Snuzkot Cot Bed review

For the first 4 months, it seemed as though they slept all of the time, whilst simultaneously not sleeping at all. For me, sleep has never been so precious. With this in mind, a safe and comfortable place for your little one to ‘sleep’ is an absolute essential purchase.

With so many options out there, it can be a little daunting to decide on the right type of bed. Having twins made our decision pretty easy.

The less things we had to buy the better, so we decided to put them straight into a cot bed to share.

The twins are now 9 months old, and I was thrilled to be asked to review the Snuzkot.

What is a Snuzkot?

From the founders of the multi award winning Snuzpod, the Snuzkot is the latest addition to their collection. Snuz pride themselves on designing innovative and stylish sleeping solutions for the little people in our lives.

Their range includes beds, bedding and accessories. The Snuzkot is a super modern and stylish cotbed that is suitable from birth. With an additional extension kit it can be used up to 10 years of age.

There are 4 main designs (Skandi, Mode, Luxe and Rococo), and with various eye catching colour options, there are a total of 15 different styles to choose from. I was really excited to review the Snuzkot, because I had never seen such a beautiful looking bed for a child!

I chose the Luxe espresso Snuzkot because I loved the contrasting white and dark wood. The price varies between £349 and £449 depending on which style you go for so it falls somewhere in the middle of the market. There are currently a lot of cot beds around this price, like the Boori Urbane (£350), Babies R Us Sleigh Cot Bed (£299.99), and Silver Cross Notting Hill (£350) cot beds.

Buy the Snuzkot from Snuz now.

First impressions?

Having viewed the photos online, I was really blown away by how stylish it looked. I loved the way that it has curves rather than just your bog standard rectangular box.

The different colours also make it more fun. It wasn’t just a straightforward choice of white or brown. The snuzkot has many colour options. Had I been feeling more daring, then I would have loved to have picked the orange.

What age range is the Snuzkot suitable for?

The Snuzkot is suitable from birth, until approximately 4 years of age. Most standard cotbeds also claim to be suitable until 4 years of age, however the Snuzkot has a mattress length of 117 cm.

This is 23 cm shorter than my other two cotbeds (Kiddicare Somerset Cotbed and Mammas & Pappas Classic cotbed), so would be outgrown a little earlier.

A separate Junior bed extension kit and mattress extension piece can be purchased in order to convert the bed to be used for 4-10 year olds. This will convert the bed to a length of 158 cm. I did a little research and found that the average height of a 4-year-old is 104.5 cm, and the average height of a 10-year-old is 143.3 cm so it is a fair statement.

My 3.5 year old niece had a go in it and there was still plenty of room for her to grow. She’s 101cm tall at the moment.

Is the Snuzkot durable and robust?

During assembly, the Snuzkot that we initially received was found to be defective. One of the pre-assembled side panels was loose, resulting in some of the joints not being flush.

I contacted Snuz and their customer services were excellent. They immediately arranged for a replacement bed to be sent out. They told me that they had been having some problems with their courier and believe that the Snuzkot I had initially received had been damaged during transit.

It was quite obvious that the couriers hadn’t taken care of the packages; the mattress package was torn and there were some dirty marks from the van. They have since stopped using that particular courier and have switched to a furniture delivery service.

The replacement that I received appeared to be immaculate. The following morning however, the same problem occurred with the vertical wooden bars. My little girl likes to kick the bars and one had come loose.

Again, I contacted Snuz and they immediately sent a replacement part. They told me that both beds I had received were from a batch that had been air shipped from the factory instead of their usual sea shipment. This meant that the boxes would have been handled more rigorously than normal. They have advised me that they will no longer use air shipment as a method of transportation.

The replacement part I received is holding up. It appeared to me that the glue had come loose on the older parts. My little Ones are pretty strong, and I'm sure they will be applying a lot of pressure to the bars; more than the odd knock or bang that may have occurred during transit.

Despite the bars coming loose, I don't think they would ever fall out of the frame. Just an annoyance, and something that you wouldn't expect from a cotbed in this price range. The rest of the bed is solid and sturdy.

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Would you use the Snuzkot from newborn?

Absolutely! You are going to eventually need a bed for your little one, so it makes sense to start right away. Had there have been a decent bedside crib for twins on the market, then I may have considered going down that route, purely because I was breastfeeding.

