The best travel cots & how to choose one

Before I had a baby, I never realised quite how much variety there would be in every product you ever needed – and it was just the same when I came to work out which were the best travel cots for Minnie.

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After testing out some for work, as well as trying various ones at different hotels (including one with such high sides, I got a bruise bending over to soothe my then three-month-old daughter), I’ve come up with my own pick of the best travel cots, the one I hated and tips on how to choose your own.

Choosing the best travel cot: my favourites

The Baby Bjorn Travel Cot Light

My ability to love the most expensive option continues unabated but the Baby Bjorn Travel Cot Light was easily my favourite of the six I tested. It’s over £200 but is one of the few that’s genuinely light enough to take on a plane but still decent quality.

We used ours for years until Minnie finally grew too big for it. The legs do stick out a little, unlike most others which are a standard rectangle, but it’s easy to open, has a comfy mattress, mesh sides so you can see in easily and it was easy to carry.

The NSA Sun Essentials Deluxe Travel Centre

The NSA Sun Essentials Deluxe Travel Centre – my runner-up was less than half that price, although the tent-style design is one you’ll love or hate. It weighs practically nothing (around 1kg) and is spring-loaded so there’s no effort in putting it up. Putting it down is definitely not as simple!

Nuna Sena

The Nuna Sena – sleekly stylish with a bassinet attachment, this gave me one of the best night’s sleep of my life when Minnie snoozed on it until 6am for the first time ever (and, alas, still only one of a handful of times in her first nine months).

It was also easy to assemble and cheaper than the Baby Bjorn (although also a bit heavier so would be better if you’re travelling by car than by plane).

Choosing the best travel cot: the bargains

I also tested a more basic Babies’R’Us travel cot and printed Baby Weavers Sleepy (both now out of stock – these Red Kite and Hauck models are similar) – these are the kind you’ll come across in hotels so quite honestly, I don’t see the point in buying one yourself if you’re staying somewhere which will provide a cot (though take your own sheets).

If you’re looking for something cheap to transport around, these definitely do the job. They’re heavier but fold up well into a carry case, they do the job and if you’re not sure how much you’ll use them, they do the job well.

Choosing the best travel cot: the one I hated

The Graco Contour On The Go

The Graco Contour On The Go almost reduced me to tears of frustration [EDIT: now out of stock – unsurprisingly!]. 

Most cots are (thankfully) very straightforward to assemble and pack away but this model seemed almost completely counter-intuitive to put up, and so needed taking apart repeatedly after the instructions failed to help at all.

The changing mat attachment was worryingly precarious and the bassinet was only suitable for up to three months.

As I thought I was travelling fairly early with our first trip before 4 months, it came as a bit of a surprise to discover Minnie had already outgrown that. And despite all the bells and whistles, none of them actually seemed particularly helpful or useful.

A reminder that more isn’t better. I’d trade a great night’s sleep and something I can assemble one-handed with jetlag for all the mobiles, tunes, interesting lights and non-essential attachments in the world.

How to choose the best travel cots

When all you need is somewhere for your baby to sleep while you’re away from home, it seems like it shouldn’t be that complicated. But once you start looking at travel cots, there’s more to take into account – these are my top 10 tips to consider before you choose yours.

• 1.    Where are you going to use it? A travel cot that’s light and portable enough to take on a plane or train is completely different to one which stays with the grandparents or which goes in the boot of the car.

• 2.    How long are you going to use it for? If you’re travelling from very early on, you might want a bassinet attachment – but if you want it to last for years, think about whether it will be comfortable for a toddler as well.

• 3.    How easy is it to use? Some models can genuinely be opened (and, more rarely, packed away) with one hand. Others will need much more effort – fine, perhaps, if you’re only doing it twice a year, less so if you’re going to be doing it on a regular basis.

• 4.    How easy is it to carry? This comes back to point 1 but there are travel cots out there that weigh over 10kg – I struggled to get one up the stairs to the nursery so along with being above the infant baggage allowance, I doubt I could have got it through an airport at all.
  
  Many come with bags, but does it have shoulder straps? Is it compact or bulky to manoeuvre?

• 5.    What extras does it come with – and do you really want them? Toy bars, nightlights, lullabies and changing mat attachments might all sound great, but only if you’ll use them.
  
  You might decide you don’t want toys distracting a baby when they sleep or realise that a changing mat attachment is no good once they’re over about 5kg…

• 6.    How comfortable is it? Some of the budget travel cots come with very thin mattresses, and while you could buy an extra cushioning one, it starts to defeat the point of a light-weight fold-up option.

• 7.    How practical is it? Can you put a newborn or young baby into it comfortably, or will you be bent double trying to pick them up?
  
  Will an ordinary fitted sheet work or will you have to buy an oddly-shaped branded one (Baby Bjorn, I’m thinking of you)? Do the legs stick out so you’ll fall over them in the dark? Do you have to pack a screwdriver every time you travel?

• 8.    What is it made of? This is likely to get bashed around in transport, so if the is material good quality, it’s likely to survive better. And consider that some mesh in the sides makes it easier to see in (and out) and provides ventilation.

• 9.    Any bonus features? Will it double as a playpen, for example – which usually means a larger, sturdier model to cope with inquisitive crawling babies. The NSA Sun Essentials Deluxe Travel Centre, even has UV protection so you can use it as a sun tent on the beach.

• 10.    What’s your budget? Travel cots can cost from around £30 new for the basic models, but these are no-frills, heavier options. At the other end of the scale, some of the big names cost over £200 for fairly simple options but with the advantage of being lighter or a nicer design.

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Image courtesy of Depositphotos

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