travel cot for sleeping in

[driedapricots]

hi
i'm expecting dc2 in a few weeks and we live in a small 2 bed flat. there is no chance of moving to a bigger place before next spring now and so am planning for the baby to be in our room in moses basket for the first few months. As space is limited I was then thinking of putting him/her in a travel cot after that for the next 4-5 months... i know good sleeping support is important but this would be ok right..?
what would you do?

Yes,I think a travel cot would be absolutely fine.I use one for visiting family,got it in Mothercare,but you do need to get a mattress for it,as the one that comes with the cot is not very comfortable.I put it down first,then the mattress,you are good to go.The mattress came from Mothercare too,about 25 pounds I think.

I'm sure its fine, but is the travel cot really smaller than a normal cot? My cot mattress fits exactly into my travel cot...

DD slept in a travel cot for 6 months in our room. We did buy a better mattress for it as the travel cot one is very thin but it was fine, worked really well and it meant she was in her own bed when we were away.

2nd peasandbeans, same sheets sizes

really..mine's nowhere near the same size. the cot is a lot longer than travel cot which seems squarer in shape. perhaps bcos we have cot bed for dd1? i have extra mattress for the travel cot, perhaps i'll just get another one to put on top for even more support/comfort. ok, i'm reassured i'm not going to do any lasting back damage!!

not to the baby but what about you? I found it very difficult to get DS in and out of the travel cot when he was tiny because its so close to the floor. doing that every day would have killed me (but I am very short so that made it more difficult)

My travel cot is cot size, 60 x 120cms so plenty big.

Get a crib. The portland crib from Mothercare will be smaller than a travelcot and still last til 6 months. My friend had one and it has done all 3 of her children

now called the pure crib, but the same thing. ANd much better for your back.

IMO only OK if you get a mattress, some travel cot bases are really hard.

Check out Kiddicare.com - they have them. We have a Graco one with a bassinet which is excellent ( [[http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/productdisplayA_324+107_10751_-1_14601_80961_10 001_14601 this is similar] )

here's a link to the mattress that fits it

DS slept in the bassinet from 2 months until he could roll, and then in the travel cot until he was 7mo in our room. We actually had a multicoloured Baby Einstein branded one, but I can't find it online anymore.

HTH

I nearly fall in the travel cot picking DD up when we go away.
Have you thought about a crib instead? Then you don't need a basket and should last to 6 months or so I think?

Damn link didn't work, sorry. Can't find it now. If you get a travel cot, get a Graco with a full sized bassinet in the top, then you won't have to lean all the way in to reach your baby. It will be a similar level to you in bed too, so you'll be able to reach over.

I keep banging on about it because it was just so bloody useful - after we were done with it as our bedroom cot, it was obviously used as a normal travel cot. We still use it now and DS is 2.6

I wouldn't recommend a crib, tbh. I borrowed one from a friend for dc2 as dc1 was still in the cot and although he was small, he only lasted a couple of months in it. He kept putting his arms through the bars and waking himself up as it's considerably more narrow than a standard cot.

We used a Nomad tent travel cot (sorry, can't do links but just Google Nomad or Little Life travel cot), which have a side opening as well as top one to save your back. They're also super light and small when packed up compared with the traditional ones. The ones with self-inflating mattresses are a bit pricier but very comfortable.

www.babylady.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=150 this is the travel cot we have.

thanks ladies. am wary of cribs for rosebuds reasons..and we already have a moses basket baby can go in til he/she gets too big for that (twas about 4 months for first one)...plus my cotbed cuaes the same probs as doesn't have a drop side. we already have a travel cot too so for the sake of a few months i think i'll rough it -my back's wrecked already... ;)