Using a travel cot as permanent sleeping arrangement

[expatmum03]

Are there any expat parents out there who use/used a travel cot as their full time sleeping cot in the baby's room? We're having our first and because we're hopeful that there's going to be a decent amount of travel in our future, we'd love a system that the baby is used to both at home and away. Plus, we're more on the minimalist side, and like the idea of one sleep place that can work for anywhere we are.

My main concern is if we get a more solid mattress for the travel crib for being at home, are we increasing the chance of SIDS? I read a random review online that mentioned this and I can't get it out of my head. Would love to hear of other expat parents' experiences!

Well I'm not an expat but we did use a travel cot with my 3rd until he was around 18 months as there was no room in our bedroom for a full size cot

We did buy a better mattress but I can't say we ever heard anything about increased risk of sids and he was 8 weeks early and no one at the hospital mentioned it was an issue . He's 11 now though so it wasn't recently

Yeah, we're expats and just use a travel cot with our 21 month old. It just made sense when we moved. We bought a better mattress. Some people say this is dangerous as you should just use the official mattress but this is just the manufacturers covering their backs.

However we didn't use one from birth. Extra long Moses basket till around 6 months and then a next to me until she could pull her self up. (But you could skip this stage).

Why would a firm mattress increased SIDS risk? Everything I've read has said that a firm mattress is exactly what they should have. You can buy fully supportive proper mattresses for a travel cot to use at home, and just don't use the mattress when you're on the move and short of space.

Lullaby trust says travel cot is fine www.lullabytrust.org.uk/safer-sleep-advice/mattresses-and-bedding/

The risk is not of SIDS but of suffocation. The sides of a travel cot are typically flexible mesh, so it can push out to the side, creating a gap between the mattress and the side of the cot that a baby could roll into and suffocate. That's why travel cots use thin mattresses- to minimise how much of a gap can be created. If you swap the mattress with a thick one the potential gap gets significantly bigger and the risk of suffocation increases.

i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/parenting/baby/79141765/nelson-babys-death-brings-call-for-caution-with-cot-mattresses

I wouldn't risk it.

I agree a mattress that doesn’t fit with flexible walls is a suffocation risk. I’d get a Moses basket and then a cot. It’s a nice idea to save costs by not buying the baby a bed but it’s a bit like saying you’ll seep on the sofa for a couple of years as you don’t want to buy a bed.

Not an expat, but like a pp used a travel cot due to space. Bought a proper mattress that properly fitted the cot, unlike the people in the linked article

The trouble is that the travel cot is certified safe with the mattress it cones with. If you change it, you have no idea whether it’s safe or not, so I wouldn’t do that under a year old.
We moved internationally three times in the first year. We had a mini-crib and then a travel cot, but mostly she wouldn’t sleep unless she was cosleeping.

The Bednest bassinet is portable, it folds down. That would do you for the first 6months.

A travel cot is ok for a few nights but it's not really suitable for long term use. They're not sturdy enough to withstand a crawling climbing baby and the mattresses are thin.

You really shouldn't change the mattress on any cot - it's not safe.

We used the Bednest for early travelling and home.

Then after that a perfectly serviceable and inexpensive ikea cot, which could be transformed into a toddler bed for home.

When travelling, often a hotel/accommodation was able to provide a cot. We also had our own travel cot.

I’m an expat but we use a regular cot and the travel cot just when traveling. The travel cot mattresses are so thin, I personally wouldn’t use one full-time unless I absolutely needed to.

I don't see why you can't have a normal cot and use your travel cot on trips. Minimalist or not - those travel cots aren't very aesthetically pleasing.
My kids bedroom was two floors up so I had a travel cot downstairs for daytime naps.

@miltonj Thanks! How did you choose your mattress? A couple of the ones we've been looking at have secure-looking bassinet zip-ins, so that would be a possibility.

@DockOTheBay As far as I know, it's not the firm mattress itself, but how the wrong size mattress can create a gap between the travel cot sides and the mattress that you have to be careful of. I did come across the lullaby trust information, which was a great resource - thanks!

But surely that's the same with any cot, if you get the wrong size mattress it's not safe. Just make sure you get the right size.

@pbdr yes, this is the worst worry for me. Some travel cot companies have their own mattresses that they sell for specific cots that are a little less thin, which is only what I would only consider (e.g. I wouldn't buy one that isn't made for a specific cot). But I appreciate the link, and I see I need to think about it some more.

@5zeds It's not about saving money or anything - our thought was that if the baby is happy with, and regularly sleeps on, a specific cot, it would help them when we are travelling to be in the same environment.

I'm not too sure... my husband chose it while i was still in the UK do everything was ready for little one.
Ours doesn't zip in or anything but is perfectly safe. But she was 14 months at this point so didn't have to think quite so much about safe sleep. I think to start off I'd get a Moses basket anyway because new burns are hard to put down without waking so much better to have something shallow. The schnuggle Moses basket is extra long and last our baby until 6 ish months... she wasn't small either.

@expatmum03 ah I see. I travelled all over the world with mine but they weren’t particularly phased by new cots (bedding that feels right is more the thing). Travel cots are REALLY great as safe spaces by the pool, in strange gardens, and if people have pets to keep doggy noses at a distance.

It’s better for your back to have the baby higher for every day. There are stands for Moses baskets. Don’t underestimate how wobbly everything gets once you’ve given birth, it all goes back but you need to be careful.

You may not take a travel cot with you as much as you think. The ones you could use as a full time cot are pretty big. I used a tent style one for the first year or so which was very portable so good as a sun shade etc as well. After that I just used whatever the hotel provided.

@WorkEventing hey! sorry for the slow response on this - what's classed as a mini crib?

@5zeds thanks! Yeah I think it probably will be a permanent cot and then a travel option/hotel options for 6 months+. Do you take your regular bedding with you when you go away then to give them something familiar?

We’re past that stage now but I used to take a couple of sheets and a couple of cotton blankets. I’d guess really it’s the texture and the smell of your washing powder that helps. They honestly adapt really quickly. Babies are very portable especially if breast fed. I had a cheap pushchair to go in the hold on planes (DON’T send anything pricey they get absolutely chucked about in the hold). Slings are good but they are very hot for you and baby and you can’t put the baby down if you want to stop to eat/go to the loo. I think people tend to take far more than they need

My middle child started in a Moses basket and proper cot, then we moved country when he was about 9 months old. I never got round to buying him a proper cot, we had a travel cot and he slept in that until he moved into a bed. He bloody loved it and didn't move to a bed til he was 3+!

As you've already identified, you might want to invest in a better mattress and you should be careful to get one designed for that particular cot.

A decent travel cot can also come with an insert to act as a higher level for newborn (this will save your back a bit!) and even a changing surface thing.

Happy shopping!

I'd have thought you'll have a bad back from leaning into a low cot with high sides on a regular basis. They're much worse than normal cots for that.

Be aware too with travel cots that once the child can stand you may find they can throw their weight at the side and tip the travel cot onto its side…probably only once they’re a larger toddler but DS managed it at 2.