Cot Safety

[Mum2D]

Hi, this is my first post here so I am sorry if this is the wrong area to post this under.

But, MIL has my DS (9 months) for his first sleepover this weekend. She tells me she brought down the cot from the attic - have no idea how old this is, could be 20 years for all I know - and I'm terrified. I was going to buy a new mattress but I'd really prefer to just buy her a new cot.

What do you think? Can anyone back me up with safety facts so I can tell her all my reasons that she cannot use her old cot. I know I am right in saying a new mattress would not be enough.. I'm usually not very good at this confrontational stuff, but in this case it is too important.

Thanks,

My ds1 slept in my sister's old cot when we visited my parents, and we then passed it on to a young mum who couldn't afford a cot. We didn't get a new mattress, but bought a mattres pad from Ikea instead.

If the cot dates from the 70s or later, thren it's highly unlikely to hasve lead-based paint on it, so no need to wrorry about that.

Look, we survived, didn't we? If it will give your mum pleasure to re-use her baby kit - and I know it did mine - then why not? It's only for a night or two, and, as long as the cot is well-washed and the plastics aren't degraded, what's the harm?

Really? Great if I'm just being silly, I'd love not to have to get in her bad books. I just thought with all the safety standards it would be way behind??

Arrange to inspect it first if you can

We visited the inlaws abroad and took the travel cot just in case
Just as well as the cot was fine but MIL couldn't find the original screws and had done a bodge job.
The base was not attached and there was a inch gap between it and the bars starting. She thought it would be fine

Thanks for all your replies.

will second what everyone else has said just thought id ask

being a rather poor 17 yr old mother the 1st time round my gran said i could use the family cot about 45yrs old

and i found that they have changed the size of cots since then and couldnt find a matress to fit it as they were bigger back then, also check the distance between the bars as they gaps are probably smaller nowadays for health and safety, so lo's head cant fit trhough etc

HTH

hmmm. My mum looked out my old crib for ds when he was little - can't say I felt hugely comfortable with it (ots of soft ruffles that had been sitting gathering dust in the loft!), so we used it for daytime sleep, and then had a samsonite pop up cot for night times...

Health and safety standards have changed over the years especailly with the width of the bars, we had the same problem with family getting a cot down from the attic.

You wont relax if you dont feel comfortable. I would recoommend buying a travel cot they are great we have used ours alot. Tell her that you would prefer your child to sleep in the travel cot because he needs to get used to it for holidays etc etc.

I'd buy a travel cot. Really useful and it'll put your mind at rest.