Thread: Baby cot

Good work Ian.


We will put away our one in a few months time. The next time we see it will be when we become grandparents. That could be as little as 10 years away.

What a beauty.... umm... how do you keep the kid off the floor?

Originally Posted by Cliff Rogers

What a beauty.... umm... how do you keep the kid off the floor?

Damn! I knew I'd forget something!

S'alright, Cliff, I've got the slats prepared, just didn't put them in for the pic.
The two end slats have S.O. caps glued & screwed to them, to hide the ends of the cleats and make sure there are no gaps where a limb can get caught. The end-caps were an afterthought, and are still getting their final coats of poly. They are probably unnecessary for both purposes, as the ends probably won't be visible, and I don't think a lizard could get between mattress & sides once it's in place. The standards say no more than 20mm between mattress & sides, & it's ended up 15, which may be a bit too tight.

Before commencing this job, I went on line & checked the current safety standards (which have changed since my kids were babies!). They are reasonably well set out, but a diagram or two would have simplified the whole thing no end. You have to wade through several paragraphs written in legalese, & despite that, it ends up being a bit ambiguous wrt the height of the top rails above the mattress, and minimum/maximum heights of the mattress above the floor. Parents didn't want drop-sides, which eliminated that complication, but did want them removable, which introduced another, i.e. how to do it so the attachment points aren't too unsightly when the sides come off. The legs & ends are not quite what was asked for, because I wouldn't have been able to keep the gap between them & the first side-slat safe, so these are a compromise......

All good fun.
Cheers

Originally Posted by Wongo

Good work Ian.


We will put away our one in a few months time. The next time we see it will be when we become grandparents. That could be as little as 10 years away.

Or it could be much longer, Wongo! I was beginning to think my kids were the end of the line, or I'd not live long enough to see any grandchildren! My kids are certainly not in a hurry to add to population pressures....

You better keep your toolkit handy, too. Given the way things change you will probably have to make major modifications to the existing cot for it to comply, 10 (or 20) years from now....

Cheers,

Nah, Mine is made to last for at another 100 years. The rails are high enough so there will not no safety issues. It will not be modified ever.

My oldest is 12 and if she gets married at the age of 21 (like her mum) then she could be a mother at 22. But then again you never know.

Scott..........
I hope those beautiful daughters of yours don't read your posts.........

Happy New Year to both you and Ian

Greg

Originally Posted by Wongo

Nah, Mine is made to last for at another 100 years. The rails are high enough so there will not no safety issues. It will not be modified ever.

My oldest is 12 and if she gets married at the age of 21 (like her mum) then she could be a mother at 22. But then again you never know.

I won't quote worlds youngest mother Scott. But when you see a Nth Shore miss at age 15 having her first baby you know its not western suburbs not to mention the Nth suburbs Hoe for Wayward Girls in Wahroonga/Turramurra.

For your sake hope its sooner the forum needs more grandad type toy makers

Ian beautiful work very impressed reminds me of the work done on cots by my dad one for sis one for my kids all 3 used it and one for some friends of his.

Originally Posted by IanW

Or it could be much longer, Wongo! I was beginning to think my kids were the end of the line, or I'd not live long enough to see any grandchildren! My kids are certainly not in a hurry to add to population pressures....

You better keep your toolkit handy, too. Given the way things change you will probably have to make major modifications to the existing cot for it to comply, 10 (or 20) years from now....

Cheers,

Except for when mandated by some law, standards are voluntary. In this case only makers of mass produced cots need to comply. Further, standards are not ussually applied retrospectively, which means it would be legal to buy and use a second hand cot. I have investigated cases in which people with a disabilty have asphyxiated when their head got stuck between the bed side rails and the mattress. These were hospital beds, but I guess the same can happen to a baby. I suggest that you make sure that the matress is a snug fit.

Your children will wish they asked you for a collapsible side rail... Oh well, when their backs are sore from all the lifting, they can give each other a massage when the baby is sleeping ;-).

It is also convenient to be able to adjust the slat height, high up when the baby is very young and not very mobile, lower when the child is a toddler and can crawl, kneel and stand.

Having said ALL that, I think that this is a lovely job. I am with you: I would never have stained the silky oak, no matter what the rest of the furniture looks like... Silky oak is such a lovely timber. Oh well, the customer is always right, I suppose.

Originally Posted by Wongo

Good work Ian.


We will put away our one in a few months time. The next time we see it will be when we become grandparents. That could be as little as 10 years away.

Or lend it to other parents until you have grandchildren. Our cot was not an heirloom, but it was sturdy and well designed and they don't get heavy use. It was used by not less than 8 children before we gave it away to the Smith Family. I would like to think that it is still being used twenty years after we bought it.

