UKC

Hi, our first baby is due any day now. We're looking at travel costs and were wondering if anyone has the Little life Arc 2. We'll be using it for camping, days out and generally around the house.

Are they any good?

Cheers

Simon

In reply to simon1985:
We have been using one for a while. It seems pretty good in general. Certainly a lot lighter and more portable than any of the others we looked at.

We have managed to damage one pole section in the last year of use but that was down to the usual metal fatigue at the ends rather than anything our daughter did to it. They are fairly standard tent poles so fixing it wasn't an issue.

The only tricky bits I have found are putting the fitted sheets on (they are a bit tight) and putting it up in a confined space. I can now assemble it inside my tent but it took a bit of practice and a bigger tent.

In reply to davidbeynon:

That's great thanks.

In reply to simon1985:

Yeah we've got one and our little lad is 2 now. He still loves it and therefore travelling is easy, he'll sleep anywhere if he's in it.

Very portable.. one of the pole tabs broke after X years (we bought it second hand on here) but easy to sew back on. Poles have been fine.

Highly recommended.

In reply to simon1985:

Our kids never slept well in ours, so good to see other kids do...

In reply to Dave B:

That's kids and parenting!

best advice I ever heard..

'just because mine did doesn't mean yours will!'

Hth

In reply to simon1985:

We looked at the Little Life ones, but went for a more pop-up style one; the (poorly named) NSAuk Deluxe Travel Cot - https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Cots-Nursery-Beds/NSAuk-Deluxe-Travel-Centre-Cot...

Doesn't pack as compact as the LL, but is very thin when down, so easily sits inside a suitacase (but not inside a rucksack). Works well as a day-shelter too and the SIM is apparently very comfy.
Had our daughter in it from 5-months, she's now 2-and-a-bit and is happy in it, take it camping, on holiday and to friends when crashing over.

Only two complaints are it's side-entry, which can be hard to put a sleeping bubs into (as opposed to the LL which has top-entry), and the zip is quite loud if you're zipping them in. We don't tend to zip her in unless there's mosquitoes, but ours is a heavy sleeper anyway so the zip doesn't really wake her up.

In reply to simon1985:

We've used one a lot. Sometimes we swap the bulky padded mattress for a short ultralight thermarest and make it even more packable.

We used it for daytime naps with a blackout cloth over it too.

Our kids both go down without hassle, I can see it being more difficult if you've got a kid who likes to climb out of things and bulldoze around. A cot with more solid sides could work better then.

In reply to simon1985:

Congratulations.

We had both the Arc 2 and a Phil & Ted Traveller (I think it is) - mainly because I was idly bidding on eBay and won both.

Used both indoors, in the garden and in a tent with varying degrees of success, depending on mood of little one.

The Arc 2 is smaller and lighter, but consequently less sturdy than the P&T - agree with the comment about tricky to get the poles in in a confined space. Bought it with a view to travelling, as can be easily packed in a holdall - particularly small if you leave the mattress behind and use whatever else you have available underneath it, or just stick it on the sand at the beach - you can get a sunshade for them.

Original owner had lost the mattress for the P&T one, so bought a Vango Trek short self-inflating mat as a replacement. The zip on the top can be a bit temperamental. Looks like they've moved on a couple of versions from the one we've got.

With any of them, just be careful with the feet/pole ends on your tent groundsheet/camping mats/etc.

Youngest is now 14 months and when we went camping last bank holiday, we didn't bother with the cots and just put her on a camping mattress - slept fine.

In reply to simon1985:

We found that sort of thing fine for a while but no good once they were able to move/crawl enough. It's also quite tricky to gently lay down a sleeping baby into this sort of thing at ground level.

So we always moved onto the more usual type of travel cot (like the link). Very widely available, heavier and bulkier though. Someone might have one to offload to you for free because those things are everywhere and I reckon most parents use one at some stage.

http://www.argos.co.uk/product/9104079