Little Life Arc 2 Travel Cot Review

Charlotte Clarke and her 19-month-old daughter Adelaide tested the Little Life Arc 2 to see how this enclosed travel cot fared against the competition.

This travel cot hasn’t been designed for a weekend at grandma’s; it’s not particularly easy to put up and it has to be attached to a piece of suitable furniture if you’re indoors. What it has been designed for is off-the-beaten track travel, for being packed up and moved around and for use in hot, humid countries with night-time mosquitoes. In our travel cots buying guide, this was our best buy for camping or taking to festivals. ‘It’s difficult to compare this to other travel cots because it has really been designed for adventurous travel,’ said our tester Charlotte. ‘I’m not sure we really put it through its paces assembling it in a bedroom in Kent.’

As the name suggests, this travel cot has an arc-shaped dome over an enclosed and padded foam mattress (which is removable and washable). The sides are made of an anti-insect mesh and can easily be unzipped to get your little one out. It’s more of a tent than a travel cot and comes with pegs so you can secure it to the ground if you’re using it outside.

VIEW AT LITTLE LIFE | £114.99

Weighs: 2.5kg | Age Range: From birth to 3 years

Design

This travel cot really is meant for travel, and it comes in a lightweight, portable rucksack. ‘When it arrived, I couldn’t believe it was the travel cot – it didn’t feel heavy enough,’ said out tester Charlotte. It has been designed to look more like a miniature tent than a traditional travel cot and is put together with poles fed through an oversheet. ‘I was glad I’d been in the girl guides because it did feel a bit like putting up a tent,’ said Charlotte. ‘Unfortunately, the instructions I had didn’t quite match the product as they’ve updated the colours but, once I’d figured it out, while a little fiddly, it wasn’t too difficult.’

Once the main section of the cot is in place, a padded mattress is inserted on Velcro strips. ‘I like that this came with its own mattress cover and the mattress itself felt thick and comfortable,’ adds Charlotte.

Comfort and features

The Little Life Arc 2 is a completely enclosed travel cot, designed to keep mosquitoes and creepy crawlies away from your baby if you are travelling in hot countries. ‘The zippable mesh sides allowed my daughter to look out and would also help with air flow, especially in a hotter country,’ said our tester. As it was January, the travel cot was tested indoors so, as per the instructions, it had to be attached to an immobile object using furniture loops on the straps. ‘I found it quite tricky finding something suitable that I could attach it to,’ said Charlotte. ‘But if you were camping, the cot comes with tent pegs that you can secure into the ground.’

‘I have to admit I never thought my 19-month-old would sleep in here,’ said Charlotte. ‘But when I put her down for a nap, after a little bit of pushing on the fabric sides, she settled down in her sleeping bag.’

Value for money 

This is a unique product that satisfies a real niche in the travel cot market. While most people have a travel cot, the Little Life Arc 2 is made for those parents who love adventurous travel and thus need to constantly be carrying a cot around with them.

At £114.99, it’s mid-range compared to others in our buyers guide. ‘I think the price is very competitive for such an innovative design,’ said Charlotte. ‘But you’d probably need to buy the Little Life Arc in addition to a classic travel cot rather than instead of one.’ She would recommend this travel cot to globe-trotting parents and festival-goers who want a lightweight travel cot that helps their little ones feel secure and sleep well, especially in hot, humid countries with night-time insects.

You might also like to read our Joie Kubbie Sleep Travel Cot review – it’s our pick of the best travel cot overall, according to our parent reviews. And don’t forget to check out the rest of our baby product reviews.