cot versus cot bed

[wombleprincess]

i am considering buying a cot bed over a cot... at great expense.. and justifying it with the "he/she will use it till they are 6" which the guidelines suggest a child can use it till

a few people have said that cot beds are grown out of much earlier ... age 3?

do any of you have any tips.. sorry first time mother to be..

both my dd's used their cotbeds for ages - mine were 7 and 4 when we stopped using them so they were terrific value. now have M&S bunkbeds.

My DS was 4 in March and is still in the cot-bed (as bed) that I bought for my DD 9 years ago. He will soon go into a full sized single bed as I am pg with DC3 and need to convert back to a cot.

DD stayed in the cotbed until DS came along, now DS will move out to make way for new baby (just out of cot of course, not house ) and baby will probably stay in it until he grows out of it (DD was too big at age 7 IMO)

I found it a good investment.

Cotbed. My DD was in hers till she was 5. My mother is now storing it in the hope that her great grandchildren will use it in time (given that her grandchildren are still only 16, 15 & 13 ) - so it could be a great investment/family heirloom!

We went sdtraight from our bed/moses basket to a futon mattress on the floor. No need for a cot - needless expense IMHO!

We had a cot and DD moved into an adult single at 22 months.
I can see the benefit of a cot-bed if you have the space but we decided that a) we couldn't find a cot bed that we liked/could afford and b) we'd have to buy a full sized bed eventually so buying a cot-bed would only delay it.

I'd say, go shopping, and buy something that you like and can afford and then think about what to do when they grow out of it when the time comes.

I had a cot (borrowed) for my first 2 as luckily I had 2 normal single beds from my mum. Then DC3 has a cot bed but only because her room is small for a full sized single.
Things I hadn't relaised about cot beds that I miss
They don't have drop down sides- not a major issue until you are PG and need to lift out a heavy 14m old
The sides are not as high (generally) - my DS's could never have climbed out of their cots but I can see DD will be able to manage to climb out of the cot bed soon putting an end to her containment!!

We went for a cot, rather than a cot bed, as hopefully when we have DC number 2 , we will get DS a proper bed then.

Also, I wanted a drop side, which you don't get on cot beds (I don't think, but might be wrong).

We had a cotbed bought for ds1, ds2 has only this year gone into a grown up bed, so we got 8 years of use out of it.

Loved my cotbed, ds2 was 5 when he came out of it!

DD is still in her cot bed and she's a very tall 3.5. We got it from BabiesRUs, it has a drop side and she never managed to climb out of it when it was a cot. That said DC2 is due in December and this time we're buying a cheapy cot out of Ikea. Don't think we could get DD out her cotbed - she loves it .

Cot beds seem to me to be a total waste of money. Why not just go from cot to bed?? Craaaziness.

I think cotbeds are a waste of monet too sazzles. You will have to buy a full size bed eventually, so why spend more

I bought both. The cotbed is in the nursery and the cot is in our bedroom. I've just moved my baby from a crib to the cot and he loves it (bounces on the mattress to his heart's content, which he didn't do in the crib).

My dd3 is still sleeping in her cotbed (as a cot) she is 3.4 yrs.

She adores her cotbed and even though we have offered her a proper 'grown up' bed many times she has always said she wants to stay in her cot bed.

Luckily she never needs the toilet during the night, or we would have to take the sides off...