Cot safety..

[Allan1875]

Hi all, clearly i'm not a mum-to-be, however my Wife is a 38 weeks pregnant on Thursday and i have a few questions to ask regarding the cot.

My Wife's Mum has taken my Wifes cot from when she was a baby (shes 25 now), stripped it down, stripped the paint and repainted in lead free paint and rebuilt the cot.

I had some major concerns over this cot.

• First was lead paint, this issue has been addressed
• Second is the distance between the bars, i've yet to see the cot i haven't had a chance to measure it, however i know some times say between 1"-2" gap, no more so that babies head cannot get stuck
• Thirdly, and this is my major concern, is that the cot is a drop side cot which i've been reading has been banned in the US?

Do any Mum's on here use a drop side cot? The seem to have been banned due to malfunctions into the cot's themselves.

Am i being overcautious, will my little girl be ok in a drop side cot? I want to her to be as safe as possible so any answers are very much appreciated.

As far as I'm aware you can still buy drop sided cots in the UK as the assistant in John Lewis demonstrated one to me just a few weeks ago...

Oh I hadn't heard that about drop side cots. It's what I've used, What's supposed to be the problem/malfunction?

There is some useful info on general cot safety from the NHS webiste;
www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/what-you-need-for-baby.aspx#close

Which? also have some info about drop-sided cots, and there are some other links at the bottom of that page which might be useful;
www.which.co.uk/news/2010/12/us-bans-drop-side-cots-over-safety-concerns-240332/

As far as I've read, drop-sided cots are fine, provided they are not used when broken or faulty. It's probably one of those things where each person has to make their own decision on.

I suppose you could always screw the drop-side to the other sides, making it a fixed cot? If done with enough strong screws, that could be an answer.

All 3 (3rd still using) a hand restored cot with drop side and 2" gaps. I preorder drop side as I have side down and cot pushed up to bed.

I think it's lovely that your mil would go to so much trouble for you. Do check the gaps, but they'll probably be fine. Drop sides are a god send if your wife has to have a section or has a bad back, wouldn't be without mine, but you will need to check with it being an old cot that it still works well. If not, as suggested above, just out a couple of screws through and fix the side.
I got a lovely mattress from here btw if you need one.
If the gaps are wrong you may have to say thanks, but no thanks, but otherwise I'd gratefully accept a very thoughtful gift.

Thank you very much for the replys, I will check the gaps and the locking mechanisms and take it from there.