Portacots

[Ezz]

Ooh Nic, please be careful about adding to a portacot mattress. I read this horrible article today about this little boy who suffocated because his parents added a mattress on top of the ortacot mattress. He got stuck between the mattress & the side of the cot.

[HotI]

i have bought two portacots from e-bay (for 2 grandparentts houses).

one 2nd hand, one new. both great.

cheers,

[aussienic]

Ooh Nic, please be careful about adding to a portacot mattress. I read this horrible article today about this little boy who suffocated because his parents added a mattress on top of the ortacot mattress. He got stuck between the mattress & the side of the cot.

I won't use one that isn't specially designed for a portacot for that very reason. but you can get them made up so they are a snug fit.. I do know the baby shop here said they get foam or something similar cut it to the right size and there is no risk of suffocation.. But we opted not to do it as we don't use it enough

[Nai]

We have a Graeco one as well and have been using it for 2 years - DD sleeps fine in it. We have also had a mulititude of other babies and toddlers use it when they have come to stay as well. Once you figure out how to put it up and down (takes a couple of goes to get this dialled) it only takes a few seconds to set up.

It has the bassinette part and also a change table which goes on the top and a nappy holder at the end. These have beed really useful funnily enough. I think we got ours using our FlyBuys Points.

[Ezz]

Thanks everyone for your experiences.

i hate portacots ... so darn heavy ( i have an esprit one too ) and ds never liked them .... so mine was a huge waste of $$$

I've got a few friends who have had similar experiences to you - who have ended up using the portacot as a playpen! That's why I don't want to spend much money on it!

I've been offered a Steelcraft one today by a friend. It's got a bassinet & changetable, so we'll see how that goes.

Trish, thanks for your opinions about the Steelcraft ones. Personal experience is always welcome I think DS is going to have to go in the bottom of the cot - he is much heavier than 6-8kg! My back is not great either - I might have to get DH to put him to bed while we are away! I hadn't thought of washing the cot outside. I'll give that a go this week (hopefully this one will be a dark colour - I haven't seen it yet!)