Cotbeds ???

Eircom_Sucks

hi all

newbie father in Feb 2011 please god , everything goes well with last 19 weeks of pregnancy

me and my partner are looking for a nice cotbed and matching chester drawers for the baby we have these in mind , but obviously very costly , any alternatives that look like these ??

http://www.boori.co.uk/index.asp?m=&cat=16&scat=28&p=6&t=Original Sleigh 3 in 1 this is €750 without matress and just for bed and is €650 for drawers

http://www.mamasandpapas.com/product-ocean-cotday-bed-golden-oak/389797901/type-i/

this is €800 for bed without mattress and €530 for drawers

any ideas ??? if we have to we'll spend the money on it , but rather nice cheaper solutions

liamo

Hi,

We spent some time visting stores on-line and in person over a few weeks looking for much the same stuff as you (we have 8 weeks to go).

We looked at very similar (if not the same) items as you did. They were really good quality but we found it really hard to justify spending that amount of money and felt it was more about making the parents feel good rather than actually having anything to do with being any better for the child.

Having looked in a number of places, we ended up buying practically all our stuff in Murphy's in Rathcoole. We got a great cot and chest of drawers for about €500 (I think). In total we spent about €1,100 on furniture, clothes, blankets, sheets, matresses, decorations, teddies, etc in the one place. A number of items were on discount and we got additional discounts on some items that weren't specifically on discount. This made it worth our while to get all those items in the one place in one go.

This worked out to be a lot less than the €1,500 or so we were seriously considering spending on just the cot and drawers before we saw sense and left us with some budget left over for additional items (God, does the spending ever end?).

So, in conclusion, don't feel that you have to spend a fortune on furniture. Look around. There are plenty of perfectly good alternatives that won't break the bank.

Moonbeam

Mamas and papas up north is alot cheaper.
Check out e-bay stores too
There is a shop in Newry that do beautiful sets reasonably too.
kiddicare.com is also worth a look.

I personally wouldn't buy a cot bed unless you are only planning one child,other wise they are a waste.

I spent about 150 euro on cot,mattress chest of drawers/changing table and blankets,sheets,sleeping bags.

Eircom_Sucks

Moonbeam wrote: »

Mamas and papas up north is alot cheaper.
Check out e-bay stores too
There is a shop in Newry that do beautiful sets reasonably too.
kiddicare.com is also worth a look.

I personally wouldn't buy a cot bed unless you are only planning one child,other wise they are a waste.

I spent about 150 euro on cot,mattress chest of drawers/changing table and blankets,sheets,sleeping bags.

see i get anything from mama's and papas at cost ( through dads business contact )
and 20 % off anything in eurobaby ( friend )

thing is i can't call these people just to ask what will the cot cost at cost etc as id be annoying them , the mamas and papas one for 800 id assume it would be 400 cost but i could be completely wrong and there may not be that much margin on them items , so its the uncertainty of what it will cost us , we'd only know when we get an invoice

Dades

Check out IKEA.

Worth a day trip, and you might just sort out the whole room.

Also, you can buy a really nice cot/bed without drawers - and slip flat plastic storage containers under it out of sight.

crazy cat lady

I don't think a cot bed is actually any wider than a cot, as the bumpers are the same size for both. The reason I point this out is that my 8 and a half month old little lady seems to use the width of the cot more so than the length. For this reason it is looking like we'll be putting her in a low bed with a safety rail in a few months as she is just so restricted in the cot.

We were planning a 2nd child (unfortunately we miscarried last weekend) but had that pregnancy gone to plan, Megan would've been in the bed and new baby would've been in the cot, therefore had we bought a cot bed, it would've been wasted.

Also we didn't spend the 100 Euro on the cot drawer, we bought some underbed drawers and they do the job just fine at a fraction of the cost!

We bought all of our nursery furniture in Mothercare and got a wardrobe, changing unit, set of drawers and the cot for 900 Euro. It would've been 1000 Euro but we went to one of the information evenings and got a 10% discount card.

