Best versatiles travel cots that are also travel bassinets
Best travel cots for toddlers
Best travel cribs for newborns
The best portable cots are easy to put up and fold away, don’t weigh the same as a baby elephant and give your baby (and you!) a good night’s sleep.
Happily, there are plenty of well-designed and useful travel cots available to buy and we’re going to help you choose the best one for your family.
The best travel cots that are also travel cribs
As ever, we’re here to take the graft out of finding the best baby cot to travel with and we’ve put together a list of the best compact cots out there. You’re welcome!
Best travel cots for toddlers
The recommendations above are amazing choices for toddlers. However if you’re looking to save some pennies and don’t need the bassinet function, here are our recommended travel cot that double as playpen for toddlers
Best travel bassinets and cribs
Looking for a bassinet to travel with? Here are a few options that makes travelling with a newborn much easier
Why do I need a travel cot?
You will be visiting family and friends, EVERYONE will want to meet the gorgeous new addition to your family. Sadly, not everyone will be able to travel to you…or maybe that’s a good thing?! Whichever, you will need a travel cot from birth if you have relatives to visit regularly.
Planning a holiday? Yes, I know that a trip away from home feels like an impossible task right now. So much stuff you’d need to take! A potentially disastrous change of routine! Ugh.
Well at some point in the years that your child will need a crib or portable cot to sleep in, you’re going to want to go away. A family wedding, Christmas at the in-laws or a weekend break to the seaside. The brave and adventurous amongst you might even go abroad, if you do, a lightweight travel cot for flying will be needed.
A portable cot can be used as a secure playpen for older babies who can crawl at what feels like 100 miles an hour. When my daughter was tiny, she could go from kicking her little legs happily in the air on the floor to wedged underneath the coffee table in seconds. Don’t judge, she was chasing the cat and I’d had the audacity to take my eyes off her to close a window.
Travel cot accessories you might need
- A compact cot mattress is essential. Most baby travel cots will come with a mattress, but they aren’t often particularly comfy. A luxury travel cot might have a mattress with a softer feel, but many will have a polyester texture that ‘rustles’ as the child moves around. In my experience, that noise, right next to their tiny ears, wakes them up, not good!
- A travel cot with changing table is a great idea, especially if it will be used often. Having somewhere to change your baby and/or store changing bits and pieces is so useful and it will save your back aching from leaning over.
- A travelling cot that comes with a travel cot bassinet is the perfect choice for parents of newborn babies. Imagine leaning deep into a travel cot to lift your precious bundle, it would be awkward and not at all good for your back.
A bassinet travel cot will be slightly less portable (they tend not to ‘fold in’ with the rest of the travelling cot) but it will be worth it for the comfort and convenience for both you and baby.
- Planning on using your travel cot bed as a playpen for an older baby or toddler? Maybe you simply need a safe space to put your baby down while you get some life admin done? Yep, us too! A travel cot mobile is a fun way to entertain your child.
- Bedding. A soft fitted sheet in travel cot size is essential. Most travel cot beds will be too wide even for standard cot bed sheets.
Potential safety issues
- A travel cot, when it is used within its guidelines is safe from birth to the age at which your child becomes able to climb out of the cot or reaches the weight limit of that model of cot.
- A travel cot with adjustable height. Make sure you are following the guidelines and lower the level of the cot as your child grows, becomes able to sit, reaches the standing stage and (horror!) the climbing out and waking the parents at 5am stage.
- A travel carry cot or portable baby cot should NOT be moved with the child in it.
- Follow sleep safety guidelines. Choose bedding of the appropriate size and season.
Can it be used as a playpen too?
- Travel cots make great playpens for older babies and young toddlers. They offer a safe, comfortable space which they can happily play in and you know that they can’t escape from.
- Choose an extra-large travel cot for maximum longevity. The travel cot size you choose will ideally still be large enough for a 2-3-year old to play in.
- A travel cot and playpen combined must be cleared of all toys before being used as a sleeping space.
Hope this article helped you find the perfect travel system for your little one. Talking about travelling, you might be interested in reading more about travel gear:
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