Hi All,
We are expecting our first in October and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the cot options.
Any recommendations would be really appreciated!
We are considering the Ikea cot or possibly even looking for a secondhand Boori cot from FB marketplace (we would purchase a new matress).
If anyone else has other affordable brands to recommend we would really appreciate it!
Thanks! Did you buy the matress from Ikea as well? And do standard bedding sheets fit?
And do standard bedding sheets fit?
Yes
This is the best. No stains or additional varnishes to let your little one snack on when they are teething.
Can second this. It's literally just a few pieces of wood. Most baby stuff is overpriced to catch-out new parents.
Congratulations 🎊
Thank you!
I would go Ikea if I had my time again… think of the volume they must sell, if there was any issue with it everyone would know already. It will be a great, cheap and safe option.
Thanks, that's good to know! So true, we would have heard if there were issues
we did both our kids rooms in Ikea, from baby though now to tham being 5 and 9.
we had one problem with one of the cheaper cots where the side rail broke as it was flimsy but they fixed that. it's good quality stuff and not too overpriced
You're bang on. I worked at Ikea for a while. Their products sell in nearly every country so the kids range has to meet safety standards of EVERY country they sell in.
We used a pretty basic Ikea cot (think it was Gulliver) for both our boys with no problem. Used it from base up high to base down low and then with side off.
I would recommend their kids range definitely.
Also the cheap white high chair - they're indestructible and you can take them out and hose them down. Don't bother with a chair that's going to get full of food into the nooks and crannies.
Malm. See how many kids have been killed by it, and the recalls. These chest of drawers has been built to a price. (Disclosure, I've got 3)
I'm not knocking the ikea cots (though I didn't buy one myself), but that logic is unfortunately flawed.
No. That I think absolutely reinforces the point.
You know the Malm has had issues with toppling, I know Malm has had issues with toppling. And actually it's not an issue with build quality, it's an issue with anchoring to a wall. This is an issue which holds true for many chest of drawers, yet I only know specifically of IKEA due to its size and the quantity of units sold.
So I'd feel very reassured that if there was an issue an IKEA cot causing death in infants it'd be well well well known.
To IKEA's credit, they have actually modified the design slightly to make it more stable (again from the 3 I own are slightly different with later iterations). The newest has an extra plank right at the bottom front to provide extra stability. It wasn't just wall anchorages that they just slapped on.
https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/06/ikea-designed-a-new-dress…
"Furniture tip-overs aren’t necessarily an issue that’s exclusive to IKEA, it can happen with almost any piece of tall furniture that isn’t properly anchored or secured……What made it so common with IKEA’s Malm dressers was the popularity of the pieces given their affordable price tags, and the use of cheaper and lighter particle boards resulting in their centre of gravity easily shifting when filled drawers were left open. Heavier solid wood dressers are less susceptible to this happening given their centre of gravity doesn’t shift as easily, but it can still happen."
That article goes on to talk about IKEA's newer interlock designs which are even less tip prone.
We had a Ikea and expensive Boori. Apart from drop gate on the Boori (illegal now), Ikea was great.
Do you know which ikea model you had?
Thanks!!
We have this one too
Apart from drop gate on the Boori (illegal now)
Are you sure? Last time I looked in to it was 2 years ago and they were banned in places like the US and UK but still legal here. We're expecting another and we were planning on using the same cot. Baby Bunting still sell cots with drop sides, so was it just the design of the Boori?
Not illegal here. I bought a Boori drop side early this year from Baby Kingdom.
Yeah, they're not illegal
We have a drop side cot, it’s good since now we’ve lowered the mattress it’s easier to get him out if he is on the other side of the cot. The issue with drop side costs is either if the mechanism breaks or the mattress is ill fitting leaving to large a gap. There’s no way our bub could get stuck in the gap with the side down - the gap is less than 2cm and he’s huge. I think if both the cot and mattress meet Australian standards it’s fine. There has been some deaths though so always worth doing the research.
Sales person told me this, so probably spiel to get us to buy it. Baby buntings in NSW
They are different in how they drop to the old style. You have to lift, push in at the bottom then drop.
Currently have our 11mo old in a second hand Boori. Looks nice and is functional.
Have you got a bassinet as well or are you planning to go straight to a cot?
A family member has offered their bassinet which we will take once they've finished (but it's cutting close to when we are due)
Did you find any issues getting a secondhand boori?
Nope it was great. They gave use 2 mattress and we were going to use the second for my parents but it doesn't fit the ikea cot they bought. Fully recommend stuff like this second hand.
