Hollie Bond and her ten-month-old daughter Margot tested out the BabyBjörn Travel Cot Light to see how it fared on their travels.

The BabyBjörn Travel Cot Light gets our vote as the best premium travel buy in our best travel cots buying guide. It’s a very good option for a lightweight travel cot, because it is really easy to transport, looks stylish and, most importantly for frazzled parents, it is extremely easy to assemble and put back down. It comes with a comfortable mattress and mattress cover and also a handy bag that ‘it’s really easy to fit back in,’ according to our tester Hollie.

She found the low base a bit off-putting as you have to bend over quite a way to put your child in, but this also means the cot doubles up as a playpen. ‘I took the cot to my parents’ house to use as a playpen and it worked a treat, keeping Margot safely away from all the delicate antiques and trinkets,’ she says. While at the pricier end of the spectrum, Hollie thinks it’s well worth the extra money because of the quality of the fabric and materials used.

Weighs: 6kg (including bag) | Age: Birth to 3 years

Our tester Hollie’s first impression of the BabyBjörn Travel Cot Light was that it lived up to its name – it arrived in a smart bag with a useful carry handle and is indeed very light. ‘In the past, I’ve had to wrestle with travel cots and spent ages trying to get the knack of putting them up, but with this cot, I managed to assemble it in seconds with one hand while holding my baby and without reading any instructions,’ she says. ‘It’s very intuitive and just folds out into shape straightaway.’ As well as the cot itself, this travel cot comes with a ‘surprisingly spongy and soft’ mattress and a fitted cot sheet. The mattress is attached to the cot via little tabs that go through the cot lining and fasten to the frame.

‘This cot doesn’t come with a bassinet option and is very low to the ground, so it was quite a stretch to place Margot down onto the mattress, so I wouldn’t recommend it for any parents with back problems,’ adds Hollie. ‘Luckily, the days of me having to stroke Margot’s back to get her to sleep are over too, as that would have been a problem.’ There is a flip side to the low base, however – it means the travel cot can double up as a playpen when you’re travelling or even at home.

Our tester was impressed by the BabyBjörn Travel Cot Light’s mattress and apparently, her daughter was too. ‘The mattress is well padded and as soon as I put Margot in the cot she had a lie down and snuggled in,’ says Hollie. ‘She slept as well in it as she does in her more sturdy and higher up cot at home, and had enough space to move around in her sleep.’

As you’d expect from the BabyBjörn brand, the quality of the cot is excellent. ‘I loved that it felt sturdy and solid even though it’s lightweight,’ adds Hollie. She also liked the mesh sides which meant that she could keep an eye on Margot as she slept but they didn’t let too much light in.

This travel cot is designed for newborns through to three-year-olds, which Hollie did find a bit optimistic: ‘My now-four-year-old son definitely wouldn’t have fitted in it at three and probably would have grown out of it by the age of two.’

At £247, this travel cot doesn’t come cheap but our tester feels it’s worth the money. ‘It has a lot of high-quality features – such as the smart carry bag and padded mattress – that you’d look for in a premium travel cot,’ she says. The fact that it doubles up as a playpen also adds to the value.

Hollie would recommend the BabyBjörn Travel Cot Light to anyone planning to do lots of travelling with their baby and says it’ll particularly appeal to parents who like baby products to look good, but also work really well.

This gets our vote as the best premium travel cot of all those we tested but you might also like to read our Joie Kubbie Sleep Travel Cot review – it’s the best travel cot overall, according to our parent reviews. And don’t forget to check out the rest of our baby product reviews.

'A high-quality, compact travel cot that can be assembled with one hand. Clearly a lot of time and thought and time have gone into the design and functionality of this travel cot.’