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Original poster

Travel cot mattress, needed or not?

54 replies

MrsSquirrelNutkin · 23/04/2024 10:21

I'm going on a haven holiday with my 3 month old. I've hired a travel cot but it says mattress not provided. Looking on the Internet I've seen people say that with a travel cot the baby just sleeps on the base of the cot, and that it's hard but that they don't mind? Is that true? I'm looking at travel cot mattresses on amazon and they look quite thick which also concerns me?!?! I'm so confused. I would just take my bassinet but it won't fit in my little Golf with my other bags haha

OP posts:
DappledThings · 26/04/2024 12:15

CharlotteBog · 26/04/2024 10:54

I think that is the mattress. Mine was thin, but padded and both my babies were fine with it. I did cover with a fitted sheet though.

Show quote history

Yes, sorry. That is indeed what is considered a mattress in the context of a travel cot. But I don't consider it a mattress and DS never slept well on it at all so we bought a proper one to put in

Sunnydaysaregone · 26/04/2024 12:41

This was a concern of mine when I bought a travel cot for use with my visiting tiny grandchildren. The base and thin built in mattress were very firm and I expected it to be a very uncomfortable sleep.

I was wary of adding a mattress and I emailed the Lullaby Trust to be sure I had the current advice. Their response was absolutely do not add any form of padding such as folded blankets, a duvet etc under the baby unless it was the custom made cot mattress specific to that travel cot. I followed their advice and didn’t add anything at all, just zipped baby into grobag and laid them in expecting to have to get up several times a night. But they slept as soundly as they did at home in their luxury cots.

I noticed on so many travel cot reviews folk saying it’s super hard, just put a duvet under baby, folded blankets etc. I tried to add the info I’d been given by the Lullaby Trust and each time I added it to the reviews it was removed 🤷‍♀️

WhimsicalMoth · 26/04/2024 12:49

The "mattress" is usually the base of the travel cot, it folds out. It is not incredibly padded. Not like a mattress, but there's still a bit of padding there. I used to wrap a large blanket around the base and put it back into the travel cot, just to make it a little more soft as it's usually quite shiny polyester material

Seelybee · 26/04/2024 17:26

I guess the reason they don't provide a mattress is that it's not advisable for babies to sleep on a secondhand mattress. Personally I'd buy one, they don't cost much and yours might be the baby that isn't comfortable sleeping on a board!

OtsyBotsy90 · 26/04/2024 20:30

What’s your pram like? The pram we have is safe for overnight sleeping.. i didn’t do it often but when we went away I used that! Worked great! Or co-sleep while you’re there… did that too. I know not recommended but I think it’s a judgement thing xx

sunflower1988 · 26/04/2024 20:30

We took my DD to France when she was 4 months and she just slept in the pram bassinet! The travel cot we were given was a ricketty old thing and didnt like the look of it.We actually kept it on the pram base and it was basically the same height as a next to me anyway it worked really well. We had a traditional pram with a mattress where she could lie flat not with straps though IYSWIM.

JLM1981 · 26/04/2024 21:04

The travel cot built in mattress will be fine. I've used them with all 4 babies for holidays, most recently with a 14 week old. Used a fitted sheet with it and nothing else. She slept great. Do not add anything to the travel cot. Follow safe sleeping guidelines as you would at home 😁 you can of course buy a proper fitting mattress for it but travel cots vary so you would need to know the exact size as it wouldn't be safe if it didn't fit properly hence I've always used the built in one. Happy holidays x

CanINapNow · 26/04/2024 21:10

These are super helpful from the lullaby trust instagram OP.

we just used the buggy when baby was small as their sleep space when on holiday.

Travel cot mattress, needed or not?
Travel cot mattress, needed or not?
Delphiniumandlupins · 26/04/2024 21:13

I wouldn't want to put a young baby to sleep on a secondhand mattress. I have a basic travel cot that was well used by my first grandchild and I bought a thin mattress for it. I have bought a new mattress for her baby sister.

CanINapNow · 26/04/2024 21:16

Buggy with a bassinet that is.

