don't buy bedside cots on wheels! (Brio Bedside Cot)

Member Name: perceval

Product:	Brio Bedside Cot
Date:	26/05/06 (4010 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: easy and safe co-sleeping

Disadvantages: can be unsafe if cot is not tightly secured to parents' bed

We really like co-sleeping. Our baby daughter is a little cuddle monster, and especially now, in the clingy stage from seven months onward, having her in with us makes it far easier to tend to her at night. Since I'm breastfeeding on cue, she can basically crawl up to me and serve herself should she feel peckish ;)

Even before the current safety warnings about co-sleeping in a bed, we opted for a bedside cot that could be attached to our bed in a sidecar arrangement. It's the only way of co-sleeping that Health Visitors will tolerate, and they do have a point - there's no way you will roll onto a baby who is in her bedside cot, but she's still within arms reach if you need her.

We bought the Global bedside cot (formerly Brio). Because of its wheels (as noticed by an earlier reviewer), it tended to slip on our laminate floor. Well, we thought, we just need to be careful and keep adjusting it to be snug with our bed and nothing much will happen.

No such luck, I'm afraid.

Tonight, our wriggly crawler managed to create a gap between the cot and our bed that was big enough for her to fall into. Luckily, she was in her grobag and fell on her feet - the worst thing was the shock. But DH immediately went and fastened the cot to our bed with adjustable braces.

So, bottom line: If you buy a bedside cot, make sure that it comes with a way of securely fastening it to the parents' bed. You don't want any accidents.

Summary: bedside cots are great, but look out for safety