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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Is it UR (ie, unsafe) to have baby in a travel cot for first few months?

58 replies

Sastra · 05/09/2012 16:22

I can't bring myself to spend £70 on a Moses basket, and we don't have a car so getting a second hand one would be a bother.

John Lewis have some travel cots for sale that have an insert for babies up to 3m. Also have a changing mat insert and can be used as a play pen later. The bed bit is elevated do baby wouldn't be low down on the floor.

Can't do links as on phone, but: m.johnlewis.com/mt/www.johnlewis.com/231429262/Product.aspx

So, question is, would I be unreasonable to get one for our bedroom for the first few months when she's born?

OP posts:
Themumsnot · 05/09/2012 16:56

You are so right about the moses basket being a waste of money though. I borrowed one, but it only lasted a couple of weeks and I'm sure my PFB would have been fine feet to foot in her cot from the off.
DD3 ended up in a travel cot for months because DD2 point blank refused to vacate the cot in favour of big girl bed. What a palaver that was! I will say though, that the travel cot also doubled very nicely as a play pen/place to put DD3 safely out of the way when elder siblings were rampaging etc.

Original poster
Sastra · 05/09/2012 17:07

Thanks everyone for the responses - super helpful. I think I'm just going to stick the cot in our bedroom, particularly as we're in a two bed flat so even for naps during the day it's not as if we'll ever be far away!

OP posts:
Socknickingpixie · 05/09/2012 17:07

cot ikea.£25

mattress www.wedomattresses.co.uk nighty nighty foam cot mattress reflex foam £39.00 free next day delivery. its simmerler to memory foam but is cooler and tends not to have the smell memory foam has. they are very good quality just cheap as they vacuroll them avoiding high delivery costs and warehouse storage.

Socknickingpixie · 05/09/2012 17:11

sorry ikea cot is £35 not 25. but its a bargin its called the ikea sniglar beach effect cot

dottyspotty2 · 05/09/2012 17:14

We did it with DD1 now 21 was in a small one bedroom flat and there was no room for a full sized cot was a case of needs must she never went into a proper cot until 15 months when we moved into our current home.

Moominsarescary · 05/09/2012 17:16

sock we've just bought one of those, it was £45 with matteress. Ds is 18 months now and has been in a travel cot since a few months old due to space.

Op maybe a cot divider if your worried about the baby not liking the space. Ds1 went straight into a cot though and was fine

Socknickingpixie · 05/09/2012 17:38

bloody hell i didnt know they did mattresses as well, thats a bargin im very impressed with your find. i hope your lo enjoys his new bed

Moominsarescary · 05/09/2012 17:47

We were worried he wouldn't sleep in it but he's fine, didn't want to spend a lot of money on one because I don't think he will be in it very long, he's not quite ready for a toddler bed yet though. The toddler beds are realy nice too and not expensive.

That cot comes in blue and pink too and they do more expensive mattresses. We had to move him out of the travel cot as he's started poo painting and it's a pita to get off a travel cot Hmm

fairimum · 05/09/2012 17:50

is fine, but the mattresses aren't great, we got a proper mattress made to the right size from here and was fantastic :) babymattressesonline.co.uk/

Socknickingpixie · 05/09/2012 18:09

if its any help the mattress i posted about i have seen in rl as a friend ordered it its very simmerler to one i paid nearly £100 for befor i found that company and they are very good i just replaced a kingsize and 5 single mattresses from there for less than my last kingsized one cost

grobagsforever · 05/09/2012 19:44

ALL - I cannot emphasise this enough, DO NOT put a non travel cot mattress in a travel cot. The combination of a thicker, softer mattress and soft sides means the baby can become trapped and suffocate. My little brother was found blue, I.e. Nearly died as as a result of thus. Fairimum please check yours out. As a result of what happened to my brother, who is thankfully fine Mothercare changed their policy and re trained their staff.

