21 month old too old for travel cot?

[Shazafied]

Hi all,

I’m taking my 21mo dd on holiday soon (in UK, taking car) and there is pack n play travel cot in the cottage.

It’s just occurred to me that she might be too big/strong/spider monkey like for this.

She is in a large cot bed at home with the base on its lowest setting and she stands up , thrashes about and kicks the sides at times. She’s quite a climber too.

I’m thinking the sides of a pop up travel cot might not be as deep as the sides on her cot bed, plus if she stood in it and rocked it (for example) it could tip over as more lightweight than a cot.

She’ll be in a twin bedroom in the cottage, was just going to ignore the beds and put her in travel cot ... but now thinking that’s a bad idea. She hasn’t slept in the travel cot for around 11 months .

I still have three weeks to decide / trial something .

I’ve seen those inflatable ready beds but think she might quietly get up and start pottering about in an unfamiliar room, Try to climb on the beds maybe...

I don’t want to put her at risk so just thinking what the safest idea would be? Perhaps there are things available I don’t know about ?!

We have a 4mo baby too so the baby will be in our room (either in her next to me crib or even the pack n play).

I forgot to add that she is tall for her age.

She moves around so much in her sleep I’d be nervous about just using a twin bed and bed guard (which she could prob climb over anyway).

Mine was in a travel cot until he was 2.5!

Perhaps I’m worrying too much !

We had this with DS 20 months last month! He could easily climb out of the travel cot and really didn’t settle well sleeping somewhere unfamiliar. So he slept in bed with us.

she'll probably be fine. perhaps a mattress on the floor is a back up if needed. think the cots are designed not to tip and similar height to standard cots, just lower to the ground.

I think you know your own child . Mine was out of a cot ( a climber ) at 15 months. So at that age he went in a ready bed . Now a cm I have many children up to 3 slept in a cot bed.

Tmh88 ... this is what I’m worried about. Can’t have her in with us as she tries to get to the baby ...... hmmmmm

Perhaps I could get the travel cot out and put her in it for a daytime nap and observe ....

I wouldn't have used a travel cot with DC3 at that age as she was similar to your DD. Just used a mattress on the floor and stayed with her until asleep. Can always surround with cushions if she's a wriggler.

Personally wouldn't bother buying something special. Could you just drag a mattress from the room onto the floor?!

My DD would just cry out in the night if she woke and we'd go in. She wouldn't roam in the dark. If this isn't your child would a nightlight disturb her? Something like this is useful/
cheap/ portable:

ANSMANN LED night light with twilight sensor - LED light energy saving - orienta... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00EPFC07C/ref=cmswwrsmsscapiiiyKDuDbZS3K015

We're on holiday with DS who is 28 months and asleep upstairs in a travel cot right now! He says he likes it and has slept fine since the weekend. He is quite short for his age though...

My DS flipped a travel cot when he was 22 months. Fortunately onto FIL who was lying on the floor trying to get him to go to sleep!

Thanks all. I’ll taje a look at that nightlight .

Another option is that I sleep in the double room with baby, husband sleeps in a twin bed and dd on the floor on mattress in same room. For some reason this makes me feel like she’s less likely to get up and hurt herself .

Fortunately onto FIL who was lying on the floor trying to get him to go to sleep!

What a dedicated FIL !

DS is 28 months, 3 ft tall and still goes in a travel cot🙈 Easy and we're going to get our moneys worth out of it! Also have a ready bed but that's only for places he can't get in any trouble....which is nowhere 😂

Do you use sleeping bags for her?

If not would it be too late to start using one?

I used to swear by them to minimise climbing/escaping

I tried an inflatable toddler mattress with my DD at a similar age and she simply didn't stay put - climbing out, rolling out (despite the slightly raised edges), etc. However, I then put her in a normal single bed with a guard (like the one linked below), which prevented her rolling out and hurting herself - and I don't know why it was psychologically different, but for some reason it didn't occur to her to even attempt to leave the bed. 3 months on, this is the arrangement we have in her bedroom and she STILL hasn't gotten out of bed of her own accord!

www.amazon.co.uk/Safety-1st-Portable-Compact-Children/dp/B0187EEUL0/ref=asc_df_B0187EEUL0/?hvlocphy=1006613&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=210075408123&hvpone&hvlocint&th=1&hvpos=1o3&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-295874845853&hvrand=15523005438530120170

My 22mo is a climber but fine in the travel cot as long as he’s in a gro bag. I wouldn’t want him in a bed as I still worry about the risk of suffocation if he got trapped by the wall or between a mattress and a bed bar. I’d rather him sleep in our bed

Yes we do @GiantKitteni - had not thought of their escape minimising properties. Ok so maybe travel cot and mattress on floor as Back up .... might dummy run the travel cot (with gro bag) for daytime nap in next few days just to see if she (somehow) brazenly scales it within seconds.

What a dedicated FIL !
I think they were desperate. He was 9.5 before they offered to take him overnight for a second time 😂

Those of you who use pack n play cots - do you use a mattress topper above the very hard mattress ? A properly fitting one I mean.

Worried about this too OP. DD is 22 months and we’re visiting family soon. Fortunately my parents have a proper cot that’s been handed down about a hundred times, but at in-laws it’s a travel cot.

We had a couple of days away in May and she was in a travel cot then and didn’t sleep great. Although she never climbed out.

DS was in a bed by 20 months as he was a climber so we never had this issue with him. I’m thinking that I’ll try the travel cot and if she’s not happy then I’ll do mattress on the floor and hope for the best

Also it just depends re the mattress. The travel cot that we have we don’t use a proper mattress and they’ve never complained, but the one my in-laws have is rock solid with the thinnest base ever so they bought a proper fitted mattress for it

@Shazafied yes we have a folding travel cot mattress from amazon.

DS is 98th percentile 25m old and he still goes in the travel cot. I tried a bed with a bed guard and he was up and out of bed fidgeting with stuff in the room!

Thanks @DreamingofSunshine