Can anyone tell me if this is safe?

[sleepyhead32]

Posted a lot about this lately, apologies! Short story is dd (10 months) is struggling to adjust to her cot having previously been in the next to me. As a middle ground I've bought her a travel cot as it's a bit more similar to the next to me than a wooden cot with bars.

As she'll be using it as a main bed for a while I also got a separate mattress. It was from Amazon and paired alongside the travel cot I bought as being suitable/compatible with the model. I noticed that while it does fit and the dimensions seem right, she is able to create a small gap between the mattress and the bottom of the cot if she pushes her head against it. Not big enough to get trapped down or anything but enough so her head is at a slight angle. Because she has always slept with her head butted against the top of the next to me I suspect she's doing the same in the travel cot.

Is this ok? I've spent loads of time looking into whether travel cots are suitable as permanent beds and got all the recommended stuff (separate mattress etc) but I'm still worrying.

Hmmmmmm.

I'd be wary of that OP.

I know it's highly unlikely that she'd damage herself - it doesn't sound ideal.

Are you definitely saying she can get her head between the mattress and the bottom of the cot or is it ''just'' the mattress and the side of the cot?

See, i'd say stuff the gap with rolled sheets or something.

But honestly once you're into mucking about with bedding with 10 months old it's not good. She could pull the rolled up sheet out of the gap and get wound up in it!

I'm worrying myself now!!

<no help>

Ah OP I'd probably get an alternative mattress I'd panic that she may end up wedged at an angle or something and end badly.

I'd worry that she could get her hand/finger/foot trapped.

You aren't supposed to use another mattress, or padding of any sort in a travel cot in can increase the risk of SIDS.

Just copied this from the Lullaby Trust:
When using a travel cot it can be tempting to add extra padding as the mattress may feel firmer than usual. However, we recommend against this as the best way to reduce the risk of SIDS is to put your baby to sleep on a firm, flat and waterproof mattress.

What came with the cot wasn't a mattress at all. Just a hard bottom to it, she'd be fine sitting and playing on it but far too hard to sleep on for any length of time I would have thought.

I have been so wary about this but I thought given that the mattress was marketed as a bundle with the travel cot, it must be compatible. I think any mattress would do the same because the mesh sides of the cot are malleable and easily pushed out at an angle. The gap isn't big enough for her to get stuck down but her head did seem a bit bent back if that makes sense. This was because her head was butted up against the end/mesh of the cot.

Agh I don't know what to do now because she certainly can't stay in the next to me for much longer.

Can't you do what a previous poster said by rolling something up to fill the gap and then pull the sheet that covers the mattress over that as well so it's all covered and smooth?

Baby's and kids can sleep on much firmer than us...even the floor for safety remove the mattress most travel cots are pretty firm can you go look at some....Argos let you open boxes to look

That's dangerous baby can get smothered by it.

Will the main cot fit in your room? I'd just use that. She will adjust.

Absolutely do NOT do this

That's so typical of Lullaby Trust. I'm pretty sure you can get a "firm, flat and waterproof mattress" to fit a travel cot.

Don’t risk her life OP. No baby should be sleeping on a mattress with risk factors like you’ve described

See, i'd say stuff the gap with rolled sheets or something

Terrifying risk of smothering or strangulation.

I have a teen but even way back when they were small the advice was not to put a mattress in a travel cot.

She will have to get used to the regular cot at some point though surely? It’s probably better to bite the bullet and get it over with. Can you move it so it’s next to the bed so she feels closer to you? Then you just gradually move it away every few days.

Typical? As in wanting to keep babies safe?

It sounds perfectly fine to me.

However have you looked at the chicco next to me forever? It's an extended co sleeper that you can use past 6 months and then a floor toddler bed after that. Marketed at lasting till they're 4.

Could you please tell me the risk factors? I'm not being obnoxious, I'm trying to work out what's so dangerous. The gap is not big enough for her to get wedged in. She sleeps in a sleeping bag so she won't get a leg or foot trapped in it either. It's only at the top/bottom of the cot and it only happens if she pushes her head hard against it to move the mesh sides (which are soft not hard like in a crib or cot).

I have pushed the travel cot up against a cupboard so that she can't push the fabric far with her head. Have wedged the bottom with a blanket so the mattress can't move. I know some may say this is a risk factor in itself but it's an aerated blanket (she sleeps with one of those over her sleeping bag anyway) and I really don't think she'll be able to pull it out from under the mattress anyway.

I would rather use the wooden cot but it won't fit in our room and she isn't ready to be in her own room yet.

I don't understand why mattresses for travel costs would be sold if they were so dangerous and unnecessary. I will obviously have to keep a very close eye on things but to me this is the safer option to co sleeping which I have never been able to relax with at all. I just have major anxiety over sleeping and didn't want to move her at all as she was so settled in the next to me, but she's 10 months now and sitting up unaided so it's not safe for her to be in that anymore either.

Scaremongering.

I take that as adding your own blankets etc as padding. Not a fully fitted replacement mattress.

I think my best advice would be to persevere with getting her into her own room in her proper cot.

I know it's a big adjustment for both of you, but she's nearly a year old now and will mean all this stress about the travel cot is totally gone.

I hated sending DD4 to her own room once she reached 7 months. Seemed a mountain to climb to get her settled into it. But, once it's done, it's more peaceful for the pair of you.

Use a baby monitor if it helps?

I don't understand why mattresses for travel costs would be sold if they were so dangerous and unnecessary.

For the same reasons that sleep nests, cot bumpers, forward facing seats, door bouncers, baby walkers, food marketed as 4+ months etc is sold: money.

Lots of baby products sold are very dangerous.

I do agree, I wish we'd bitten the bullet and persevered with her own room but she was so distressed and wasn't sleeping at all. She is sleeping well in the travel cot - probably because she's still in our room. And to be honest I am happier with her in with us for a little while longer. She still wakes for a feed in the night so it's easier for me. I get what you're saying though, it would have been better to conquer this first time around. As I said my elder dc never batted an eyelid but this one is a totally different breed!

Travel cots are often mesh that is very flexible, and that is the reason the mattresses are thin and hard, so baby can’t become trapped, as deeper mattress isn’t suitable for a travel cot for this reason, Speak to your health visitor for advice OP

If the full size cot won’t fit in your room have you had a look at the compact cots? They are much more narrow and so may fit in your room. That way she gets used to sleeping in a cot whilst still in with you and it will hopefully be a much easier transfer to her big cot because it will be similar.

Can you put some towels or blankets underneath the sheet and on top of the base that came with the travel cot? Babies really do sleep on much harder surfaces than us.