Average cot bed (Mamas and Papas Victoria Cotbed)

Member Name: IanPaterson

Product:	Mamas and Papas Victoria Cotbed
Date:	17/08/00 (806 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good sized nice looking childs bed

Disadvantages: Could be more durable

Our son was originally in a standard sized cot from birth until about 15 months when his sister was born. He got a nice new cot bed and she had his old cot with a new matress.

These things are pretty big! Suited for up to 7 years old, it can either be a cot with sides fitted or a small bed with no sides fitted. There are a few matresses available for this type of cot, we bought a Slumberland.

It probably took about an hour, after ignoring the instructions that seemed to be for a wardrobe, to completely assemble and fit the bed.

I have a few gripes about the assembly. The base that the mattress rests on is secured to the bed using a bent wire bolt. The threaded and of the bolt fits trhough a hole in the base then 'dog legs' off to a small hole in the wooden frame. Tightening the bolt secures the base. The ends of the bed pull apart to give a high slatted end for the cot and a lower end for the bed. The end of the wood stays rough and unfinished for the bed that I thought was a bit cheeky considering the cost of the bed. The lower leg assemblies are only glued together with two dowels each side so if like me you have trampolining kids, it comes apart quite easily and needs screwing together properly. This is dangerous as the bed base fixing wire bolts come out of their holes and dump the mattress at an angle onto the floor sending child crashing into end of bed. Not funny at 4am.

The size of the mattress is a pain as well. Having tons of cot bedding, we had to go out and hunt, and I mean HUNT, for kids bedding the right size at a sane price. The mattress is quite large so single bed fitted sheets are to big, cot to small, plain sheets are still a bit big etc. etc.

Overall, the bed size is good and will last but manufacture could be of a better design and quality considering the price.

Summary: