travel cots - query

[OldieMum]

My dd is four months old and has just started spending the night in her cot. I want to buy a travel cot for her to nap in when she is at my mother's house. Could any of you tell me whether travel cots differ much in design and what I should look out for? Thanks.

Most of the ones I've seen look fundamentally very similar - personally I would just go for the cheapest and smallest (lightest) - you can get a Graco one from Argos which is quite compact for about £50.

Don't think there is a huge difference. Older style ones kind of concertina together and are larger but flatter when folded. The Graco and similar have a pull up and fold together action which makes a long rectangular box shape to store (releasing all the latches on the bars is a bit of an art form though).

We found one (Graco) on offer in Toys r Us which happened also to include a bassinette (never used). Check things like thickness of mattress and material of its cover, especially if you are likely to use it in warmer climates where you don't want a hot,sweaty baby, weight (especially if you plan to take it on a plane) and sturdiness when up. "Curtains" for the mesh sides to block out unnecessary light are a good idea, as are carry handle/wheels. Things have advanced a lot since we bought ours so it probably depends on how much the extra gizmos appeal to you.

For ds we mainly used it as a playpen but dd has slept quite happily in it when we have visitors.

Shortly after we bought ours (and had used it) I won one which, although the cheapest in the range(around £40 in Argos), was lighter and folded better than ours - SIL got a good deal!

Thanks!

I agree with Elliott - we bought the cheapest for our first dd to sleep in at my mum's, as the more expensive ones - with basinettes etc, we didn't think would be utilised as my mum had a changing mat etc.

We got the cheapest from Mothercare as we didn't think we'd use it much. They all seemed so similar anyway - all of them pretty heavy too! Works great - used it fir a week on holiday when she was 13 weeks - and had no problems. However, we don't use it that much at all. When we have stayed over it's normally just for a night or so, so DD just comes in with us - easier than trying fit everything in the car boot.

We bought a basic Gracco one from Toys R Us, I got a £10 off voucher from one of their mailings, so it was quite a bargin. However the day after we used it for the first time I noticed that Blooming Marvellous do a new type that is supposed to be lighter / smaller etc. It might be worth a look at their website.

I bought a cheap Graco one a couple of years ago - it was on special offer on the net because it was the previous year's design. (Like baby's gonna care!).

It was quite a big one, which was lucky because, in hindsight, I'd have bought the largest one we could find - since we only really used it a few times as a travel cot (still do - but rarely travel), but it spent about a year in use as a playpen. DS particularly liked it when we filled it with balls and cushions by the time he was 2. He would hurl himself about in it for ages.

I never thought of filling our travel cot with balls!!!