Travel cot mattress is a solid base

[Pinkdreams]

I ordered a travel cot and have just put it up and the mattress is pretty much just a plank of wood, would not be comfortable at all, my DM also ordered one and has the same issue with the mattress, surely this isn't normal to expect me to put my baby to sleep on a solid base? Should I buy a mattress to go in it? Kind of defeats the purpose of it being for travel if I'm having to lug a mattress too!

I bought one for my DGC. It was the same and we had to buy a mattress.

Yep, this is standard for travel cots. If you hire one somewhere they will usually provide an additional mattress but otherwise you are stuck with just using it as is or also bringing a mattress. Which is fine if you're in a car but not so much on a train.

Very lightly padded board usually.

But then babies are supposed to sleep on firm surfaces.

Bear in mind babies body weight is tiny so its not really the same as an adult sleeping on it as they dont have the same pressure from gravity if that makes sense? My baby slept on them absolutely fine if that helps!

You can buy another mattress to go on top, a full one or a folding one. They must fit the cot exactly though as gaps down the side would be dangerous.

When he was tiny my little one slept on the hard base - he was just fine. Once he got a bit bigger and heavier (6-8mo I think) I thought he needed a softer mattress so bought one. Fits in the car OK.

That is normal, you are not supposed to add mattresses to them as it introduces an entrapment risk (between the sides of the mattress and the mesh sides).

It's not as supportive as a full mattress, which is OK because it's designed as a travel bed, rather than a permanent one, but it seems to be comfortable enough for babies and toddlers.

Yes I found this and it felt waaaay too hard so I bought a more expensive one 2nd hand (Nuna Aire) which had a mattress more similar to our cot at home.

I bought a fold up mattress for mine as I also thought it was too hard.

Bugaboo stardust and baby Bjorn both have comfortable mattresses - but they're expensive