Sleeping newborn in portacot?

Our bassinette was broken in our move and seeing as my current portacot is as old as the hills I decided it would be more cost effective to just buy a new portacot with the bassinette insert (like the flooring that sits higher for littler babies?).

Ive been thinking though, do you sleep them on a mattress or snuggle bed on it as newborns? It doesnt look very comfy unless it has a built in mattress I dont know about.

Anyone else slept a newborn in a potracot and what did you do for a mattress?

Ta!

Hey anna..
mum and dad have a porta cot for when we go up there and they just bought a thin foam mattress that fits into the porta cot. Jesse has never had a problem on it, always slept like a baby actually. Maybe something like that?

A friend of mine had her DS in a portacot for the first 4 months. She just tucked in a blanket on top of the portacot mattress. It seemed comfy enough for him.

You have to be careful using a different mattress in the portacots. I think its in the SIDS guidelines, or similar. The mattress that comes with it, fits exactly so babies can't fall down between mattress and side of cot.

you can get sheets for them that have padding in them so that they do not have an extra mattress as such but it is more comfy.
DS sleeps in one often when we go away and has since he was about 10 wks, no problems with it from him...

Please read this article before you place anything in your baby's portacot: Portacot padding a risk to babies

Hmm interesting article Marydean... but i just wonder how it is different adding a mattress to a portacot than adding one to a cot...

My guess is the difference would be that a portacot has soft sides that would accommodate for a babies head to be wedged in there - and a cot has hard sides, so might find it more difficult to wedge a head in there in the first place.

I'm just guessing .. probably wrong!!! lol

You just want to make sure it fits properly.
Anna, I think you were asking about the bassinette attachment though? We never had one, so I can't really comment. Only that Natty slept in our port a cot during summer downstairs for day sleeps because her room was too hot. And I used to pat her to sleep... It nearly killed my back! The bassinette attachment sounds like a good idea to me. Can't help you with the comfort thing though. Personally, I don't think babies care that much TBH. There's no way I'd sleep on a port a cot mattress, but Natty manages just fine when we go away. HTH a little.

ETA: Actually, I don't think you'd sleep them on a mattress on the bassinette as I reckon that'd make it too high and therefore they'd be more likely to fall out, KWIM? It is probably plenty comfy enough.

We tried sleeping Dd#3 in a portacot when she was about 6months old. We bought a proper porta cot matress to make it comfy....she didnt sleep that well in it. It might be different for a newborn. Found it hard too to comfort her if she needed i.e the distance from the top of the portacot to where she was lying hurt my back...

Also babies sweat which is natural, but watch for mould too....the portacot isnt always great for airflow......

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My guess is the difference would be that a portacot has soft sides that would accommodate for a babies head to be wedged in there - and a cot has hard sides, so might find it more difficult to wedge a head in there in the first place.

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Yes this is the exact reason. The danger is specifically of suffocation, wedged down the side of the mattress.

we bought a fitted sheet that is padded for it and ds slept fine in it!

We got a steelcraft one for $180 with 2 levels (newborn and normal) change table that flips out of way and cute mobile with light and music!!

Ahh ok, i see.. though the matress on my parent's portacot is only about 2 inches thick? Interesting though.

DS slept fine in his when we went away at about 4 months. It is a steelcraft one & the mattress that comes with it is reasonably soft (different brands are different softnesses). We used the bassinette attachment.

Portacots aren't really designed to be used every night though (they often say so on the packaging). But, you could look into a cheap bassinette? We bought a valco rico & it cost less than a $100. It was really lightweight & it folds up easily to take out with you.

I read that portacots are dangerous to the point where they've actually been banned in some states. I can't remember where I read this though sorry.

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But, you could look into a cheap bassinette?

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....i totally agree. Have a look on ebay - there are some steals on there. We bought a lovely wooden cradle (no brand name or anything) on ebay about 12 months ago for our DD#3. It cost $50. All i had to do was buy a matress - $40. I re-sold the cradle a few months ago for $55 !!!!!
Its worth a look i reckon........

I cant really find anything cheap enough to warrant forking out the $$$ for something my babies grow out of very quickly (like before 3mths). As for Ebay, living in Nth Qld makes it hard, not alot of stuff listed and most wont post bassinettes.

I'll keep thinking on it though. I can see him being a cosleeper though if I breastfeed again so it may be a moot point.