can anyone recommend a really light travel cot for a toddler? do we really need one?

[kissmummy]

we are going on holiday to France in a couple of weeks time and will need to sort out some sort of cot i think.
previously we have used the lightweight samsonite tent things but that was well before he started walking. i'm sure he'd just try and climb out of one of those now.
we got clobbered on excess baggage last time we went on holiday so whatever we take needs to be light. DH thinks we can just improvise ('create a nest on the floor' is how he puts it) but i'm not so sure...got visions of DS wandering around the apartment in the middle of the night shouting "mummee daddeeee"

How old is your DS?

Can you borrow a travel cot in France?

It depends on your DS. With my DD I could have made a cot on the floor from about 2yo, DS at that age would have been all over the place.

TBH it would probably be really handy to have a travel cot. It's unlikely that the apartment will be totally toddler proof and having a safe place to pop him for a few minutes will probably be a godsend!

You can buy good camping ones that fold up like a tent but are suitable for toddlers - they're made by Little Life I think.

Depends though, how old is DS?

yes that's what i think. if he gets into a totally overtired state and doesn't want to go to sleep then the only thing that works is being in a cot - otherwise he'd just run around crying. once in the cot he can't go anywhere so he just cries for a minute then just flops.

Or we bought a Ready Bed which is really good, like a little blow up bed with its own integral sleeping bag, DS loves his. Folds up very light, too.

Get him one of those ready bed things. We find it great for travelling.

We have a tent thing from Nomad - is great, and v light. Littlelife a bit cheaper, but a lot more bulky, IIRC.

ready beds are great and you could take a travel stairgate - that was a godsend for our dds

Just get the owner of the apartment to provide a travel cot. They have them in France too!

We have done this on every holiday we've ever been on (even to a remote island) and hotels/apartment owners have always been able to provide a travel cot.

IK would second a ready bed, but I know someone who camps with one of these which onmly weighs 2.5kg!

I have never been to a hotel or appartment that has not had a travel cot available. You should be able to borrow one.

we're staying in a ski apartment that belongs to some friends of the family - they're in their 70s! so well past the small child stage (no small grandchildren either!) they're very kindly letting us use their place for free so we don't want to bother them with asking where we can find a cot etc!
am going to look at the ready bed - sounds good! thanks for the tip

I've just bought one (friends son staying with me for the weekend)..

Will let you know how it works out.

They were chepest on amazon if you added on the delivery costs.

French travel cots are variable in their quality and safety - had one in a hotel where the base was in three parts and the mattress was very thick slabs of very soft foam rubber - completely unsafe for a baby. Luckily we were only using it to keep our co-sleeping baby out of the suitcases.

We have the Nomad Travel Tent and it's pricey but worth it.

Nomad travel tent here too. And ready bed for dd1 (2 yrs) now that dd2 is here!