Travel cot- is this a crazy idea?!

[Fivebyfive2]

Hi, fairly clueless and very tired first time mum here so please be gentle even if my idea is, as I already suspect, a bit ridiculous...

Ds is 9 months and outgrowing his snuzpod in our room. He was prem and a slightly small baby, which is why we've gotten away with it for this long! We really want him in his own room.

Before he was born my parents very kindly got us a cot bed from IKEA, the thinking being it would last ages etc. All very well, except for one small issue... We cannot get him to sleep in it! When I sit next to the cot he doesn't settle at all, even though when he's in the snuzpod and I'm lying next to him on our bed, he will sometimes go to sleep without being held etc. But when we get him sleep (feed, rock etc) he always wakes when we put him down and we have to start again.

I've found a large travel cot online (newborn to 15kgs) where the side zips down. Would I be insane to buy it so I could settle ds and slide him in then zeip it back up, like the snuzpod but with more space and in his own room?? I could also take it when we stay at my parents or go away etc.

I know people will say sleep train and we haven't ruled this out, but we tried it a bit ago and it didn't work, although it may have been we needed a different method. I'd rather not if I'm honest, but I know it works for many. At this point I'm just trying to look for a few solutions so we can pick a course of action!

Thanks.

[Zebrasayshello]

Travel cot mattresses are generally hard and crap and aren’t designed to be slept on full time. Unless you buy a padded insert to go on top I think you’ll have more of a job to get him to sleep on it as it’ll be so uncomfortable for him. Probs a better idea to try and get him to setttle in his cot (As tough as it seems) as he’ll stay in that for the next couple of years.

[HanPanPeg]

Not the same situation but DS outgrew his next to me crib before 6 months / before we were ready to move him into his own room - his cot didn’t fit in our bedroom so we had him in a travel cot for a month or so in our room. More space for him but we didn’t have to move him out of our room - it was fine! But not really a long term solution.

[sleepyhead]

Ds2 slept in a travel cot until we moved house when he was 8 months old. We bought a full thickness foam mattress to fit (pretty cheap) and he was perfectly fine.

[Sunshine1235]

Do whatever it takes 👍 buy an extra travel cot mattress (or two) though as the ones they come with are very hard

[Fivebyfive2]

Hi all, thanks for the advice! Unfortunately his cot won't fit in our room. We can't Co sleep because there's no spare bed for dh and I don't think it'd be safe for us all to share. I know the most sensible option is to persevere with his cot, but it has kind of turned into this big challenge in my head. Every time he ends up back in the snuzpod I feel like a failure and that there is this big clock counting down to when he's properly outgrown it. God I sound so dramatic, sorry!

[Dougt]

Sounds like a good idea. It will help the transition to his own room, and you will be able to use it for travelling/for any future children too. We use an extra mattress for our travel cot.

[June628]

I don’t see why not OP! Just buy a nicer mattress for it.
I know people who have done the same

[ZooKeeper19]

@Fivebyfive2 can you put the snuzpod in a separate room to see if he'd settle in it but not next to your bed?

I'd start with that. We also have IKEA cot next to the big bed, and the side rail is still off and the baby crawls into the big bed all the time. But the victory is he falls asleep in the cot.

I'd try white noise, total darkness, and a chair next to the cot with one side off and you patting the baby so he does not cry. You may be in for a few bad nights but maybe he'd get the idea eventually. (whatever they call sleep training I am not such a huge fan but know that it worked wonders for some people).

[holliem91]

We used a travel cot ever since my DD was 8 weeks! My grandma got it for us bless her, she didn't realise it was a travel one but it worked perfect for us. Although, we couldn't zip the side down but it had a mesh side and she was right next to me so I could see her perfectly. We bought 2 better quality mattresses for it. It was also great like you say for if I ever stop at my mums for the night and I can just bring that. She's now in her cot at 6 months but I don't see a problem with using a travel cot at all if it works for you

[CrackersDontMatter]

My dd (14 months) is in a travel cot in our room. We bought a mattress for it. We haven't got round to reshuffling bedrooms yet and there isn't enough room for a full cot in ours.