning and researching it.”

Jamillah Lodge, education and communications officer at the BEDC, said the business to provide services to parents that visit Bermuda was an awesome idea.

“As a parent I understand the challenges of lugging tons of stuff on vacation, so Linda’s Little Longtails will be providing a much needed service to parents who visit Bermuda,” she added.

“BEDC is pleased to be able to keep the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Bermuda growing by supporting businesses like Little Longtails and we wish Linda continued success.”

For more information visit www.littlelongtails.com or call 707 7658.