Babies and Toddlers

Graco FoldLite LX Quick-folding Travel Cot With Bassinet Review

DISCLOSURE – THIS ITEM WAS GIFTED TO THE REVIEWER FOR THE PURPOSES OF WRITING THE REVIEW. ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE THE REVIEWER’S OWN.

Reviewed by Emily B

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to review the Graco FoldLite LX Quick-folding Travel Cot with Bassinet.  As a mother of a now 2 year old, I’ve read much online about the Pack N Play as the holy grail of cots.  When my daughter was born the Pack N Play wasn’t in stock and instead we worked our way through mesh-sided bassinets, a side sleeper/crib, a smaller travel cot (Joie Kubbie) and eventually to a large traditional wooden cot.  Writing this review I’ve been mentally comparing it to the Kubbie, a Hauck Dream N Play, and the Nuna Aire.

The cot is currently only available in midnight black which, although not a traditional nursery colour, is sleek and timeless.  It has four mesh sides which are easy to see through to monitor your baby or tot.  The tops of the four sides are covered in a quilted fabric which is not only attractive but also soft.  From personal experience this can be quite important when babies are unsteady pulling up to stand and likely to topple.  The mattress is also black and plain, the safety information can be found on the underside.

Set up was pretty easy.  You simply pull out the legs on each side and listen for the click.  Then flip the whole thing over and pull the sides into shape.  The mattress is also straightforward: assemble the rods and insert them into the pockets.

Putting away was a little more complicated despite having illustrations of the steps in the booklet and a slightly different set on the reverse of the mattress.  There’s a bit of a knack to the way it folds down that will be OK with some practice but we struggled to get right in the first attempt.

Like many other travel cots the mattress is not terribly comfortable.  They’re often quite lumpy and you’re able to feel the rods through the covering.  I thought that this was slightly better than the Kubbie with more padding but still has depressions between the rods.  This is to be expected considering the mattress needs to fold and is OK for occasional use.

Practically, the wheels are useful for repositioning but can’t be used for pulling when it’s back in its case.  This would have been a useful design feature.  The bag is well designed in that it has a handle – perfect for attaching a luggage label when flying – but would also benefit from a strap.  The bassinet feature is a winner for me; babies sleep in a bassinet for such a short period of time (if at all, in our case) that having a separate bassinet can be a waste of money.

In terms of size the travel cot is 68 x 119 x 63.5cm. At 7.71kg, Graco state it ‘weighs up to 30% less than traditional travel cots’ and whilst this is lighter than our previous cot (Joie Kubbie) at 8.35kg, calling it ‘lightweight’ isn’t setting the right expectation.  If you’re traveling abroad or by train this isn’t very portable, particularly having no over the shoulder strap.

The cot is advertised for birth to 15kg.  The bassinet set up maxes out at 9kg (equates to 12 months on 50th percentile for a girl or 9 months for a boy) but for safety reasons babies may need to move from this before then if rolling and pulling up.  The length of the cot (119cm) is good and at 50% percentile for growth will last approximately 3 years or until they can climb out!

Compared to the other travel cots I’ve seen, the Graco performs well in terms of appearance and age range however with a downside mattress comfort.  Considering the Joie Kubbie is priced at £100 for a heavier and shorter cot I wish we’d bought this instead.

RRP: £80

Buy it from the Graco Baby website here

Rating: 4/5

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