Smyths actually do lovely furniture reasonably priced, but if you do want to spend a little more, M&S actually do gorgeous furniture. Ikea has nice stuff very cheap, none of it really appealed to me though.

Moonbeam

Sorry to hear that:(

my 20 month old still attempts to sleep across the cot too,it has ended in comedy more then once:)

bulmersgal

I think your mad to spend that much money. I got a lovely cotbed in mamas and papa real sturdy. Was only €175 in the sales. Murphys is great but was bit more expensive then mamas and papas. Got great deal on my pram there though.

Ayla

Now, I know it's to each their own & all, but I've got to agree with bulmersgal. We bought a cot for about €150, and then used a 4-drawer plastic storage tower for our daughter's clothes. Granted, the tower isn't a lovely as a wardrobe, but it does mean that the kid can access all of her clothing & get herself dressed completely independently.

If we paid €500 in total for everything - cot, car seat, bedding & misc gear - I'd be surprised. But everyone has different priorities. If you'd really prefer to purchase fine furniture, then look around online & in shops - there's a huge variation.

Oh, and CCL - I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you & your family are doing alright.

January

Sorry to hear about your loss ccl... hope you & chet are doing ok x

I paid 149 for my cotbed with mattress in Smyths, it's a fine sturdy thing! Don't think there's any need to be going out and spending near €1000 on a cot unless you really want it and can justify the spend.

annR

I think we paid about that (150 - 200) for a lovely cot bed which had been on display in Tony Kealy's but we splashed out on the mattress. DD is gone 2 now and still loves the cot bed, she'll be in it for a long time.

caprilicious

If you keep an eye on adverts.ie, donedeal.ie etc you can pick up some beautiful cots/nursery furniture at bargain prices.

I seen a full Boori set of furniture sell for €700 on adverts.ie recently, & I picked up a beautiful mahogany Simon Horn sleigh cot bed for €200.
If you don't mind second hand there are some great bargains to be had

wolfpawnat

OP, I got the Jamestown cotbed in Mothercare, It was 200e plus a 135e mattress, I set the MIL on them and she got 10% off!!!! She has her uses!!!Even if she mortifies you in the process!!! Mothercare have some great bedroom sets, see if they have what you need!


CCL I didnt know and I am so sorry for you, Chet and Megan:(

crazy cat lady

wolfpawnat wrote: »

OP, I got the Jamestown cotbed in Mothercare, It was 200e plus a 135e mattress, I set the MIL on them and she got 10% off!!!! She has her uses!!!Even if she mortifies you in the process!!! Mothercare have some great bedroom sets, see if they have what you need!


CCL I didnt know and I am so sorry for you, Chet and Megan:(

Thanks Nat

We got all the Jamestown furniture except the cotbed. Excellent quality! Cheap delivery too!

alot2say

Hi,

Im a newbie, but when we were expecting DD we were the same as Ayla, spent about €700 in total for cot, carry tot, moses basket, maclaren buggy and larger car seat. We didnt go for the cot bed as we just hadnt the room for it, plus we felt that it was a waste of money as DD would be moving into a big bed when it came the time.

About 6 months ago we took one of the sides from her cot and trained her how to get into and out of her cot and about 2 weeks ago we finally made the big move and put her into her own bed!! she will be 2 in 2 weeks and I prefered spending the extra money on a good bed and matress for her that will do her longer??

For storage we had built in units in her room that stored all her clothes, shoes and toys? Hope this helps!?

ccl sorry for your loss.. Hope you r ok?

limerick_lady

We had our 1st last October and bought a cotbed, chest of drawers & a changer platform from ebay. the sellers name is online4babyltd. In total, including shipping, it cost us €320 which was WAY cheaper than we could find anywhere locally! It arrived very promptly by courier and was very easy to put together. The item was called " MY CHILD COT BED NURSERY FURNITURE 2PC BABY ROOM SET"

We are yet to spend any money in mothercare - I just don't agree with their "we're the experts so charge twice the price" attitude, we bought loads of stuff in guineys and they're fine! including a mattress, which cost in the region of €30! moral of the story is - shop around!!

best of luck with it all too, it's an amazing experience!

wolfpawnat

crazy cat lady wrote: »

Thanks Nat

We got all the Jamestown furniture except the cotbed. Excellent quality! Cheap delivery too!