Clytaemnestra · 05/09/2012 19:55

Mamas and Papas do a travel cot with an extra mattress (so presumably safe)you can buy for added comfort?

maddening · 05/09/2012 20:20

I got a crib on eBay and new mattress (£14) as our room is too small and that was slightly bigger than a moses basket and sturdier and you can prob get your money back on eBay when you finish

Fairylea · 05/09/2012 20:22

Bit random but I'd go with the normal cot, cheap mattress and get a sheepskin (the wool company do good ones) over the top... My ds loves his and I'm sure its one of the reasons he's been sleeping so well - now 11 weeks he sleeps through most nights. We put a fitted sheet over the top as per the advice and it keeps him cool in summer and warm in the cooler nights. Well worth the forty quid.

maddening · 05/09/2012 20:22

there is a company that makes mattresses for travel cots custom size

2rebecca · 05/09/2012 21:40

My kids lived in the carry cot that fitted on the pram for the first 3 months. I tried crib and moses basket (both loant to me I wasn't buying as many different beds for a baby as possible!) but they both settled best in the carry cot.
Travel cot mattresses can be a bit thin but if it's thick enough I don't see a problem with it.

Moominsarescary · 05/09/2012 21:55

We bought our travel cot mattress from toys r us

WildWorld2004 · 05/09/2012 22:05

I wouldnt buy a travel cot. Id get a proper cot or a moses basket.

My moses basket cost about £5. I would put dd in it when i was downstairs & then carry her up in the basket when i went to bed. That way i wasnt waking her up by lifting her & she was always in the same room as me.

KateSpade · 05/09/2012 22:08

My DD went in a Travel cot once/twice a week from birth when my parents had her in their room overnight. Didn't do her any harm.

She had a moses basket for around 3 months ish, till she could wriggle up to the top and we put her in a cot. Agree with sock people buy so many baby things because they get sucked in by the cute factor.

Gro-Bag's are one of the essential baby things, as it just is so much safer, especially when they get bigger and start wriggling and turning over. I have a cot bed now, and my baby is often opposite ends throughout the night, she would either end up underneath the blanket or without it on!

iggi777 · 05/09/2012 22:17

Grobagsrus that sounds really scary. Makes me worry - I had a travelcot for ds1, and now wanted (for safety) to get a new mattress for it for ds2 - is only the really thin one you get with it safe?
Tbh I'd thought the mesh sides would avoid suffocation?

Moominsarescary · 05/09/2012 22:22

You just have to make sure it's a travel cot mattress and that it's the right one for the travel cot you have.

hophophippidtyhop · 05/09/2012 22:41

I used to get a cellular blanket, roll in from each side and put dd in the middle of it so she had the rolled blanket snugly down her sides a bit like this.also used to swaddle and then a sleeping bag to make her feel safe.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 05/09/2012 22:50

We put the cot straight in our room too. Unfortunately we built it in our bedroom then had a tough time moving into DD's room once built, minor detail. On the plus side, DD was at home straight away when we moved her into her own room as she also wasn't getting used to a new bed too.

CoolaSchmoola · 05/09/2012 22:53

DD had a crib from Kiddicare to start with. Main reason was my DH was in Afghanistan throughout my pregnancy and I went to my Mum's in the UK to have her. No point buying a cot as it wouldn't fit in the car to go back to Germany so we had the crib. Cost less than £70 though.

We also had a moses basket for naps as DD had to be in a room with us whilst she slept, even during the day. That, with stand cost a whole £35, plus free delivery, from Amazon.

We have two M&P travel cots (one at our house in Germany, one at mum's in the UK), and we bought extra travel cot mattresses for both of them, because the ones they come with are very thin and very hard. They are specific ones though and they doubled the cost of the travel cots.

There are a LOT of cheaper than £70 options, moses basket or crib - but just going straight into a cot is absolutely fine.

iggi777 · 05/09/2012 23:26

Thanks Moomins - have done some googling but basically you seem to get a mattress, of varying thicknesses, the right size for the travel cot - not sure if that means it's a "travel cot mattress".
Wish I could just fit my crib into the car!