Cots and nursing chairs: what I used and what parents recommend

Ask Sally · the column

Welcome to my new weekly newsletter and column.

I’ve always wished I could be a real-life Carrie Bradshaw, writing a popular column. Sadly, my wardrobe has never quite lived up to the dream!

Think of Ask Sally as your baby sleep agony aunt, where I answer questions that land in my inbox and DMs, share my thoughts in a little more depth than social media allows, and give you a peek behind the scenes at what’s happening in my world and inside Snooze.

Last week I was asked two questions in my DMs about nursery products. The first was whether I had any recommendations for cots. The second was whether I recommended buying a nursing chair or recliner, particularly for someone planning to prioritise breastfeeding after an elective caesarean and wanting to make recovery as comfortable as possible.

I wanted to answer this in two parts. Firstly, what I personally used. Secondly, what you recommend, because there’s nothing quite like a crowd-sourced recommendation from parents who are in the thick of it right now.

The cot

Both of my babies started in a Boori Urbane Bassinet (although it looks like the Boori Tidy Bassinet is the closest to what I had) before moving into a Boori Country Cot. From what I can see, the closest current equivalent is the Boori Casa Baby Cot, although I never actually used the drop-side function.

As much as Pinterest can tempt us with beautifully styled nurseries, I’d always choose simple and safe over fancy and aesthetic. The most important thing is choosing a cot that meets the mandatory Australian safety standards, or the equivalent standards wherever you live. A safe sleep space matters far more than the latest trend.

One of our cots was bought second-hand and was in excellent condition, but I always purchased a brand-new mattress for each baby.

The chair

Now for the glamorous part…

I breastfed both of my babies in a $10 rocking recliner from Facebook Marketplace.

I threw a lovely, soft blanket over it to make it look a little less tired, and by the time I’d finished feeding two children it honestly owed me nothing. That poor chair had seen thousands of feeds, cuddles, contact naps and middle-of-the-night rocking sessions. It was hanging on for dear life by the end.

So my personal recommendation isn’t exactly the most helpful seven years later.

Enter… the group chat.

I put the question out on my Instagram Stories and, as always, you delivered.

For cots, the overwhelming recommendation was the Mocka. Quite a few people also said, “Just buy the cheapest safe cot you can find.”

Honestly, I don’t disagree. Most cots look remarkably similar these days, and I’d much rather see parents investing their energy into creating a safe sleep environment than worrying whether they’ve chosen the “right” brand.

When it came to nursing chairs, though, there was one clear winner. The il Tutto Quinn Electric Recliner.

The messages flooded in and one of my DMs summarises the general consensus:

“The il Tutto Quinn saved me after my c-section.”

I also heard lovely things about the Chelsea, although several people mentioned it was incredibly comfortable once you were sitting down but a little harder to get out of. I also came across the Henry, Felix and Louis models while researching, but I didn’t receive enough first-hand recommendations to confidently comment on those.

Runners up in the comment section included:

• The Snoo for bassinet days
• Sacred Bundle Cot
• Seena Living Willow cot

Additional chair suggestions:

• Mumma rocking chair from Fluff Daddy
• Eldita Chair

These chairs definitely come with a much bigger price tag than my $10 Marketplace special.

That said, when you think about just how many hours you’ll spend feeding, cuddling, settling and recovering in that chair, I can absolutely see why so many parents feel it’s worth every cent.

If you’re recovering from a caesarean, a difficult birth or simply the marathon that is pregnancy, your comfort matters too. If it’s within your budget, I don’t think you’ll regret making that investment.

If it isn’t within your budget, please don’t stress.

Your baby won’t sleep better because your chair costs more and your baby won’t love you more because your cot came from a particular brand. Safe, comfortable and functional will always beat expensive.

Honourable mention: the Cubo Ai

While we’re talking nursery essentials, I have to give an honourable mention to something I genuinely loved with my second baby, my Cubo Ai baby monitor.

This isn’t something I was gifted. I bought it myself for my second baby as we were living in an apartment and I kept rushing into his room overnight hearing him cry, only to realise it was the baby downstairs. So, I loved being able to check in without having to go in and risk waking him up.

Do you need a fancy monitor? Absolutely not, a basic monitor is perfectly fine for most families and many of you may already know that I didn’t even own one for my first baby. But if you’re someone looking for a great monitor you’ll use for years, the Cubo Ai is one of the nursery purchases I genuinely don’t regret.

Sally x

Ask Sally is my weekly column, where I answer the questions that land in my inbox and DMs. If there is something you are navigating with your baby’s sleep, send me your question. Yours might be the next one I answer.

Written by Sally Woods, internationally certified sleep consultant and former paediatric nurse.