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

Except for when mandated by some law, standards are voluntary. In this case only makers of mass produced cots need to comply. Further, standards are not ussually applied retrospectively, which means it would be legal to buy and use a second hand cot. I have investigated cases in which people with a disabilty have asphyxiated when their head got stuck between the bed side rails and the mattress. These were hospital beds, but I guess the same can happen to a baby. I suggest that you make sure that the matress is a snug fit...

I think cot standards are mandatory - the way the web page reads, it seems like it's illegal to even give a cot away if it doesn't comply with current standards, unless you attach a large sticker warning that it is not fit for original purpose. I doubt you can ever completely eliminate accidents, but at least I did my best to make sure it's up to scratch. The mattress should be snug, max. clearance allowed is 20mm each side, & I've given them 15mm, so if anything, it might get a bit tight, once waterproofing sheets & bedding are added.

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

.....Your children will wish they asked you for a collapsible side rail... Oh well, when their backs are sore from all the lifting, they can give each other a massage when the baby is sleeping ;-).

It is also convenient to be able to adjust the slat height, high up when the baby is very young and not very mobile, lower when the child is a toddler and can crawl, kneel and stand.

I guess people differ in their attitudes to drop sides. I had 4 kids, I'm average height & my ex is 5 feet & a half inch in old money. As far as I can recall, we never once dropped the sides of the cot we used - in fact, with one child, I had to wire the damn thing up because the little b*gg*r figured out how to release one side & get it to drop down far enough to escape. That gave us a temporary reprieve; soon after that he just climbed out, anyway. My mother says it was divine retribution, because I did the same.....

I did think about having adjustable mattress support, but the 'design brief' specified it convert it to a bed, later. I tossed up a couple of ideas, like building a frame that could sit on the slat support rails, but after consulting with the parent-to-be, they decided to try it as is - I can easily make a booster frame later, if they do find it uncomfortable.

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

..... Oh well, the customer is always right, I suppose.

And when they are your children, the customer is even righter.....

Cheers,

Originally Posted by GarciaJ

Or lend it to other parents until you have grandchildren. Our cot was not an heirloom, but it was sturdy and well designed and they don't get heavy use. It was used by not less than 8 children before we gave it away to the Smith Family. I would like to think that it is still being used twenty years after we bought it.

Not a chance mate. It is not for anyone else but mines. BUT I will take orders.

Originally Posted by IanW

I think cot standards are mandatory - the way the web page reads, it seems like it's illegal to even give a cot away if it doesn't comply with current standards, unless you attach a large sticker warning that it is not fit for original purpose. I doubt you can ever completely eliminate accidents, but at least I did my best to make sure it's up to scratch. The mattress should be snug, max. clearance allowed is 20mm each side, & I've given them 15mm, so if anything, it might get a bit tight, once waterproofing sheets & bedding are added.

I am impressed that you even thought of this. I have worked on a number of Standards and I'm very sure about their legal status. Maybe in this case the standard has been "adopted" into law by some organisation like the ACCC - THAT I don't know. The point is that you have done everything possible to minimise the likelihood of foreseeable events... and that's all that you can do. It's good that you thought about the mattress... As I said there have been a number of incidents - usually on on compliant beds with retrofitted matresses.

Originally Posted by IanW

I guess people differ in their attitudes to drop sides. I had 4 kids, I'm average height & my ex is 5 feet & a half inch in old money. As far as I can recall, we never once dropped the sides of the cot we used - in fact, with one child, I had to wire the damn thing up because the little b*gg*r figured out how to release one side & get it to drop down far enough to escape. That gave us a temporary reprieve; soon after that he just climbed out, anyway. My mother says it was divine retribution, because I did the same.....

I did think about having adjustable mattress support, but the 'design brief' specified it convert it to a bed, later. I tossed up a couple of ideas, like building a frame that could sit on the slat support rails, but after consulting with the parent-to-be, they decided to try it as is - I can easily make a booster frame later, if they do find it uncomfortable.

We are short people and we used the sliding rail all the time, in fact when our girls were very little we kept the mattress on the lower position and left the rails down. Babies are not all that mobile and the rail only needs to be a foot or so high. When the kid can figure out the latch or climb over the rail, it's time to take the rails off (which we could also do) or buy a bed. As you say, to each his own...

Incidentally we used an old wall unit in which the middle door drops down to make a desk as a changing table (I used it as a study desk when I was in high school)... We placed one of those plastic lined foam mattresses on the working surface, and there was enough room to the side, underneath and top to store baby paraphernalia. Worked a treat! I remember watching my friends struggling with store bought changing tables and shaking my head...

Originally Posted by IanW

And when they are your children, the customer is even righter.....

Tell me about it! I don't need Google, I just ask my kids... They know everything!

Nice chatting with you