Cot V Cotbed

Juicy_Tube

Hi,

What are your opinions please on cots as to cotbeds. Are there any advantages to one or the other?

Do you have recommendations of particular ones you have bought?

A Confused JTxx

Thanks in advance.

Choccyholic

Our Nursery room is only teeny tiny, like 6ft x 8ft! So we had to go with a cot, we had a 2nd hand one at first but it was a bit ropey so bought one for about £50 from BabiesRUs. Really liked it. He's in a big bed now. If you have the space, I'd say go with a cot bed because you'll only have small sheets to wash when potty training, not single bed sheets. However, when baby pukes or poo gets smeared over the cotbed, these are bigger sheets to wash than a cot! Cotbed sheets are more expensive than cots. It's swings and roundabouts. The cheapie cot we brought was of excellent construction a real bargain, and of course the mattress was cheaper than a cot bed's.
Do make sure your mattress fits v snuggly to the cot and that you do buy the right size for the cot/cotbed because some 'standard' sizes aren't as common as other 'standard' sizes, compare the baby stores and you'll see what I mean. Our mattress came from Mothercare.

HTH

Eagle_1

Hi
When my Daughter was little we had a cot bed and I found that to be better. The cotbed lasted us a long time, when our daughter moved upto the bed stage it wasnt that much of a difference, all that really changed were the cot sides missing. She could still have the bedding that she was used to, the matress was the same etc, I just feel as though there wasnt so much of a major change when she went from cot stage to bed stage.

Id deffinately go with cotbed, but I suppose thats my personal choice and im sure theres many people who would disagree with me and start with a cot then move up to a bed. But value for money id say a cotbed wins everytime as you get a lot more use out of it.

Little_Miss_Winner

If it's your first baby, then I would go for a cot. As then if you are planning on a 2nd baby, you can move your toddler to a bed, then still have your cot for the baby.
(If that makes sense).

Basically I bought a cot for my 1st, then when she was nearly 2, moved her to a bed. As I was then expecting no.2, so still had my cot.
After no2. was ready to move into something bigger, bought bunkbeds for the 2 girls,.............then..................Darling son, popped into the world in September, so still had my cot................hurrah!.....end of story!

I know, it's late. i am going to bed now! (My bed)......not cot, or cotbed

pot
xx

sooz

see if you can find a cot bed with drop sides...i had trouble finding such a thing, but my inlaws found a choice of 2..though they were more expensive, in the long run the drop side really saves your back. theirs came with 2 extra end sets, so really was 2 beds in one.

cot beds are not always that much longer, and don't really agree that sheets are more..depends where you buy them, and also bear in mind that you'll only need a couple of sets, not 2 lots..one for cot, then one for bed.

brummiebabe

We've had both, cot and cot bed. I'd have to say that the cot bed wins every time! Cots tend to be a bit smaller and DS1 outgrew his very quickly and had to buy a bed. Got cot bed for DS2 and its fab!! It'll probably last him until age 4 or even 5 (hopefully!) Got cot bed from Mothercare, but Argos, Toys R Us etc all do them!

Counting_Pennies_2

We have a cotbed. My son loves to shift all the way round his cot during the course of the night, and this allows him to do it without any problem.

A friend of ours had a cot, and had to move their 16 month old out as they had become too large. They started off with a mattress on the floor until he was old enough for a toddler bed. They now wish they had bought a cotbed.

bonvonnie

i guess it also depends on if or when you decide you have your next child.

I knew that I would like them to be about 2 years apart, so as for hand-me-downs, I brought a cot, but by the time he was 18months we moved him into a toddler bed, without sides, and not had any problems with him rolling off.
baby 2, is now in the cot, i guess when she moves into the toddler bed, my boy will then move into a single bed. if you get the logic.

so its all down to you plans, and whether you have the room really.

My sis-in-law, was insistant of getting one of the drop-side cot beds, but they are alot more expensive. in the end she just brought a cot, as she'd like to have her next with a 2-3year gap.

Alleycat

We were thinking about getting a cot bed but there were a few reasons which led to us getting a cot instead. Firstly, we could not find a cot bed with a drop side, secondly our dd is still in our room in her cot (she's 7 months) and a cot bed just would not have fitted. Thirdly, she is our first and as we are intending to have more than one, we thought it would make more sense to start off with a cot and then move dd into a proper bed, so we would still have the cot for the next little one.

A lot of the decision will be down to your personal circumstances. How much space do you have, do you intend to keep your baby in your room until the recommended 6 months, is this your first and do you intend to have more children?

We are really glad we bought a cot instead of a cot bed as we have removed the side of the cot and it is pushed up against the side of the bed and we co-sleep, so there is loads of room!

Good luck with your decision.

Alley

Spendless

I've had both. Cot for 1st and he's outgrown it by time he was 19 months and went into a bed. Bought a cotbed for youngest which has given us more room in her bedroom as opposed to a single bed.

So agree with the others, depends on your space, if you intend having more children etc

Sarahsaver

i would have said cot because you have to get a bed eventually anyway, and a cot bed is TOO big for a littlun. Mine slept in moses baskets for the first few months, next to my bed. All my children slept in my room in their basket/cot up to a year in one case. How can anyone be parted from their baby at night!? A cot bed would in this case have took up too much room in my bedroom!