travel cot outgrown - what next?

[oimissus]

Miss Oi seemed pretty cheesed off with her travel cot this weekend (first time we've used it for ages) and she did look a bit squished. What do people use when they've outgrown their travel cot - I know you can get airbeds but I just can't quite imagine her staying put! She's still in a cot as well, and will be staying there for as long as I can get away with. Any ideas gratefully received!

[snowboarder]

Yep we found this with our eldest around 2/2.5. Annoying. Also found that all travel cots are not equal, and our graco one was actually significantly smaller than a hauck one my parents invested in - the hauck is more like a regular cot size. Pain to buy a new one for such a short time though. Eldest snowboarder is still in his cotbed at home At 3.5 (weirdly...he climbed out of it at 2 but now won't swap it for a bed!) but since he was around 3 has been happy to sleep in regular single beds when on holiday/away.

[Jo'sEnglish]

I haven't used one myself (my baby is still small enough for a travel cot) but have seen these recommended before:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Worlds-Apart-Gruffalo-First-Readybed/dp/B007Y50XYW

[snowboarder]

Ready beds are good but I think they almost feel more different than a normal bed - they don't really seem to have a pillow and an odd cover. Is she usually still in a grobag or does she have a duvet?

[oimissus]

she's in a sleeping bag, unless it's boiling. Not bothered about lack of pillow as she doesn't have one in her cot so don't suppose it would be a prob. Maybe she'll be fine in a normal bed, it's not very often we are away! Seems bizarre to think of her all tiny in a grown-up bed!

[snowboarder]

I know!! We def found once we swapped grobag for a pillow and duvet (think at around 2yr 8-10m?) it made the transition to a bed easier as didn't seem that different really. How old is she?

[Fmm]

I really rate these Babydan travel cots. http://www.amazon.co.uk/BabyDan-1080-60-01-75-Travel-Cot-Black/dp/B000KPI3Y0. We use it with a regular cot mattress (120x60 i think). My 3 year old daughter is still in a cotbed with cot sides up (will be till she goes to college if i have my way) and it is only marginally larger than this travel cot. Folds up small as normal sized travel cots except the very small Phil and Teds travel cot.

[oimissus]

2 yrs 8 m. She's not a tall child and the only friend I know with same aged child had such an awful time when he went from cot to bed that I'm hanging on in there with the cot (might as well get my money's worth!), though she has already chosen what bed she wants so I reckon she'll have swapped before too long. Do you use a pillow? She seems fine without one at the mo, and I know my niece 1 year older has never had one - do they need a pillow?

[oimissus]

Fmm - I don't really want to buy another travel cot, also we wouldn't be able to fit a mattress into our car.

[snowboarder]

I put a pillow (v flat mothercare cot one) in the cot at about 18m to try to encourage him not to constantly somersault around the cot. Don't think it does any harm either way?

At 3 and a half mini snowboarder is the only one out of his friends still in a cotbed with sides on I think. He won't hear of us even taking the sides off at home, never mind a big boy bed, but is fine when away. So it doesn't have to be all or nothing I don't think. And if they are older when you move them (3 plus?) it seems to cause fewer probs!

[Knomester]

We are now in the same position as oimissus was and I thought I'd resurrect this thread rather than start a new one...

Baby Knomester is 2 and 4 months, still in a standard cot at home (and staying put for the foreseeable future) but is tall (around 96/97cm) and has out grown his travelcot.

We have a holiday coming up in February and need to get something sorted for then as well as for summer hols and when he stays with grandparents.

As far as I can see, when it comes to travel cots, our options are:

Babydan Travel Cot (which Fmm mentioned above) with a travel mattress which isn't particularly good for travel as it doesn't collapse - http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001E1DH2M/ref=s9_simh_gw_p75_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1Z1XKP877BRQAHQBDH8X&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=317828027&pf_rd_i=468294

or

Nomad Travel Bed - http://www.pushchairs.co.uk/acatalog/nomad_travel_bed.html

Does anyone have experience of the Nomad bed? I'm worried that Baby Knomester might just think it's a play tent and climb out (which wouldn't make our holiday particularly enjoyable...!).

Thanks

[oimissus]

well, we ended up getting a Peppa Pig airbed. She hasn't used it yet but her cousin has, seemed fine in it.

[sillywoman]

It doesn't help with he climbing out but a portable bed guard on a the single bed in any holiday accommodation might help the temporary bed thing work for little ones - we certainly found it helped us as a holiday stop-gap for that awkward in between age. It wasn't too pricey (from recollection) and we got plenty of use out of it over the years - friends children to stay etc.etc.

Something like this: http://www.kiddicare.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&catalogId=10751&langId=-1&productId=184862&source=froogle&cm_mmc=Froogle-_-Shopping%20Sites-_-CPC-_-Froogle&rw.cm=Google+PLA,ppc,&cm_mmc=icrossing-_-Google+PLA-_-Product+Feed-_- ?

[Fuschia]

Roll up futon

http://www.futoncompany.co.uk/sleepover/bed-in-a-bag-en.html

[Knomester]

Thank you all.

sillywoman - there won't be a single bed where we're staying in February, plus I have no doubt that he would just climb out anyway! He still moves around a lot at night (still in a grobag).

etta166 - Thanks for the feedback on the Nomad. I guess I'm a bit cautious to take th plunge because they are so expensive, but I'll take a look on ebay to see how much they're going for second hand.

Fuschia - They look great for a child whos stays in bed, but Baby Knomester just has no experience of sleeping in a bed yet so I'm not sure any of use would get a wink of sleep if I tried that now. A good holiday option for when he has moved to a big bed though.

[Fuschia]

Are yOu driving or flying?

Could you take his cot with you?

[Knomester]

I'm sorry Fuschia I missed your response last week. We are driving but taking our cot is not an option so I'm looking into buying a second hand BabyDan travel cot to tide us over until we're ready for big boy beds!

Thanks again for everyone's input. If you have a BabyDan travel cot to sell please do get in touch by PM!

[alieh]

Our Hauck Travel Cot (Hauck Dream and Play or something....primary colours) is the same dimensions as our Ikea cot bed - I think the mattress is 120 X 60. It was super cheap at Argos I think.

Our in-laws also have a Graco travel cot that is massive when set up. It might be called the Graco Royal or something? This is in Canada though so not sure they have the same here.

[Knomester]

Thanks alieh