If you’re not aware already then it’s sleep week here on Rock My Family which we kicked off in style on Sunday with the opportunity for one lovely reader to win a Snuzpod beside crib. If you haven’t entered already then you can do so by clicking here.
Lottie continued the theme with her A-Z of Sleep Tricks to help your little one head off to the land of Nod and yesterday Fern shared the joys of nap time in her very witty post. Staying with the theme, today’s post is all about beautiful yet practical cribs and cots for your littles…ten of them in fact. Shall we get started?
M&S
Hector’s cot is from Marks and Spencer and I absolutely adore it. Unfortunately they no longer make the Winchester Cot Bed which despite being described as putty is more of a soft dove grey and which you can see more of in his room tour here. Their Finley Cot Bed is very similar to the Winchester albeit with a slightly different bottom half but still with the lovely wooden cot spindles. The cot bed has two sleeping heights and later converts to a toddler bed and the quality is absolutely superb! Definitely worth every penny from a cost per wear perspective.
John Lewis
If cream isn’t your thing and you’re looking for a little grey number allow me to introduce you to the Lasko cot bed at John Lewis. Much like the Finley Cot from M&S there are different sleeping positions, in this case three rather than two meaning that the cot will grow with your child as it easily converts into a junior bed with the help of an extra foot end. I love the classic lines of this design and if you’re someone that likes all your furniture to match then you’ll be pleased to know that they make a wardrobe and chest of drawers in the same line too. All come with one year guarantees.
Oeuf NYC
If you’re someone looking for a sleek modern design then I would recommend taking a look at Oeuf NYC and in particular their classic crib. All Oeuf cribs are made in Europe to strict environmental standards…win win in my book.
The Classic cot is designed to grow with your child and an optional conversion kit will convert it to a toddler bed which will support your child until they reach five years of age. Available in two finishes; white and birch or white and walnut the modern metal legs to complete the look perfectly.
If I were to choose my favourite crib from the brand then it would have to be the Rhea Cot with its chic modern wooden spindles and rounded edges. Made from sustainably sourced wood and finished with non-toxic, water-born coatings and paint you can be sure that this cot will be completely safe to put your child to sleep in.
Stokke
Most of you will already be familiar with the circular shape of Stokke’s Sleepi cot. I confess I was SORELY tempted by the oval design and was as close as handing over the credit card to the sales assistant before my mum suggested I keep my options open just a little bit longer before committing to buy.
Essentially the cotbed has a huge range of configurations; Sleepi is suitable for children aged from 6 months to 4 years. Purchasing the Jnr Bed Extension Kit ensures that the bed will be suitable for your child up until around 10 years of age. The design can also be used as a sofa or two chairs to boot hence the £575 price tag.
Oliver Furniture
Staying on the rounded edges theme, Oliver of Denmark have launched this stunning new range of Scandinavian children’s bedroom furniture for children. For older kids I really like their Seaside bed but their wooden cot is just as cute.
Made from Nordic oak and birch wood, the cot has two height settings, and a removable side rail that helps to form a mini toddler bed which makes a lovely transition before they move into a big bed. The cot is produced in two models: white with legs in pure white or white with legs in beautiful Nordic oak.
Sebra
I’d never heard of Sebra until I started researching this post (cot philistine that I am!) but the brand has recently acquired the rights to the famous Juno bed which is considered to be a true design icon. Designed by the Danish architect Viggo Einfeldt in the years 1942-43 the bed was built on the premise that it should grow with the child and with safety credentials paramount to the design.
The Sebra cot is made from birchwood and comes in white, pastel blue and the amazing grey and pastel pink tones you can see in the slider at the top. The interior length of the cot is 112.5 cm with a width of 70 cm; the length increases to an internal length of 155 cm as a junior bed. I’m in love with all the colours but the grey has to be a personal favourite!
Nobodinoz
If you love the hand-dipped look then you’ll adore Nobodinoz’s moonlight white cotbed. I’m currently lusting after so many things from this brand including these beanbags and the quality of the Nobodinoz’s products is second to none.
The handfinished dipped effect around the base looks stylish and individual and is the perfect fit for the modern family home. Like most of the other cotbeds in this feature, this design will convert into a bed which is suitable up to 6 years of age (with the purchase of a conversion kit).
Mothercare
When Hector was really small I opted for a swinging wooden crib from Mothercare rather than a Moses basket like so many of my friends. I’m not really sure why…perhaps it was the permanence of having something wooden that would withstand the rigours of moving house and being chucked in a loft and so on and so forth but I liked the idea of perhaps Hector using it to soothe his own children to sleep in the future.
In the end some very close friends bought the crib as a gift for Ste and I and it remains one of our most treasured possessions. I loved the fact that you could rock the cradle gently which quickly sent Hector nodding off whenever he woke fretfully in the night meaning we could grab as much precious sleep as possible. Plus it looked beautiful to boot.
Kalon Studios
I’ll finish on a chic and sleek note with the Caravan Crib by Kalon Studios.
Inspired by a colourful circus wagon the caravan crib is available in a stunning range of colours, in bare Maple wood as shown here or even with a neon lime green finish! The maple used is sustainable harvested wood and is made to a high quality and the cot itself meets all safety standards and has 100% non-toxic finishes.
There are two height adjustments for the mattress and the crib converts into a simple platform toddler bed with no conversion kit needed. A coordinating dresser is also available. Starting from £915.00 the cot isn’t cheap and it would have been something I could have afforded when I was pregnant with Hector but I figured a bit of wishlist wistfulness wouldn’t go amiss.