Haha they didnt dare charge me for delivery. They kept saying they didnt have the matress, 6 weeks after I purchased it my son was able to pull himself up in his rocking crib, went down the the store directly and ate them without salt. Next day delivery!!!! Mattress brought down from Carrickmines to West Clare especially!!!

newmammy2011

limerick_lady wrote: »

We had our 1st last October and bought a cotbed, chest of drawers & a changer platform from ebay. the sellers name is online4babyltd. In total, including shipping, it cost us €320 which was WAY cheaper than we could find anywhere locally! It arrived very promptly by courier and was very easy to put together. The item was called " MY CHILD COT BED NURSERY FURNITURE 2PC BABY ROOM SET"

Ooh glad to hear you had a good experience with these guys! Was looking at a buggy and a few other bits in their "shop" last night!
Sooo much stuff to get!

lynski

Moonbeam wrote: »

I personally wouldn't buy a cot bed unless you are only planning one child,other wise they are a waste.
.

.
I dont agree, we have a cotbed, currently used for dd, ds is in a toddler bed. We will be putting him into a single bed next winter, her into the toddler bed and new babs into the cotbed. cotbed lasts longer then a cot for a baby as they are bigger, imho, and we can use that as a toddler bed when the next one needs it. we got a mamas and papas one for around 300 i think.
My sis has Ikea cots and beds for her 2 and swears by them.
We used an old ordinary wardrobe for their clothes, just tied an extra bar lower down for her clothes, now her clothes fill it and he has a chest of drawers, for his tops and trousers. Have not even begun to thought about where the babies clothes will go - oops.
They dont need new, babies, recycle and reuse.

Moonbeam

Argos have nice sets too.
Just saw them in the catalogue.


http://www.argos.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Browse?pp=20&s=Price%3A+Low+-+High&storeId=30001&catalogId=1500002501&langId=-1&c_1=1|category_root|Home%2Band%2Bfurniture|14417894&c_2=2|cat_14417894|Children%2527s%2Bfurniture|14418110&c_3=3|cat_14418110|Cots%2Band%2Bnursery%2Bfurniture|14418115

seabre

Hi

Just my opinion but spending too much on new born stuff can be a waste of money. They grow out of these things so quickly. For my 2 I found that when the first one was 2 we were almost rushing her out of the cot for the 2nd baby!

Then the search for a toddler bed began! I did a lot of searching on line and was beginning to think that all the different beds for the different stages was going to break us! Found an Irish company though who do custom made furniture. We got an absolutely beautiful set of Hand painted personalised bunk beds that were safe enough for the 2 year old to sleep in straight away. I reckon buying this one set of bunks has saved us a fortune by not having to buy flimsy toddler / single beds etc. Plus the fact that it really is a stunning piece of furniture - all my family and friends were in awe of it.

PS The fact that it was an Irish company sort of swayed it for me too rather than buying stuff imported from Sweden etc etc. - Oh and they delivered and assembled for us in the price, I really couldn't recommend them enough. If you google Libs Cribs you'll see them.

Good luck with the new Baby - lovely times ahead!

jondon

have a 4 years old and a 3 month old made the mistake of buying a cotbed and it dinnt fit through doorgaps so moving it was hassle moved a few times and started fallinag apart it was a expensive one , for our new baby went to ikea with the 4 year old and got furiniture for her and a full nursery good range it was the LEKSVIK children´s room series very sturdy and easy to put together well happy with it all 3 months in, plus it converts into a bed when she is bigger and can be moveded through doorways