Bedside cot or just a normal one with side removed

[Chooster]

Am 25 weeks pg with DC3... We had intended on stopping after DC2 but nature had other ideas . So bascially all our baby stuff is gone....

This time I would like a bedside cot so that it makes night times easier - looking back I dont know why I didn't do this with the other two.

To me they just look like cots but with one side that can fold under the cot so it fits snug against your bed. But they are quite pricey and seem tricky to find second hand close to me.

So, do you reckon I can just get any cot but leave a side off it? Does it become really unstable? At least that way I can keep it against my bed for as long as it suits then put the side back on when he moves to his own room.

Am I missing something crucial?

Yes, you can buy a normal cot and take a side off - but be careful as not all cots will stand up with 3 sides! I believe they are phasing out drop-sides now as well which will make things difficult.

Do you want a cot or a cotbed, long term?

The ikea cots, (except the really cheap one) all convert to toddler beds, and are cot sise (take a standard cot mattress too) rather than cotbed sise, so they stand up with one side removed absolutely fine. They are also perfect to drill extra holes in to raise the mattress to the level of yours. The cot I was given (not ikea) stands up fine with 3 sides, but the legs taper off as it gets higher, so instead of drilling more holes we had to screw an extra bit of wood into it to hold the mattress up. Now I am stuck with it as a bedside cot.

Other than that, any cotbed will stand up with a side removed no problem, and might be more practical in the long run. But watch out for the legs tapering issue as mentioned earlier.

HTH :)

I had a bedside cot for all 3 of mine and i loved it. Dream feeds were a dream!

If you take the side off a normal cot, you will only have 3 sides of the rectangle,so it won't be stable.

I think the base (ie. the slats that the mattress sits on) of the bedside cot is more sturdy than that of a normal cot, so it acts as the '4th side of the rectangle', if you see what I mean, and adds to the stability when the side is folded under.
Don't see why you couldn't 'doctor' a normal cot, though, to make it more steady.

Congratulations, by the way, on number 3! We did just the same, but so soon after number 2 that all our stuff was still in use (whoops!). 3 years on, we've just started to get used to it :o

Thanks ladies! I think I'll take a look at a cot bed then. I'll keep my eye out for a bedside cot in the meantime in case my luck is in! But am sure a cot bed would be fine too...

Good to hear we are not the only ones who feel into that 'number 3' trap amistillsexy! but we're really excited now and looking forward to it all starting over again.

don't forget to consider the bednest in your search for the perfect crib for no 3. Totally stylish and brilliant. :)

-babynest, do you mean this? I'm really tempted, but wonder how long it lasts, I had ds in with me til about 9 mths...