Kinniewins · 26/04/2024 22:47

Instead of buying a mattress that you may never use again, why not buy a roof bag or box for your car and take your own if it’s a foldable next to me type bed? Least you know what you’re getting then.

TheFairyCaravan · 26/04/2024 23:14

SIL gave us our travel cot for DGS but the mattress is so thin I couldn’t see how he’d be comfortable in it. I found one that’s made specifically for it and he slept like a little angel in it.

MrsFionaCharming · 26/04/2024 23:17

My DS will absolutely not sleep in a travel cot. We’ve had a few terrible nights away with him waking every 30 minutes before we realised this. Now we take his cot mattress with us and he sleeps on that on the floor.

becomingfall · 27/04/2024 05:15

We have one that’s just a board covered with the thinnest material ever, my 7 month old usually sleeps 7-7 but in that thing he cried all night (can’t say I blame him!). 2nd night I folded a double duvet up and put it under the base, he slept a lot better but obviously not safe so wouldn’t recommend- we need it again at the end of June and I’m 100% buying a mattress for it

becomingfall · 27/04/2024 05:18

Just to add though when he was the same age as your little one he just slept in the bassinet part of his pram when we went away. He absolutely loved it and slept really well, we only stopped because he is so long and outgrew it quickly!

MariaVT65 · 27/04/2024 06:10

We bought a mattress for our own travel cot after reading so many reviews that the one included was far too hard. But there are different sizes of travel cot so you would need to know the dimensions, otherwise you risk an unsafe sleep situation.

StampOnTheGround · 27/04/2024 06:58

Yes we found this when we were on a uk holiday, DS was absolutely fine - he was 14 months though

Thepartnersdesk · 27/04/2024 09:59

They will manage without one. The cot will have the black base board which is padded. That is it's built in mattress but they don't provide the additional (non wipe able) padded type you can put on top.

If you were going at a colder time of year then it would be useful in protecting them from cold underneath a bit more.

Be warned, haven bedrooms at first glance don't fit a travel cot. Sometimes they remove a bed but if not, there's nothing to the frames (they are really light).

I used to put the mattress onto the opposite bed and then up end the frame.

Layouts of the caravans differ a lot so you probably won't know exactly where it will fit until you arrive.

Hope you have a lovely time.

Twinboymum3 · 27/04/2024 13:19

They do seem very uncomfortable but my boys have all slept fine in them. When they’ve been older I’ve put a quilt under them for comfort but wouldn’t for such a young baba. If you’ve got a sleepyhead or anything along those lines that might be good to put inside as a bit more padding xxx

tigerrabbit · 27/04/2024 14:16

Does your pram have a carry cot/bassinet? We went on holiday when DS was the same age and just used it instead, but after checking it was safe for overnight sleeping. I’ve found travel cots to look quite uncomfortable with the hard base thing. We use a travel cot at PIL’s house but with a decent cot mattress.

NoCloudsAllowed · 27/04/2024 14:20

I had a little life travel cot that was basically a small tent. Packed up tiny and lasted years, then was used as a play tent for even longer! Worth considering.

Using a travel cot I'd always put a fleecy blanket under the sheet a otherwise it's hard and plasticky.

rainbowduplo · 27/04/2024 15:06

We had a mattress when packing space allowed it, but both kids also slept completely fine on the slightly padded base board of the travel cot, as have my nephews and nieces who were born into a world where we didn't know additional TC mattresses were a thing!

Imisssleep2 · 27/04/2024 15:52

Our travel cot is exactly that, a hard base which the baby is supposed to sleep directly on. I personally think it feels and looks horribly uncomfortable so have never done this. I brought a mattress to also take when. We go away so it's nice and soft and warm for my baby to sleep on, but if your hiring a cot you won't know what size to buy... And will take up more space in the car. I am going away to haven in June with my then be 5 months old and we are taking two cars to manage to take everything we need, the second car will just sit at the caravan site till we come home. Is this an option for you? Luckily our drive is only 2hrs not the end of the world to take two cars.

Mynewnameis · 27/04/2024 15:55

They are awful. On holiday when dd was this age she end up in the pram. Had a proper carry cot one with us thankfully

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