Is it essential to buy a cot?

[splendide]

I'm pregnant and just trying to get organised. I have bought a little crib (Troll) for my bedroom and I was looking at what I'll need when he's too big for that.

Am I really missing something or could the baby not skip the cot and just use a mattress in the nursery? I'd have a gate at the door and nothing dangerous in the room. Or does it have to be a cot for a bit then a bed when's he's older?

Willing to be told I'm an idiot - it's my first!

I'm all for not buying unnecessary baby stuff but babies can be quite mobile when they start rolling. If you aren't co-sleeping then I think a cot would be a good idea?

I have give 2 away of Freecycle and you can also pick them up v cheaply on ebay especially if you have a car to collect. Also most local councils have furniture recycling depots these days where you can pick up 2nd hand stuff cheaply.

But you have some time as the baby will be in the crib for probably a couple of months.

if you really don't want a cot perhaps investigate what other cultures that don't use cots use for their babies? I suspect many of them co-sleep?

Get a cot bed- converts from cot to a toddler bed!

Thanks, I'll take a look at those options. I can't fit a full sized cot in my room so I may need to co-sleep if he's out of the crib before 6 months (which I am assuming he will be) so perhaps I can just continue that.

Sorry if I sound dense - I don't have many friends with babies to ask!

I think the best thing to do is not make any decision until baby has been sleeping in the crib for a bit. You've probably got til around 4 months old to make a decision about a cot/cotbed/mattress/cosleeping.

If its just an interim measure to last til you're happy to leave baby in the nursery at night you could do what we did and use a travel cot with a proper mattress in it for a bit. It spanned the gap nicely for us.

I would say yes, you need a cot. You'll use the crib for the first 6 months or so and it will be fine but then they'll be too big for a crib but far too small for a bed. They will roll and may hurt themselves.

My ds was in a cot until 2.5yrs where we then changed it into a bed, then at 3 he moved into a full size single bed.

I decided I wanted to co-sleep from when I was pregnant, so no cot was ever needed. But I think unless you're going to co-sleep 100% of the time, then a cot might be a necessity.

You don't need one for when the baby is born.

My DC1 used the cot quite a bit, although as we were going through a house move she spent a bit of time in a travel cot. But DC2 barely at all, we co-slept. So the cot sat taking up room for quite some time before we finally admitted defeat and sold it.

Wait and see if you/the baby prefer co-sleeping or get on fine with a Moses basket before you decide.

BTW, having bought a stupidly expensive cotbed with DC1 and then decided a cheap Ikea one was all we needed...go with a cheap Ikea one and then buy a bed later, still cheaper than an expensive cotbed.

I was adamant I didn't want to co asleep, but DD was born and had other ideas! I don't think she ever slept in her cot, and at 16 months we got her a toddler bed which she happily goes to sleep in, and we continue to co sleep for the later part of the night.