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Original poster

Would you put your baby in the hotel cot? Pic included

52 replies

fairgame84 · 14/04/2023 13:43

We're going abroad to visit the in laws in June and staying in a hotel. DD will be 8 months. I want to take a travel cot as the hotel have really old cots and I'm worried about the safety of them and sids risk.

DH thinks I'm being out and the wooden hotel cot will be fine. I disagree because I think DD could pull herself up and tip out.
I don't like the metal cots as we had similar at the hospital i work at (they got condemned and replaced in covid) and babies would get their legs stuck in the bars and bump their heads on the metal.

Our luggage allowance is really stingy (thanks tui 🙄) so we will have to pay extra to take a travel cot but I think it's worth it.

Would you put your baby in the hotel cot? Pic included
OP posts:
Throughabushbackwards · 14/04/2023 14:54

I'd take a travel cot. Might also be handy at the in-laws as a playpen/safe place to leave her when you're there visiting.

Wutheringmoors · 14/04/2023 14:55

I would be happy to use the wooden cot, yes. Agree you're being very OTT.

Oranges555 · 14/04/2023 14:57

I have always used hotel ones and just taken my own mattress protectors, sheets and blankets . I felt better then that it was ‘clean’

IDLPM · 14/04/2023 14:58

I'd take a travel cot or buy one there/get the in-laws to - and refund them if necessary.

Okunevo · 14/04/2023 15:00

If I used a cot (we coslept) then those look fine. You can look up maximum and minimum measurements between the bars and check when you get there but I assume they would be required to meet safety standards anyway. Sids risk at 8 months is very low.

Toddlerteaplease · 14/04/2023 15:02

Nothing wrong with either of those cots. Take your own sheets of you are very precious.

IDLPM · 14/04/2023 15:03

I agree that the wooden one doesn't look deep enough for an 8 month old, unless it is adjustable.

WimbyAce · 14/04/2023 15:04

I used hotel cot but took our own sheet and sleeping bag just as that was what she was used to.

TheMarsian · 14/04/2023 15:07

fairgame84 · 14/04/2023 14:02

@Quitelikeacatslife yes that is an option.

What about the sids risk of her sleeping on an old mattress that hundreds of other babies have slept on? That's my biggest worry.

As you are working in a hospital, do they change the mattress for each baby? Do babies die as a result if sleeping on a mattress that has been used by many previous babies?

TheMarsian · 14/04/2023 15:09

Btw as you are going to see in laws, I’d buy a travel cot on arrival and leave it with them.

Ive done that with my babies when seeing family. The travel cot usually ended up being used by other family members with babies though….

ElizabethBest · 14/04/2023 15:10

96% of SIDS cases are in babies under 6 months old. The risks in an 8 month old are much, much lower. If you don't feel happy using their cot, then why not ask your inlaws to buy a travel cot for you to use there?

SleepingStandingUp · 14/04/2023 15:11

fairgame84 · 14/04/2023 14:02

@Quitelikeacatslife yes that is an option.

What about the sids risk of her sleeping on an old mattress that hundreds of other babies have slept on? That's my biggest worry.

Can the in laws buy an inexpensive mattress you can use?

Barleysugar86 · 14/04/2023 15:15

I would use the hotel one without worry as well. The SIDS risk worry is about using mattresses that have been out of use for a long time - the hotel will be putting cots up all the time I doubt its been out of use. You could take your own waterproof cot blanket if you were really worried.

I co sleep a lot with my two and my mattress is about ten years old but I don't consider it unsafe.

Oblomov23 · 14/04/2023 15:30

Would never occur to me to NOT use a hotel cot, unless it looked very old and unsafe.

Original poster
fairgame84 · 14/04/2023 15:38

@Okunevo it's a country that's not big on safety. No requirements for seat belts or car seats etc

@TheMarsian no and it's never crossed my mind. We obviously disinfect between babies and mattresses are replaced every few years.
Clearly I'm overthinking the mattress issue.

OP posts:
Spin4Gin · 14/04/2023 16:14

I take my own mattress protector which is good quality. And our own sheet. So I know there are a few good layers between the mattress and my toddler

CurlewKate · 14/04/2023 16:37

I'd use it. But that's not the point-if you're going to worry it will spoil your holiday. Can you get your PILs to buy a travel cot or a new mattress for you to use while you're there?

Original poster
fairgame84 · 14/04/2023 16:57

I've taken on board all the replies and spoken to DH.
The plan is that we will go and see what the cot is like, take our own mattress protector and sheet.
If the cot is not good then there is baby shop 7 minutes drive from the hotel and we'll buy a travel cot from there and leave it with PIL.

OP posts:
reluctantbrit · 15/04/2023 18:26

I would use it. At 8 months DD didn't sleep well in a travel cot anymore, the mattress was thin and she wasn't keen on the noise it made.

TMess · 15/04/2023 18:40

I tend to be OTT about only using new and organic mattresses for my newborns but at 8 months I wouldn’t really worry - or else I’d have the baby sleep with us, which I find they usually do in hotels anyways for some reason!

TheBirdintheCave · 15/04/2023 18:57

We stay at friends houses frequently so invested in a Baby Bjorn travel cot (new with tags on eBay). We take it with us whenever we go on holiday so we don't have to worry about hotel cots being the wrong size or a bit rickety :)

milkysmum · 15/04/2023 18:57

I would use the hotel cot.

Bunnycat101 · 16/04/2023 09:52

I’d have been fine in principle with the hotel cot but I’m not sure if it is the angle but the wooden one doesn’t look very deep. My youngest was a climber and would have been right out of that one at that height. My second wasn’t anywhere near as adventurous so would have probably been ok but I’d be more wary re depth than anything else from those pictures.

Shangrilalala · 16/04/2023 10:04

the sheet tog sleeping bags should discourage climbing and combined with your own mattress protector and fitted sheet should be fine. We did this many times without incident.

Inyournewdress · 12/07/2024 17:21

How did it go OP? I think the plan you made was very reasonable. I would have been concerned and questioning too, bed safety is important and you never really know what you’re going to find at a hotel, partly because people don’t always report accidents or small breakages to an item.

My parents used to travel quite a lot with me as a baby and after discovering countless broken or inadequate cots my dad used to actually pay to take a disassembled cot from home and reassemble it on arrival 😆