cot or cot bed?

Beazay

Hello.
I wonder if anyone can help me. I'm pregnant with my first baby and starting to think about nursery furniture. I can't decide whether to get a cot bed or a cot, and wondered if any of you had any views from your own experience.
I am hoping to have another baby at some point, so if I get a cot bed, I would have to get another cot or cot bed when the second baby is born anyway. Or put the second baby in the cot bed and then buy a bed for the first baby? It seems a long way off to be thinking about that, but furniture is so expensive that I don't want to waste my money!
What are other people's views of cots 'v' cot beds?
Thanks for any help and advice. xx

Snafflepants

Hiya,

We have a cot bed for our DD and it has been brilliant - cant fault it!

It is an Mamas and Papas set which we bought from Argos Direct - which for some reason was a further £50 cheaper than in Argos.

We got the cot top changer, mattress, cotbed and the under cot drawer for around £199 - which I thought was brilliant value.

What you have to consider is the gap between your children will be. We plan to TTC for our next one at christmas so the minimum gap between the two will be 2 years 9 months. Which will mean that after a few months in a moses basket the new baby will go into the cot bed (with a new mattress) as our DD will more than be ready to go into a big bed!

It also depends on your baby (obviously you wont have a clue about this at the moment) but some babies try and escape from their cot from a really young age whereas others are happy to be in a cot until they are well over 18 months. Having a cot bed means they can stay in the same bed but without the bars up.

Best of luck

Snafflepants x

Cornishpixie_2

Hi, I had un planned 4th baby. As the cot already wrecked and thrown out, bought a cot bed. He's still in it but I should be able to put him into a bunk bed soon with older brother. Worth looking at one

pukkamum

We had a cot bed for our son but it was really big and he seemed lost in it and then when it was turned into a bed it only fit him for a while, so for my next baby i just got a cot and then got a full size single bed as it will last for years then (hopefully if she stops bouncing on it!!!!)

emsywoo123

I got a cot bed, but she went into a normal single really quickly, so I am not sure that I actually got the best value. But this was in the day when my head was in the sand, and my credit card knew no limits (well, it did, but I did not )

Spendless

I've had experience of both, eldest had cot, youngest had cot-bed. The cot, being smaller was easier to fit in our bedroom, for the first 6 months when baby slept in our room. Bedding was cheaper too than for a cot-bed.
Baby was out of it at 19 months when he went into proper bed.

Cot-bed was used until child was 3, but was more expensive to buy than cot in first place and bedding was dearer. She was changed to a single bed, when we re-decorated, it wasn't that she outgrew it, it would have lasted another year or so. But we have friends stay o/night occasssionally and a cot-bed wasn't suitable to put them up in.:D

RustyFlange

I have also had experience of both, my son had a cot which he hated and would not sleep in. But my daughter had a cot at my house and a cot bed at her daddys house (we lived miles apart) However now we live together she sleeps in the cot bed and it is so much better Both cot and cot bed came from Ikea, so nicely priced and nicely priced bedlinen etc

foreversomeday

Personally, I don't like them - but we have one of each due to generous family and friends!

I plan to use the cot as a "baby's bed", and for in our room etc, but when LO gets to toddlerhood we will probably put him into the cot bed (in bed mode) rather than a single bed, as his bedroom is tiny and it will save space. If you and your OH aren't particularly tall, children can usually fit into them until they are about 7 or so.

But saying that, if we hadn't been given one, I wouldn't have bought one - they take different sized matresses and bedding to single beds and cots, so it is not very moneysaving, compared to a cot which is used for such a short time it's not worth buying an expensive mattress, and blankets you have anyway.

We have worked out that in the bedroom we could fit a set of bunk beds, and a cot bed, so it works out cheaper for us in the long run as we want about 3 kids - this way it means we won't have to move to a bigger place before we can afford to.

So in summary:

Yes: If you have a small house and/or you only want one child, or you want them more than 3 years apart.
No: In any other circumstance - the extra cost of bedding etc is not MSE

ella_ella_ella

We bought a cot bed but ended up buying a cot once our baby was out of her moses basket as the cotbed just wouldnt fit in our room. Luckly we havent yet bought a mattress for the cotbed and to be honest i dont think i will bother as im planning on using the cot as long as possible then buying a extendable toddler bed.

As people have said the bedding is more expensive and in my opinion harder to find what i wanted in that size.

Another consideration is what the cotbed looks like once made into a bed - some seem to have huge tall headboards and small footboards which i think look horrible!!

keelykat

We're having our first and have brought a cot bed, ive had no problems getting beding yet. To start with they only have blankets, and not duvets/pillows but that wont be a problem anyway. Ive easily got hold of sheets etc to fit the mattress.

For us personally-its a great idea as it will last untill we need to move to a bigger place. Im happy lol.

keely.

joannasmum

We bought a cot as we were hoping to have another around the time dd came out of a cot. That was not to be however, but I still think we made the right decision for us. DD bed is a standard single and one advantage we have found is if for any reason dd needs to sleep in our bed one of us can sleep in her bed.

My SIL had a cot bed and my neice was in it less than a month as a bed before they caved in and bought a single bed for the same reason