I did the same thing as One Man Clan
We bought 2 Boori Sleigh Cots from gumtree. They go for over 1k at Baby Bunting but we purchased one for $250 including mattress/sheets (brown). Another White one for $320. Checkout Gumtree and eBay - lots on there.
We threw away the mattresses & bought memory form ones from Baby Bunting - they are holding strong.
With our 3yo we took the railing off and purchased the toddler side so she can hop in/out so acts as a toddler bed now too.
Great buy & solid build.
P.S: Dont forget to buy a mattress protector (vomiting & the like)
Try making one yourself based on this delightful creation. Once that's done, set yourself the goal of creating a matching pyjama.
Haha - not to our taste but will keep in mind if we ever don't want our kids to sleep in their own room
I got a Target one for just over $100 and an Ikea mattress.
Still use it today as a small bed with the sides taken down, I wouldn't be able to fit in it otherwise.
Bought this too as there was no Ikea store close.
My son is rough and jumped on the bottom side rail at around 20 months and snapped it. However, survived 3 house moves no issues. Easy to assemble and disassemble too.
Sure for a bassinet spend extra to meet safety standards, but most cots that meet Australian standards. I’d cross reference choice for safety reviews if buying secondhand.
How short are you
Go second hand for everything bar the carseat. You'll save a fortune.
Further, buy from more wealthy neighborhoods:
They generally don't use items in to the ground as they buy too much stuff.
They charge next to nothing because they just want it out of their house.
They are grateful that you took the time to help empty their house. They will often offer you a ton of other stuff that they couldn't be bothered listing as they fell the value is to low to be bothered.
True :)
Bought a cot from a family in Armadale and they gave us bottle warmer, sterilizer, food processor, toys free of charge :)
They want you to feel like that you are doing them a favour but they are actually giving you all this extra because they are generous and want to help out those that can’t afford as much or are less well off than them. #alwaysbegrateful
If that was true they would have donated to charity instead of posting on FB market place.
@This Guy: Charities prefer cash donations as they get too many unwanted goods they don't know what to do with them or takes too much effort to process. There is a pickup option but that is more for big items like a good sofa or TV. It wouldn't be worth their time to come collect every small item.
@This Guy: My point is that any time a rich person gives you free stuff, they are not grateful you were there to take their stuff. They could have given it to anyone else but chose to give it to you. #alwaysbegrateful
Agree to an extent. Sometimes though there’s not a lot of difference between quality/safe second hand and buying new on sale. there’s also a lot of messing around with second hand, I.e. cleaning, pick up, people not accurately listing items. We’ve done a combo of new and second hand. For me the cot and bassinet were important to go new so we could be sure the mattress and cot fitted together as per manufacturers instructions and Australian standards. Maybe a bit precious, but I also didn’t like the idea of my newborn being on anything that wasn’t able to be ensured as 100% clean, which is hard to do well with a cot and mattress.
Cant recommend this more. There are many very well suited cots and baby stuff that either wasnt used or can be reused again.
The amount of plastic/IKEA type use once, throw away cots I see on council street collection days really does annoys me.
Check on Facebook Market place - Gummtree etc. Sometimes for tree. We gave our cot and some wooden toys away.
this.
Can't be more correct. That was the strategy we went for. New car seat, everything else is second hand
Agree. Baby stuff depreciates quicker than $80k investment vehicles.
I paid $80 for a secondhand one, it was really well built and lasted for 3 kids, although this was back in 2007 when my first was born.
Second hand Boori with a new Ikea mattress would be my suggestion, followed by Ikea cot and mattress.
We managed to get a heavily discounted ex-display Boori - that they ended up finding a new one in a box of and giving us.
get the second hand Boori cot/change table.
Yeah we did this - they are such great builds & solid
Bought a Boori Bassinet for $40 too
We spent a fortune on a fancy cot for our first born.
If I could go back in time I would definitely buy Ikea.
Beautiful advice! Many parents are reluctant to admit this!
Second hand cot and new mattress is the way to go.
Literally everything you buy for a newborn baby will be covered in a combination of poop, saliva, vomit, urine within the first few hours (or less) of using them. No need to buy something expensive for that!
Our bassinet and cot are still immaculate 8 months on. Waterproof mattress protectors and wiping/washing as needed keep things pretty clean. The right nappies (ie right brand/fit for child) contain poo and urine pretty well, we haven’t had any get as far as the cot or bassinet walls or base. Lots of vomit, yes, but not so much on the actual cot, wiped my first vom off the cot at 7.5months. The main things that have suffered in our house is the lounge and carpet with vomit which are harder to clean and weren’t perfect prior to bub.