Are any of you in the middle of cot buying at the moment. Are you buying before your little one makes an appearance or three months in as I did? What are the most important features for you when choosing a crib or cot. Why not tell us in the comments box below…
A timely (yet possibly spendy!) post for me. My 4 month old is currently in a Snuzpod (which i found to be brilliant for us) but he is big now and so we are looking to buy a cot bed in the next month. We’ve actually been looking at, dare I say it, IKEA. In particular this one…http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/baby/cots/gulliver-cot-white-art-10248519/. It’s simple and a great price but not sure how they rate. It’ll be interesting to hear if anyone else opted for an IKEA cot.
Sophie, we’ve got that one and its doing great a year into its use the second baby. We decided on a cheaper cot as it’s use is pretty time limited. Then a bit more money on a single bed further down the line which should get a lot more use!
Thank you. I was thinking along the same lines as lot of the big ticket baby items don’t come cheap and some only last a few months.
Sophie we have the Gonatt from IKEA and it’s been great. Everyone that sees it thinks it’s beautiful and can’t believe it’s Ikea. It’s good value, great quality and the side comes off to convert to a little bed when they’re older (but we won’t be doing that for a loooong while yet).
Not sure about the model you’re looking at but really happy with ours http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/childrens-ikea-products/baby/cots/gonatt-cot-light-grey-art-00257953/
Just to add we got a mattress from John Lewis though as I felt the quality was superior to the IKEA ones….
That’s good to know. The mattress is a whole different topic isn’t it??!
I am slightly addicted to the Sleepi, and in my pregnant hormonal daze handed over the credit card so no 2 could have one like his sister (because he cares right). They also do a sleepi mini so it’s suitable from birth and then converts to a normal sleepi.
We have just bought a gorgeous cotbed from Mothercare to use after our little one gets too big for a snuzpod ( he’s due in November so that will be a while yet!!). We thought it might be good to try and get him to nap in his big cit in his own room from quite early on to get him used to it….However we haven’t bought the mattress yet. Any recommendations? x
Sarah we bought Hector’s mattress from Mothercare and it’s been brilliant. One very lovely sales assistant urged us to spend as much as we could afford on the mattress since we spend so much of our life sleeping (or trying to!). Since Hector’s bed was a cotbed he’d be spending more time on this particular mattress i.e. up to age 3/4 so it was worth spending more now to ensure it lasted longer. We went for this one – http://www.mothercare.com/cot-bed-mattresses/mothercare-airflow-pocket-spring-cot-bed-mattress/766051.html#pmax=200&q=mothercare+mattress&prefn1=brand&pmin=100&prefv1=Mothercare&start=5 and then added this topper on top for extra comfort http://www.thewhitecompany.com/Cot-Bed-Mattress-Topper/p/cot-bed-mattress-topper?swatch=No+Colour
Granted it’s a lot of money but I wanted Hector to have a really decent quality of sleep (perhaps a little selfishly for me too!)
We have recently opted for a Mokee cot and it’s really nice. The base price is quite cheap but there are a few options to customise but it’s also quite minimal with great colour options. I am also obsessed with their other products now and want them all!
http://en.mokee.eu/cots.html
I adore their woolnest C! I’d want one definitely for baby no 2!
All this sleep discussion makes me feel sleepy!
MoKee are Scandinavian style, handmade and are very reasonable in price- cheaper than ikea inc mattress!
Lots of colour choices too, I have a grey on order for my little boy… Just lovely x
This is another great post – thanks! I absolutely love this website – it’s been great whilst preparing for our first.
We’ve opted for the IKEA cot too with a mamas & pappas’ sale mattress but I am struggling to find some cool bedding. Any ideas? I’ve tried all the usual haunts and I am a little underwhelmed. We are having a little girl but wouldn’t mind unisex bedding as it will fit into the nursery and might work for number 2..!
We have the Mokee too, love it. Very scandi minimal and loads of height options which we have found useful to give a bit more choice. We bought a mattress from Little Green Sheep though, and it is absolutely fantastic. A bit expensive, but we figured babies sleep a lot so we would get a lot of use from it. It is described as a “twist” mattress, with two sides, one firmer than the other, to adapt to the needs of the growing baby. I must say though I was sorely tempted by Oeuf, Oliver and Sebra, I just couldn’t justify the price tags!
Another MoKee fan! I wanted a simple grey cot, they are great quality, amazing value for £70 and fab range of colours! They have brought out an adorable mint green one I would be tempted by if we have another! We also got a Little Green Sheep mattress and protector, really good quality, supportive but still comfortable and hypoallergenic for any babies with sensitive skin. Really recommend the MoKee cot top changers, they are sturdy, waterproof and come in a lovely cloud pattern. We didn’t attach ours to the cot but they fit perfectly on the ikea hemnes drawers!
Another MoKee fan! Although ours has suffered a fair amount of paint-chippage, and we’ve only been using it for 10 months. Has this happened to anyone else?
I’d still recommend though – I could buy another two for the price of the JL one we were looking at, and really lovely Farrow and Ball-eque colours!
Ooh, no chippage on ours yet, but our little one has just decided that the top rail is rather tasty from time to time so it may happen. Does your little one chew it perhaps? They were really responsive when I had questions before delivery though so perhaps try customer service.
We bought the m&s cot bed after stalking Lauren’s instagram & spying it on hectors nursery! We have limited space in our daughters room so we were after something with a drawer for storage too- love it! Shame to see there aren’t many available with a drawer built in & that it’s now been discontinued! Will need to save for baby #2… if I can convince the hubby that is! Haha x