As it turned out, I am glad that I didn’t. I was so sleep deprived at the time, that this may have been disastrous. I’m glad that I had my babies safely behind bars, and that the act of physically getting out of bed, helped me to somewhat function in the deep of the night.

Whilst a newborn may look a little lost in a cotbed at first, it really makes no difference to them. Ours were quite content swaddled next to each other, with 2/3 of the bed unused. This was actually quite beneficial as they were such frequent vomiters.

The big space really didn’t last long. They seemed to grow at an exponential rate, and at 5 months old, they were too big to share. We were very sad to have to separate them into 2 cotbeds.

Like the cotbed that we had from birth, the Snuzkot has a newborn height option, so we would have happily put them in it. The downside to the Snuzkot over the one we used before it arrived, was that it was shorter. So we would had to have separated them quicker. I squeezed every last inch out of the bed so that they could share as long as they did.

Is the Snuzkot height adjustable?

Yes, there are 3 height options. The highest mattress setting can be used to get your newborn in /out.

If like me, you have had a caesarean, then this height setting is an absolute must.

The middle setting can be used once they grow and start rolling, and finally the bottom, and also the safest setting should be used once the child is able to sit up.

My two are also now pulling themselves up, and the bars of a cot seem to be the perfect tools to help them in their quest to stand. For this reason, we have the mattress on the lowest setting.

How easy is it to assemble?

My husband took charge of the assembly. There were 2 reasons for this; firstly, he loves doing it (he once begged me at midnight to let him assemble a table that we had just bought from IKEA).

Secondly, since he has built all the flat pack furniture that we own, he was a much better judge on this.

In his words, the instructions could be better. The cotbed was packed in 2 boxes; the Masterbox and the Stylepack.

The instructions don’t seem to flow very well and flit between the two boxes, so you really need to have unpacked both boxes and laid everything out before beginning. He thought it would make more sense to start with the stylepack and build the base first before opening the masterbox that contains the bulk of the items.

There was also a mistake in the instruction manual that had been spotted by the manufacturers, and a separate flyer attached.

The instructions state that you need 20 minutes, one person and an Allen key to assemble. In reality, it took over an hour and at times a second person would have made it a lot easier. Chris (my husband) has put a lot of our furniture together and found it pretty challenging, but not impossible.

It was much more difficult than our Mamas and Papas cotbed, but easier than the kiddicare one we have.

Converting the cotbed to a toddler bed was very simple and didn’t take much time at all.

Converting the bed to a junior bed however was a different story. No instructions are provided in the box.

When I contacted Snuz to ask them to send me the instructions, I was told that there were no Instructions available at present. They said that the method was the same as converting to bed to a toddler bed but with the additional parts from the extension kit.

We found that this wasn’t the case and that the base had to be taken apart in order to accommodate the new parts. I actually found it quite shocking that the extension kit was allowed to be sold with no instructions available.

Coming from a scientific background, I am accustomed to even the simplest of procedures requiring written instructions. The fact that this is a bed for a child to sleep in had me a little perplexed. Nevertheless, we managed to work it out and put it together.

The cotbed is 72cm wide so It really depends on the width of your doors when thinking about where to assemble it.

Assembled, it wouldn't fit through our doors which are less than 72cm wide so we had to assemble it in the room. Once in toddler bed or Junior bed mode then it could be transported from room to room by twisting it onto its side.

Is the Snuzkot Compact?

For a cotbed it is very compact, and at 32kg, it is a fairly mid weight bed. At 117 cm long, its length is somewhere in between the length of a standard cot and a standard cotbed.

I found it really easy to manoeuvre around the room once assembled. Since we have been blessed with 2 bundles of joy, we have had to do a lot of manoeuvring to find the best layout for the furniture in the twins’ room!

Is it comfortable for your child?

The babies aren’t yet able to tell me when they are comfortable, but they are certainly able to communicate when they are not! I tested it out with both of them to compare. Both seemed to be really cosy and although the bed is smaller than what they are used to, it didn’t seem to bother them at all.

The cotbed looks like a little pod, and the pocket sprung mattress seems very comfortable. I was quite envious as it feels more comfortable than our own mattress!

There are no teething rails, so if you are a fan of teething rails then this may be an issue. Personally, I think they would take away from the design of the bed, however, I guess so would a half-chewed bar.

What is it made from?