We bought TWO second hand boori cots and new mattresses. Then we sanded the bitten bits a bit and re lacquered it. Looks like shit but it's okay!
Apparently don't get the coloured ones (ie: non-wood colour) as they have special baby-edible paint and you cant just repaint it with any odd paint.
meh - well that's what a friend of mine said.
Mines the wood coloured one.
We also bought a second hand pram. First an icandy orange and now a mountainbuggy duet. With covid19 we learnt the icandy is best in shopping centres and flat ground. The mountain buggy is for going for walks around the neighbourhood as theres many ups and down.
High chairs, we ended up getting new one. I wasn't happy at the start but seeing the mess they make .. i'm kinda glad we bought new ones.
Thanks, will keep these in mind. Did you go for a good quality matress from baby bunting? Of just a cheaper one was fine?
We got a fancy bamboo lined one from baby and toddler town when they had $50 off $200! Spend.
Because of the cot we got the cheapie Kmart ones were too small. So our choices were limited.
NOTE: Don't buy the cot until you know the mattress you will buy for it. Some cots are stupid sizes and exact fitting mattresses are hard to find.
That's great advice. Never thought about that!
Neither did I until I had two cots and needed mattresses
we just got foam cut to size from clark rubber, works perfectly
Never thought of going to Clark rubber. I assume this is something they would normally be able to offer?
@havingakitkat: yeah for sure, just go to the where they have all the foam, with your dimensions and the assistant will cut it to size for you.
https://www.clarkrubber.com.au/collections/custom-cut-foams
@giftcardinspector: Do they put over any fabric/cotton on the foam to protect it?
Or do you come home with the cut foam/put the mattress fitted sheet over it & you're golden?
Thanks for all the advice.
We still have some time, so I might keep looking out on FB marketplace/gumtree for a good secondhand Boori (hoping for one around the $200mark) and we'll buy a brand new matress.
If not, our back up Will be the Ikea one which doesn't seem good as well just doesn't look as sturdy as the Boori.
Appreciate all the advice!
Congrats!
As many have said, I'd go for Ikea. It works… and remember, your little one will be too little to care about any features such as look, etc.
Another tip, while places like baby bunting are nice, they are expensive. Baby Bunting pric ematched when my kids were little, don't think they advertise that. Also, in a year or so you'll be asking about safety gear (gates, things to keep cupboards closed) which you can get at bunnings/bigw for a lot less than at baby bunting (or the likes).
I managed to get a 2nd hand Boori sleigh cot and boori change table for $250 - Facebook marketplace. I cleaned it with disinfectant and it's pretty great. Personally wouldn't get a sleigh version now but pretty good deal 😊
Were there any teeth/biting marks? Alot if the ones I see, seem to have a few. So not sure if it's comm on.
Also any reason you wouldn't go sleigh again?
Very faint but i didn't worry too much about it.
Sleighs are a little chunkier and the shape means it won't be "flat" against a wall. Also I needed to use mesh at some point (I know, very un-SID) and it was so hard to tie it down due to the sleigh part (instead of normal rails). So that will also limit me in being able to tie bumpers around the cot. But that's depending on your preference on whether you would want those things.
Thanks, I was considering the sleigh version since they look quite nice and plenty secondhand ones online. But I prefer it to sit flat up against the wall and not bulky, so will look out for a classic one instead.
For reference i paid $100 for one cot and $50 for the other. Both Boori.
A friend got a white Boori second hand but then didn't like all the bites so he bought a new one and the new one apparently has thinner wood. Meh probably ok.
Make sure all pieces are supplied. Make sure no stress fractures where the bolts go. One of the ones I was going to get was perfect ….except for missing bolts and a stress fracture.
Thanks. That's great advice. Most secondhand ones have already been dismantled so i wouldn't have even though about checking that all screws were there and for any stress fractures!
I love the wood look so got 2nd hand a Boori cot, Boori bassinet, and two Boori changetables. I love them all especially the changetable as you can pull out the tray. For the cot mattress, I got it from Baby Bunting (they have some that fits the different Boori cot sizes). Bite marks on the cot but doesn't bother me nor the baby!
Bought 2nd hand a Silver Cross pram too. Very solid. I can see all these items lasting many many babies (if we have more than 1)!
We bought a second hand solid cot off scumtree for $150, gave it a facelift and bought foam from clark rubber as mattress as it was a strange shape.
We bought a second hand bassinet too for beside our bed and got that for $100.
