Lightweight Travel Cots

Not all travel cots are easy to travel with! Here's six of the best light travel cots

You only have to read our Buyer's Guide to Travel Cots to see how many shapes and sizes travel cots come in. However, often they are quite heavy things to lug around – which is ironic given that they are travel cots! This tends to be because they need to be sturdy, reliably-built and safe for infant sleeping.
If you are going to use a travel cot a lot (either because your child is going to have naptimes at another person's home, or you visit relatives quite often) you might want one of the bigger models, but these can weigh anything between 11 and 19kg – not an easy load when you have baby and all your other gear in tow.
And in fact, there are now some wonderful travel cots on the market which are light, yet sturdy, stylish yet easy to fit into the car boot or take on a plane…

Six of the Best Lightweight Travel Cots
Cots suitable up to about three years…

	Oomo Roomo, 7.2kg This is a stylish travel cot that until recently was the lightest conventional travel cot you could find. The Roomo2 is another great option and a very light choice if you want a cot with a basinette (a section along the top of the cot where a smaller baby can safely lay down). Roomo: L100xW70xH75cm
	Silver Cross Easy Sleeper, 4.7kg (and Dream Sleeper, 7kg) This is almost too good to be true! The Easy Sleeper looks chic and modern in its 'crystal' silvery colour and at 4.7kg, it's a super light model. It also folds differently to most travel cots, which tend to fold down into a long rectangular box shape. This one folds into a case more like a normal suitcase, making it much easier to pack into your car boot or take on a train or plane. It has a bigger brother – the Dream Sleeper – which is again beautifully elegant, soft yet sturdy, and weighs in at only 7kg. Easy Sleeper: L130xW91xH67cm
	Silver Cross Dream Sleeper, 7kg Gold stars, Smarties and a slap on the back for Silver Cross! As well as the sleek lightweight Easy Sleeper, they have the Dream Sleeper. At 7kg it’s still lighter than most other regular travel cots, even though for Silver Cross it’s their more ‘bulky’ option! Again it’s modern, funky and good to look at as well as being soft to touch and ergonomically designed to be a comfortable space for your baby. It’s also roomy enough to last until your child no longer needs a travel cot. Dream Sleeper: L114xW72xH80cm
	Little Life Arc 3, 2.4kg These look a lot more like little tents for your child to sleep in, but can be used as travel cots in your bedroom when travelling away from home. Little Life do a series of these, but this is their most funky light version yet. Arc 3: L125xW125xH75cm
	Nomad Travel Bed, 2.4kg This works along the same lines as the Little Life model – more like a personal tent (with self-inflating mattress) for your child to sleep in. It does mean that your child is close to the floor, but in a regular travel cot they would tend to be anyway. This is easy to put up, classy to look at and, despite tending to be a bit slippy inside, is a really useful option for when you're on the go. There are several models but all tend to come in around £100. Nomad: L118xW68xH75cm
	Mothercare Classic Travel Cot - Verdigris, 8kg This is more of a conventional travel cot but it's not a bad weight, at 8kg (still at least 1kg lighter than most other cots on the market). Mothercare Classic Verdigris: L100xW73xH84cm

Light options for very young babies
If you have a new baby, you might want to just travel with your baby's crib for now, or possibly try the nifty Deluxe Snuggle Nest (£45, from www.jojomamanbebe.co.uk) which is like having a soft-sided, safe half-cot in your bed with you. It folds up easily and makes a good choice for very small babies, who can look rather lost in a huge travel cot!
Another option is the pop-up cot suitable until your baby can sit up (approx six months). Brands like Mamas & Papas and Samsonite do great ones which will fold down very small if you are travelling light.

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