Definately Recommended (Brio Bedside Cot)

Member Name: sophiem

Product:	Brio Bedside Cot
Date:	09/03/02 (1036 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: allows safe co-sleeping, lockable wheels, good quality

Disadvantages: none

I wasn't sure that a bedside cot was the right option for me, but I liked the styling of the Brio Bedside and the fact that it is made out of beech (most cots seem to be made of pine) so I decided to give it a try. I figured that I could always just use it as a normal cot if I didn't like it as a three-sided cot...

In the event I had to have an emergency caesarian, and when I got home from the hospital I was so grateful to have the bedside cot waiting for me. It meant that I didn't have to painfully haul myself out of bed several times a night - I could just reach over and pick my son up from next to me. Even now that my scar is no longer uncomfortable the bedside cot allows me to pick him up, feed him,and put him back in his cot with the minimum of movement, which makes it so much easier to get back to sleep...

Sometimes he cries out and wakes up during the night, and I have found that usually all I have to do is touch him and say a few words to get him back to sleep - I can do this easily from my own bed before he wakes up fully. I would not have felt comfortable letting him sleep in our bed with us (due to fears of rolling on him or smothering him with the duvet) so this really is the next best option, both convenient and safe.

There are several other brands of bedside cot on the market but I feel the Brio is the most stylish. It is also the only one I have seen where the side flips up and over the cot rather than storing underneath or having to be removed altogether... this is certainly an advantage for us as we have limited space. The Brio bedside is a very solid cot and was fairly simple to put together. It is also one of the few cots I have seen with wheels, which makes it very practical.

There are a few things to be aware of though if you are planning to buy a Brio Bedside Cot. Firstly, it is taller than many other cots so depending on the size and layout of your house you may need to build it in the room wh
ere you plan to use it or risk having to take it apart again afterwards to move it. Also, be very careful when setting the height - you need to do this with the cot mattress in place and line it up very carefully with your bed mattress, I got it wrong by an inch when I put mine together and had to start all over again. It's also worth noting that if you plan to alternate between using this as a bedside cot and a normal cot (eg a bedside cot at night and normal cot for naps) you won't be able to attach anything such as cot bumpers or mobiles, which stop the side from being flipped over.

I would recommend the Brio Bedside to anyone whose baby sleeps in their room. I use it as a bedside cot at the moment (locked next to the bed both day and night), and as a changing table (pushed away from the bed with me sitting on the edge of the bed) and will use it as a traditional cot in my son's room when he is older. It is no longer available from Mothercare but can be bought from several online stores.

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