Nursery Furniture

Nursery furniture at FlipBuy UK — a wooden cot bed with storage drawer and aloe vera mattress, £176.99. A small range covering the one piece of furniture that matters most in a nursery.

How to choose a cot or cot bed

The cot is the single most important purchase in a nursery, because a baby spends more hours there than anywhere else.

• A cot bed converts to a toddler bed by removing one side, extending its use to roughly four or five years. That usually works out cheaper than buying a cot then a toddler bed separately.
• Check the base has adjustable heights. A high base saves your back with a newborn; lowering it as they learn to sit and pull up is what stops them climbing out.
• Look for teething rails — plastic strips along the top edges. Babies chew cot rails, and without them the wood gets damaged and splinters.
• A drawer underneath is genuinely useful in a small room, where storage is usually the constraint.
• Check it meets BS EN 716, the British and European safety standard for cots.

Cot safety — what matters most

These points come from established UK safety guidance and are worth following regardless of which cot you buy.

• The mattress must fit with no gap larger than about 2cm at any side. Gaps are a genuine entrapment risk — buy the mattress made for the cot where possible.
• Buy the mattress new, even if the cot itself is second-hand. The Lullaby Trust advises a firm, flat, waterproof and well-fitting new mattress.
• Bar spacing should be between 4.5cm and 6.5cm — wide enough that a head can't become trapped, narrow enough that a body can't slip through.
• Nothing soft in the cot. No pillows, duvets, bumpers or cot toys for under-ones. A clear, flat cot is the safest sleep surface.
• Position it away from windows, blind cords, radiators, curtains and anything a child could reach and pull in.
• Check the fixings every few months. Cots loosen with use and a wobble is a signal, not a nuisance.

Safer sleep basics

Current UK guidance is to place babies on their back to sleep, feet to the foot of the cot, in a clear cot with no loose bedding, in the same room as you for the first six months — including for daytime naps. Keep the room between 16 and 20°C. The Lullaby Trust publishes the full guidance and it's worth reading before the baby arrives rather than in the first exhausted week.

How to choose a cot mattress

• Firm and flat, not soft. A mattress that moulds to the baby is not what you want, whatever it says about comfort.
• Foam or sprung both work. Sprung mattresses generally last longer through a cot bed conversion; foam is lighter and cheaper.
• Waterproof layer or a separate protector. Non-negotiable in practice, and it extends the mattress's usable life considerably.
• Check the size against the cot, not against a standard — cot dimensions vary and a near-fit is not a fit.
• Replace between children where you can, or at minimum use a new waterproof protector.

How to set up a nursery in a small room

• The cot goes in first. Position it away from hazards, then work everything else around it
• Under-cot storage earns its keep more than a chest of drawers in a genuinely small room
• A changing mat on a chest of drawers works as well as a dedicated changing table and is useful for years afterwards
• Secure tall furniture to the wall. Any chest, bookcase or shelf in a child's room needs an anti-tip fixing — children climb drawers
• Blackout blinds without cords, or with cords properly secured out of reach

Common questions

How long does a cot bed last?

Typically to around four or five years once converted to a toddler bed. Dimensions are on the product page.

Can I use a second-hand cot?

A cot, yes, if it meets current standards, has all its fittings and instructions, and shows no damage. The mattress should be new.

What size mattress do I need?

The one made for the cot, or one matching its internal dimensions with no gap larger than 2cm at any side.

When should I lower the cot base?

When the baby can sit unaided, and again when they can pull to standing. Waiting until they've climbed out is too late.

Related collections

For prams and travel systems, see baby products. For feeding, feeding & nursing. For nappies, nappies & wipes.