port-a-cot - get one or not?

Hi girls,

My brother wants to buy something for us/baby and won't take no (politely said) for an answer. I've explained given the bub is only just over a month away, we have bought everything we need for now... and never having had a child, are not sure what we might need once the bub arrives until, well, you get the drift.

Anyhoo, one thing we havne't got and i thought might be handy is a port-a-cot. Both sets of families are 2 plane trips away from us and we really like camping.

But are the cots a waste of money? How often do you use your portacot and when?

otherwise any other suggestions on items for bub that you just love, but wouldn't have necessarily have bought yourself as part of the basic-nursery/baby stuff package.

(we have a hug-a-bub, pram, change table, mobile, electric breast pump, high chair, car seats, play rugs etc etc)

I was given a 2nd hand port-a-cot for home and we have used it when we go away to our caravan for A's outside time (we have a bed built into the van for her), it's great as a spare if you have other little ones (mother group) come over and they might need somewhere to sleep.
I also found it handy for outside time when DD was a little younger, could put toys in there etc and bought a fly net that fit over the top.
My stepmum has one at her house and we use that as DD's bed in our room.
I definitely still get a lot of use out of mine and A is over 1.

Other things that are handy could be:
* Battery operated swing or a bouncer - you might already have these
* nappies in the next size up?
* Rocking chair for you for b/f night settling etc - if you don't have one and have room?

Hmmm i can't think right now, all the things we got with A after she was born i hadn't even thought of, now with #2 on the way i'm brain dead... lol
Sorry HTH

Have you got a rocking chair, bouncer/rocker, plenty of nappies?
We have a port-a-cot which stays at my parents place. That way when we go over there Emily can still have her sleep. We also use it when we go away, which is 2-3 times a year.

ETA: snap avasmum! We've just suggested the same things LOL

Great minds think alike.... lol i can't think of the other things i was given after A that i thought "hmm never thought of that" lol....

We use our port-a-cot quite a lot as we visit family who don't live nearby. Also for holidays where we have rented places to stay. DD2 slept in hers for a couple of months as she had grown out of the cradle but wasn't ready to go into the cot in DD1's room so we set up the port-a-cot in our room next to our bed.

The other thing you could ask for is books - get a range for all different ages. They can be expensive and i don't think you can ever have enough!

Portacot is a must for me, we've used ours quite a lot, especially when we go to stay at my parents place for a holiday. So that's what I'd be asking for!

we have two...
one for us, and one that lives at mum's. DD uses hers at the moment as she has transitioned from bassinette to cot but we wanted something that we could move out of our room easily if she didn't like it to start with. we are moving her cot into our room now that we know she will sleep ok in the bigger bed.

we're planning on using it like a play pen outside - we can let her have a bit of freedom but she'll be safe - and we can put a fly net over it...

the one at mum's - when i go back to work, DD will spend a couple of days with mum each week, so rather than taking the cot back and forth, it will live there. she has friends with young kidlets, so if they visit she has somewhere for them to sleep too

on the weekend of DD's baptism, we were able to put up a friend with a bubba cos we had the portacot...

Definitely get one! Ours comes out when we have visitors with kids, and also to move DD3 if we need her room. My only suggestion is that the ones with the changetable and bassinet part are a pain in the butt. We never used them and are just extra things to pack and unpack everytime you use it. :rolleyes:
Goodluck with bubs!

Mum and dad found theirs SO useful with my little sister - they have given it to us now.

They said with a baby, they went to other people's homes for dinner more often (rather than going out) so it was great to be able to put her down to sleep.

I love the idea of using it as an outdoor playpen too - great idea!

As for other gifts... I have put the word out that we desperately want lovely hardcover books of all the classics (Snugglepot, Charlotte's Web, Peter Pan, Garden of Verse etc).

we love our porta-cot and has been used ALOT in the last 2 years. travelling, visiting friends for dinner when we knew it was going to be a late night etc etc.

if you think you will do alot of travelling or moving the porta-cot around, i would recommend asking your bro to get a light-weight system. we have the 'kinderkot' that we cannot fault and it folds up to fit in my suitcase. i have also heard the Phil and Teds system works in a similar fashion. JMO of course!

fabulous - thanks girls. I think we will got the cot, we'll need one in a year's time as we are expecting a big move across the country.

My bro is just giving me the dosh and I've got to pick it out etc. But does everyone agree about just getting the light weight basic version without the change table etc?

as for books - Great minds DO think alike Ava's Mum lol - My baby shower on sunday is a book theme. My MIL is a children's author and I'm a writer too so no shortage of books for our babe... he'll probably end up starring in a few of MIL's lol. (the cat and parrot have made an appearance and DH has inspired more than a few heehee).

Thank you so much for the replies girls. It's greatly appreciate. I hadn't thought about usng the cot outside but that could work well with our furbaby, especially as bub and her get to know one another.

yayayaya - more shopping! heeheehe

I've got a very plian version. Does the job. Couldn't justify extra $$$$ when I'd probably use the floor anywy.

We have a port a cot that I bought to live at my parents house when we went to visit. With my mum being sick it already has had a lot of use. Its actually getting to the point that I actually need it here so next visit I am bringing it home with me. Its great for friends kids when they come to visit too.

I bought mine for $65 when they were on sale once.

If you have to fly with it, or you don't have a huge car boot, I second the idea of getting a "tent" kind of one, like the Phil and Teds, or the Kindercot.

We have the Littlelife Arc 2 portable cot. It works like a tent, seems very stable, so I don't think a toddler could tip it over. It's working a dream currently, as we're travelling overseas, and of course we could manage it in our luggage for overseas, which we certainly couldn;t have done with a conventional cot.

One thing you need to know about the portable cots like this is that there is a problem, in my opinion, with many of them, which is that for safety the mattress can't be put inside the cot. They are designed to go into a pocket underneath. This means that you can't put a sheet under the baby. Which, if you have a spewy baby like outs, is a real problem.

I chose the Littlelife one specifically because it does have an internal mattress, which velcros down securely to the base, and therefore it comes with a sheet, which fits tightly around the mattress. I wouldn't say the sheet is as well-secured as a tight fitting sheet on a normal thick mattress, but it seems to work fine for DD at this age, anyway (and she's very wriggly and rolling in bed at the moment, so she's pretty much all over the cot).

I bought mind from a UK-based website, with free postage, for around $100. Frankly i was amazed at the price, and I'm very happy with the cot.

ohh tenar! i think i'll have to check that one out! that was an issue with the Kinderkot we found too. in the end we put the matress in the cot and put a fitted sheet, but it would be so much nicer to have one designed for that purpose....*goes off to investigate*...

Not sure if its too late or not.... but if you are still looking for ideas of what you might need/want.... my MIL bought us one of the Tetra Snuggle Beds (from Big W) which we put in the cot. our little girl loves it so much as it makes them all cosy and comfy and because of this she sleeps alot better than being in the cot where there is so much space around them. This was probably one of the best gifts i was given, i love it!

We never had a portacot and never needed one. My parents have a portacot which DD slept in when she was staying at their place. When she used to be looked after by my best friend during the day while I was at work, she'd sleep on a matress on the floor. My aunty has a portacot that DD slept in once when we were there for a party.

thanks for all your advice girls. i'm still undecided ... just going to see how we got when bub arrives :)

i like the sound of that snuggle bed! :)