Nothing flash
Did you have to paint it for the facelift? If so does it matter what paint to use? Sorry not a handy person. Haha
We sanded it back with an orbital sander and then used furniture paint in the colour scheme my wife wanted. Just go to bunnings, go to the paint desk and tell them what you want to paint, they'll help you out!
Congratulations. Personally I would recommend getting a bassinet for the first few months. The babies are tiny (Unless your bubba is massive) and you can then move them around from room to room. Something like the BOORI URBANE BASSINET with breathable mesh sides. Or any other brand of similar design. Will also enable you to push out the cot purchase a few months.
We got a rocker chair that could lay flat as their bed for the first month or two.
$50 off gumtree.
It was very useful having them sleep in the living room away from us so we don't hear their random little noises - only the big ones
IKEA.
Have a look on Choice.com.au website ..
Thanks I tried, but the cot reviews were locked unless you pay for membership. I was really tempted to, but thought the ozbargain community might be able to help :-)
Some libraries have membership
I got a second-hand cot for $30, stripped the paint, sanded and restained it. bought a new mattress. It cost me less than $200 for the whole project.
I’m not far off expecting too. It’s all over whelimung choosing car seats, cots and prams. So many reviews online- both good and bad.
For the car seat I went to Kid Safe NT. Just cause a car seat is approved in one state doesn’t mean it is approved in your state. I got the Britax Safe N Sound Millenia. Lasts from 0-4 years. Due to the heat in the NT it is recommended to change your car seats every four years. Lots of padding for a new born. They’re still on special at Baby a Bunting with $9 flat shipping. It’s $489 down from $719. Make sure you get a professional to install it. There should be a Kid Safe in your state. The best thing about Britax is if your in a car crash they will swap the car seat over.
https://www.babybunting.com.au/britax-safe-n-sound-millenia-…
Thanks will have a look. I'll have to take the tape measure out to check if it will fit into my i30. If not might go for the smaller version (graphene)
My friend has one in her Toyota Corolla. I’ll be installing it into my Suzuki Swift.
Car seats have to comply with the relevant AS/NZ standard, so any that you buy from a retailer in Australia or New Zealand should be approved for use in all states.
Second the Millenia. We have the platinum pro which is essentially the same, just a bit bigger. It’s very comfy for bub and all the mums in my group who have them find the same. We had a capsule at first but really could have gone straight to car seat as a newborn.
we got a hand me down side drop cot from my aunt that is over 30 years old, repainted it white with pink rails, and bought a new Ikea mattress and it looks amazing. We are still using it 3 years later, with the side removed now.
I would suggest looking in FB baby and toddlers groups - alot of the time, they are given away or are very cheap. You can then paint it and get a new mattress and save alot of dosh for something else.
We bought the cheapy standard white cot from Baby Bunting with the decent-quality mattress. My wife haggled it down to get the mattress for free and it ended up being cheaper than even Big W. Can't remember the price…$150?
It looks nice in the room, some of the Boori etc models are really big and bulky. And white is easy to pretty up for baby pics
However…we would definitely get a drop-side cot if we did it again. It may not seem a long way down but when you're holding a 10-15kg sleeping baby, it's frigging hard on the back
Hi OP, firstly congratulations! We bought on eBay, around 300 AUD at that time and it has a wide drawer at the bottom too. It's only broken when my baby was around 5 years old because she jumped too hard on that cot.
Oh thanks- hadn't even thought about ebay!
it's 350 including mattress if I recall. not too bad when you can even convert an infant mode into a bed mode for older baby
Bought second hand Ikea Cot that converts to bed. Works. Have nothing else to compare it to but don't know what else it should do.
Don't overthink it would be my advice. :)
We got a second hand Boori cot and change table, both in great condition, for $250 last year. You don't need to buy new. It won't matter if it's not perfect condition - nothing stays perfect for long with kids around anyway. Just make sure it's solid and give it a good wipe down with a disinfectant when you get it home. Buy a new mattress - they're not expensive.
If you want to buy new, ikea has lots of good and affordable baby stuff. If money is tight, definitely just pick up a second hand cot. In fact, it's usually very easy to find ikea furniture at gumtree for a fraction of the normal price.
Honestly, don't stress about it. They are all much of the same. And I mean, you won't use it for a while either.
Make sure you have a change table, a basinet, a car seat (capsule), a feeding chair and some bonds wondersuits. That's pretty much all you'll need for a while. And don't be afraid to buy second hand.
Edit: you are not due until October! What's stressing you out about the cot? You have like a year before you need it.
We're on our second and using the Gulliver cot from Ikea. No complaints here. Currently have it set up as toddler bed (side removed).