Nightly use of travel cot for health reasons - possible?

[Butterflymm]

Hi there my DD has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia at 8 weeks old.

She wears a Pavlik Harness that puts her legs at right angles, a kind of 'frogs legs' position. She is only small and at now 9 weeks she is 8lb 7oz (she was 3 weeks early) she's growing well though and dosent fit spaciously enough to have her legs in the optimum position. I am currently using her Mamas and Papas pram with a sleep safe stand and nightime mattress but I don't like the fact that she is also in this in the day, I want her to have a night-time area.

Also she had an incident where she stopped breathing - an apnoea problem (totally scarey and involved an ambulance but that's another story) so she has an angelcare sleep movement pad which has to be taken in and out all the time.

So, what I was wondering is if there are any parents who have used travel cots everynight as I want her to stay in with myself and my DH until the 6 month mark.

I read a thread where someone suggested a travel cot as it is also a practical purchase for when we go on weekends away etc and might be even better to settle her when away.

I was wondering if anyone has used a mattress with it and would like one where the base could be raised so we don't have to bend in too far to get our LO.

Any tips/ advice greatfully recieved!! :-)

[lucy101]

Hi there - some cots are for both travel and every night like the Arm's Reach which I will be using... so a travel cot should be fine (they would have to pass all the same safety issues as normal beds I guess too)

Arm's Reach are here in the UK:

www.armsreach.co.uk/

although I bought ours from the US (where there are loads on sale at around $150) and got a friend to bring it over (as they are travel cots they fold up small). There are some on ebay too.

I am sure you could get a cheaper good quality travel cot that is quite sturdy, maybe at somewhere like John Lewis.

However I will be buying a new mattress as the one that comes with it (which is easy to fold) is (in my opinion) not very good and smells very strongly of chemicals.

I am getting one from here:

www.naturalmat.co.uk/prodtype.asp?strParents=104&CAT_ID=255

[Butterflymm]

That's really helpful thank you. I really like the arms reach cot just had a look at the link. I had a cot attached to the side of the bed at the maternity hospital I was at. It's handy especially to have the baby in easy reach for soothing and getting out for a feed etc.

Thanks for the tip about the mattress too, really helpful!

Great that it travels as well!

[suiledonne]

Butterfly I had the Arms Reach mini cot for dd2. I think for your purpose you would need the full size one as the mini one is quite small and might not give your dd the room she needs.

I think a travel cot would be fine for every night use if you put in a good mattress. The normal mattress they come with is designed to fold into sections and I doubt if it is very comfy.

hth

[Tootlesmummy]

I had a mamas and papas one that folded away into a bag. We bought a decent mattress for it as the ones that come with it look a little uncomfortable.

I know in the short term the ones which are higher might be better but she might be able to get out of that quickly. The one we have my DS still uses it and he's 2.8.

[Butterflymm]

Thanks, I see what you mean about the size of some and have found a travel cot with a bassinet attachment which can come out when my LO grows.

I don't have enough room at the side of the bed for the larger arms reach - which I would need to accommodate DD in her harness (I have tried every configuration of my bedroom furniture over the bank holiday weekend!)

the best solution seems to be Graco Jupiter with a changer and a few nice extras like a toy bar and vibrating mattress (!) that will make every day use nicer. I've found a good deal online and I cam purchase a more comfortable mattress from the same place.

Thanks souch for ur help and advice! :-)