Advice on bedside cots/Bloom crib in small spaces

[IJustWoreMyTrenchcoat]

Hi, I am expecting my first baby in August and am getting round to thinking about the ideal cot/crib for us. We live in a 1 bed flat and the baby will therefore probably be in with us for longer than the recommended 6 months.

At first we wanted a co-sleeper - either a Bed Nest, Arm's Reach or Baby Bay but I am starting to think it will make more financial sense to forego this option and go for a cot. I hope to breastfeed, and would definitely like a 3 sided option. Have thought of this cot or something similar as this is out of stock. It would fit, is smaller than a cot bed and can be used as a conventional cot has anybody gone for a setup like this?

I am also slightly in love with the Bloom Alma Mini and Papa cribs. They both fold and you can wheel them about but I am a bit confused. The Alma Mini is described as a cosleeper on some websites. Do they just mean you can put it by your bed? I can't find any information that the side can be removed. Whereas as the larger Papa crib can be converted to a bed so the side could in theory be removed and placed next to our bed. It has 2 mattress heights but I can't find if the higher height is level to our mattress. I fear it's a bit of a non-starter and we would be better off with something specially designed as a bedside cot.

Can anybody shed some light on this issue for me? I obviously want a safe solution and don't want to use the Bloom Papa if it wouldnt be suitable. I would be interested to hear what others have done.

Hiya
Congrats on the baby!

We have a Troll bedside cot, which we've had for 2 children now. It works as a bedside cot flow as long as you need it But also converts immediately to a full cot when they become ready, and it has caster wheels so it's easy to move!

Te advantages I would say are that the height it changeable to anything you need, there must be at least 8 options, and the bedside rail lifts up and slides over beside the other rail so it's completely out of the way...whereas the drop side cots the spare rail creates a gap between you and the cot. It lasted our DD until 2.5 years when she went into her big girl bed and DS is currently enjoying its services.

Disadvantages - the price, we paid £250 at the time, nt sure what thy are now, but it is sturdy and has more than lasted, there's hardly a mark on it.
Size- it s a regular sized cot, if your looking for a space saver....it's not massive but not tiny.

My SIL bought the baby ba last year and had to buy a new cot at 5 months, because it was so small, when DN was rolling over he was hitting he sides and waking up.

Good luck!

Sorry, forgot to add I think Troll do a bassinet with the same spec just a different size!

I will check out the dimensions of the Troll bedside cot. Do I need to use a cot divider? as I was thinking if I place the baby in the feet to foot position it won't be very convenient to get them out for feeds.

Thank you

Il probably get attacked for this but I never did the feet to foot thing with any of my kids. Back home we were always just told that was necessary I you were using a blanket which I didn't, all of mine have had grow bags.

I wouldn't personally worry about cot dividers and the like.

You can always put his/her feet at the other end and pretend that's the foot

Oh and it's definitely nt ecceary I you swaddle them, which I found a dream for getting my girls to sleep when they were tiny!

Oh my days one handed typing, il try that again

It's definatly not nessecary if you swaddle them!

Thanks Jess, just realised a cot divider wouldn't be any good without the side to attach it to! I have some sleeping bags that are from birth with adjustable arm holes to tighten so could just stick to them, or as you say have the baby sleep the other way with feet at the head end!

Yep, I find the sleeping bags are a god send, just get a few different tog ones and You can rest assured that they're not going to disappear into them, or kick them off and end up freezing! Amazing invention!

Hi OP,
Bloom Alma mini is lovely, we had a funky bright green one for DD but it only lasted till she was 7/8 months old as it is very narrow and gave her no space to move around. No part of the crib can be removed to make it a cosleeper but It does fold up nicely and is all packed up for the next one.
We replaced it with a Bloom Luxo, that we love but both this and the alma papa are NOT co sleepers and cannot be. There would be a fairly large gap due to the thickness of the wood and the mattress design and would require you to buy a frame and remove the sliding side altogether.

Hi bonbon thank you for the info, it is good to know, even if it puts the Bloom out of contention for us.

It's a shame as they are lovely, but we need a co-sleeper and possibly a crib fr through the day, but the Alma Mini is a bit expensive for us for that purpose.