What's it like to use day-to-day?
The beauty of the SpaceCot is that you can move it anywhere in the house with ease. Because it collapses so quickly and folds in half, which means that it is really narrow at only 14cm wide, getting it through doorways is a doddle.
Ruth did find it a bit cumbersome to carry through the house as, although it is narrow when folded, you still have to deal with the height. She said it was a bit like carrying an exceptionally large briefcase and found getting it up and down the stairs tricky as it tended to scrape the floor.
While the cot is lightweight at just 6.7kg, it felt heavier than this when packed into its carry case, which means that it may not be ideal to take with you on train journeys.
Day-to-day folding requires much less bending down than other travel cots though as it has a handy kickstand, like you would see on a buggy, which brings the bottom of the travel cot up towards you so that you can fold it in half without having to put any strain on your back.
When assembled, It's a bit on the narrow side to be used as a playpen, unlike the Red Kite Sleeptight, but it would be a safe place to leave a child if you needed to answer the door or cook something without them getting under your feet.
Our tester used the SpaceCot Alfa at home and it slotted into the corner of most rooms really easily. Her son also seemed quite happy to nestle into the mattress and go to sleep when he was feeling tired.
The SpaceCot slips easily into its carry case once folded and can be slotted under a bed for storage or laid flat across the boot of the car when used for holidays or overnight stays. It would, however, be a bit too big length-wise to take as hold luggage on the plane.
How easy is it to clean?
The fact that the cot only comes in light colours means it's likely to attract dirt easily. Any grubby finger marks on the main grey or silver fabric can be spot cleaned with a cloth, but stubborn stains are harder to remove and do require some elbow grease.
Ruth removed mud and sand from the cot with the combination of a handheld vacuum cleaner and a damp cloth and the material fared pretty well.
The colour she tested was so light that we would recommend dabbing, rather than rubbing, any soiled material with a damp cloth to get the worst of the dirt off first.
The covers, including the sides, do come off though, so she could pop them in the wash, leave them in the sun to dry and then clean all parts of the frame, which she really appreciated.
All the bedding is lovely and smooth, but there is no separate sheet for the mattress which could easily become stained through posseting or dribbling.
What about value for money?
The SpaceCot at the higher end of the scale when it comes to price, but that’s fairly understandable considering the work that has gone into its unusual design.
If you're after a travel cot that is effortless to use, while offering good longevity, then it's definitely worth the extra cash.
Final verdict?
A definite talking point with it's love-or-hate aesthetic and ingenuity, particularly when it comes to space-age technology, the SpaceCot is brilliantly constructed and is, quite simply, the best easy-folding travel cot around.
It takes a matter of seconds to put up and take down so will not only save you time, but also any extra strain on your back.
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