All of the Snuzkots are made from natural beech wood. Each cot has a solid beech frame and stainless steel fixings. They state that no MDF or Veneer are used.

What are the safety features like?

The Snuzkot meets the British Safety standard BS EN 716:2008. The top of the cot is more than 50cm higher than the top of the mattress, to prevent your little one being able to climb out.

Compatred with our other cotbeds, the Snuzkot bars are deceptively higher so this will hopefully mean that it will be a little longer before they start climbing out. The bars are close enough together so that your baby can’t get stuck between them.

The mattress is firm and also has air-flow technology to help control body temperature and reducing the risk of overheating.

All of the beds are painted with baby safe lacquers.

How does it compare to other cots/beds you have used?

It makes our other cots look very boring in comparison. The Snuzkot design somehow makes it an appealing place to sleep rather than a baby box.

As I mentioned previously, it is quite a bit smaller than other cotbeds that I have used. This is great if you are short on space but will inevitably be outgrown much quicker.

What do you think of the design?

I loved the design as a cotbed. Very modern, yet minimal and stylish. I really liked the snuzkot brand on the base too. I chose the Luxe Espresso design, but I would have been happy to have received any of the 15 designs.

The Luxe Style has a modern yet retro feel. The Scandi style is simple and stylish. The Mode style looks very modern and Finally the Rococo Style has a shabby chic charm to it.

One of the things that really stood out for me is the way that the mattress fits perfectly into the cot when the bars are attached, and you can't see the depth of the mattress. A simple yet pleasing touch that I have never seen before on a cotbed.

The unique thing about Snuzkot is that it can be converted to a junior bed. However, Once converted, it loses some of its sleek style.

I didn’t like all the visible holes where screws to hold parts of the cotbed were no longer required. I was also disappointed to see that the Snuzkot brand was lost on the junior extension kit and the mattress is in two parts.

I think by the time you come round to using the extension piece, the other mattress could potentially be a little worn; especially if you have a child that likes to jump on their bed. Although it does seem to be a very good mattress so it might hold up well. There is no option to buy a full sized junior bed mattress.

Is it easy to clean?

It's really easy to clean. The mattress also has an anti-allergy cover that is easy to zip off and is machine wash at 60 degrees to kill dust mites.

There are waterproof wipeable layers to the mattress to keep it clean and dry.

The cotbed itself can be wiped clean with a warm, damp cloth and no abrasive chemicals.

What’s in the box?

The cotbed frame comes in 2 boxes:

• The Masterbox containing the bulk of the cot. Snuzkot frame, screws, nuts, instruction manual
• The Stylepack – unique sides and base depending on which is your chosen design, screws and nuts.

Additional extras

• Snuzkot Pocket spring mattress (£129.95)
• Snuzkot Junior Bed Extension Kit (£79.95)
• Snuzkot Mattress Extension Piece (£49.95)
• Snuzkot Toddler rails (£49.95)

Do you have to buy lots of extras, or is everything you need included?

The price is for the cotbed Frame only. The mattress size required is a niche size. This means that you will inevitably have to purchase the Snuzkot mattress.

The Junior bed extension kit will again require a unique mattress size. With all of the additional extras, this bed will set you back around £700 if you want to use it for its full life span.

Is it good value for money for what it is?

Yes, and no. There is no doubt that it is a solid bed for your little one. The wood is of high quality and the design is beautiful.

However, the final touches have let it down and after only using the cotbed for one week (with the replacement cotbed and bars) there were already signs of wear and tear that you wouldn't expect for a product of that price.

The paint has cracked a little at the base of some of the vertical bars and I worry that when my little ones grow that the bars might again come loose. You could probably by some wood glue and stick them back in place though.

If you plan on using this bed from birth right up till aged 10 and don’t mind the visible holes and the mattress being in two parts, then yes, the snuzkot is good value for money.

Who would it be best for?

The Snuzkot is best for parents who want a Modern, stylish and compact cot bed for their little one(s), with the option of extending it to last them through to aged 10.

Madeformums verdict:

The Snuzkot is a beautifully designed and compact cotbed that has the potential to see your little one through from 0-10 years. However It’s not the easiest of cotbeds to assemble and is considering the price, is quite susceptible to wear and tear.

The option to convert the bed to a junior bed is a great idea, and saves you having to buy a whole new bed, however, the visible screw holes take away from the beautiful design that makes the cotbed so appealing.

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