Choosing the Safest Cot Furniture for Your Newborn

Cot furniture or baby cots are certainly one of the most important items you will purchase for your baby. With a great number of different types and designs currently available on the market how will you decide which is the safest and best cot to buy to minimise the risk of SIDS.

The initial feature you need to decide on is whether or not you want a simple cot or the more adaptable cot bed design which can be altered as your baby grows.

These cot beds are usually quite flexible with their layouts enabling them to easily be switched from a cot into a child’s bed and at times even into a small sofa. Even though these cot beds can cost you more at the start, they will in all probability help you save money overall as you won’t have to buy a small bed or children’s furniture for seating.

Then you need to decide upon the kind of materials and finish of your baby cot furniture. Nowadays the best cot furniture available tends to be made from timber and is generally available in a number of colors and finishes allowing you to mix and match with other nursery furniture items. Normally, cot furniture is available in the more popular wood finishes such as oak, pine and maple and can sometimes be stained to other timber finishes for matching purposes. If a timber or natural wood finish isn’t tour cup of tea, then normally you can find plenty of colour finishes to choose from to match nearly any nursery color scheme that you are thinking about.

Obviously, you will also need to consider your budget and any financial constraints or considerations. In addition to the price difference because of the cot versus cot bed selection, usually the higher prices will be related to the quality of materials, higher standards of craftsmanship and the extra features or options included. Occasionally these extra features might be optional, so you will need to determine which ones, if any are going to be beneficial and well worth the extra money. Features like easy one-handed lowering of the sides, under cot storage space for baby gear and add-ons for baby changing might certainly interest you.

Note: Only buy from a reputable retailer and ensure that the cot has passed the Safety Standards for your own country, this is one of many reasons it is normally safer to purchase new cot furniture that meets and outperforms the most recent safety regulations.

What to consider in cot furniture:

• To begin with, make certain you take a tape measure with you when you’re searching for cot furniture.
• Make sure that the cot is Standards Certified to the latest regulations. A lot of cot manufacturers keep the exact same models for quite a few years and the certifications on some cot models might not be the latest applicable.
• Almost all cots are certified when first produced, but may then be produced for many years without ever getting re-certified, meaning manufacturing variations can subtly affect the cot over time.
• Manufacturers should ideally get their cots re-certified at the least every two years.
• All elements which go to form the cot needs to be permanently fixed or require the use of a tool to dismantle them.
• The distance from the top of the cot side rails to the top of the cot mattress really should be at least 500mm (20 inches) when the cot mattress is in its lowest position and at least 300mm (12 inches) when the cot mattress is in its highest position. There needs to be a minimum distance of 300mm (12 inches) when the cot side rail is dropped down.
• Make sure that you choose a cot mattress that fits snugly into the cot with virtually no spaces. You’ll be able to check this by pushing the cot mattress hard up against the opposite side and making certain the resulting space on the side close to you is no more that 20mm (3/4 inch). Spaces at the sides of cot mattresses are a suffocation risk and can also trap tiny limbs.
• Make sure that there aren’t any head entrapment hazards. Any large spaces or openings should be between 50mm (2 inches) and 95mm (4 inches) in order to stop your baby from getting trapped or from falling out.
• Likewise, ensure there aren’t any arm or leg entrapment risks – there should not be any smaller openings between 20mm (3/4 inches) and 50mm (2 inches) wide.
  Furthermore ensure that there are no small spaces or openings between 5mm (1/4 inch) and 12mm (1/2 inch) wide, that could very easily trap small fingers.
• The cot’s side rail dropside has to be safe and sound so that it is impossible for a small child to operate, whilst at the same time being easy and convenient for an adult carer to lower and raise.
• Be sure that there are no protruding items which could hit a child’s soft head or catch on their clothes.
• Ensure that there won’t be any sharp edges on the cot and that all the the different parts of the cot are smooth and gently contoured.
• Be sure that there aren’t any footholds of any description that a small child could ultimately make use of as a step or ledge to climb out of the cot.
• Make certain that you have at least 50mm (2 inches) floor clearance when you lower the side-rail dropside, as you don’t want it dropping onto your feet.
• If you’re considering adding a cot mobile to your cot in order to encourage your baby’s increasing awareness of the surrounding world, then you will need to check out possible attachment points on the cot.

As you can see there are a lot of things to look for in cot furniture, however, if you go for a newer model cot that has been recently certified to meet the necessary safety regulations, from a reputable dealer, then you will go a long way to ensuring the safety and security of your baby.