Travel cot mattress?

[MyMellowDreamer]

Hi all, I have recently purchased a travel cot as it's the only thing little one will sleep in during the day! I purchased a mattress as many people in the reviews had done the same stating the mattress that came with it was very basic. It's one that wraps around the outside of the cot when folded down so is a board with a small amount of padding on. My question is, do I keep this in as it's the baseboard and adds rigidity and stability to the bassinet and pop the mattress on top or do I put just the new mattress in? I've just noticed that the mattress seems to dip a little in the middle with nothing under it as it's just on the hanging mesh of the bassinet insert?

We've got 2 different travel cots with added mattresses, I always keep in the board and pop the mattress on top

It should say on your cot. Some of them you aren't allowed to add an extra mattress as it affects the breathability of the cot and therefore the SIDS risk. When you lift up the basic mattress, is there anything printed on the bottom of the cot? That's where it's written on ours. Btw, we've never used an extra mattress with ours and it's never bothered DD1.

If you're going to use it then put it on top - but be aware it's not advised to add a mattress (it will probably be in the safety warnings at the start of the travel cot instructions) as there is a risk that babies can roll to the edge and then get an arm/shoulder stuck between the mattress and the mesh side which can then put them into a bad position breathing wise. If it's for daytime sleeping and you'll be in the room aware then it's probably not as much of a risk as it would be if you were leaving them to sleep overnight. TBH if your baby sleeps happily without the extra mattress, I would probably not add one.