Household Baby Cots

Poorly designed household baby cots can pose a health risk to young children.

The Product Safety Standards (Household Cots) Regulations set out requirements and tests for the materials, design, construction, performance and labelling of household cots. These requirements are based on the ‘Standard AS/NZS 2172:2003 Cots for household use - Safety requirements’.

The Commerce Commission has provided a summary of the requirements that must be met before a cot may be sold. Here are the key points:

• Space between bars to be between 50-95mm
• No protrusions measuring more than 5mm that a child could fall or snag clothing on (e.g. nuts and corner posts)
• Minimum depth of 600mm from the mattress base to the lowest point on any side or end
• No horizontal or diagonal bars or other fixtures that would allow a child to climb over the sides
• Space between the cot ends and sides and mattress sides of no more than 20mm when the mattress is centred
• Permanent warning and information label on mattress base.

Application

The Product Safety Standard applies to new and used cots, regardless of whether they are being offered for sale by a private individual or a professional trader. 

There are a handful of exceptions set out in the regulations as follows: 

• folding cots
• carry cots
• cradles
• bassinets
• antique or collectible cots, as long as they carry a warning label which is easy to read and displayed on the cot where it can easily be seen
• cots specifically designed for day care centres, e.g. space-saver and hospital cots.

Note that an antique cot is more than 100 years old, and a collectible cot is less than 100 years old. These are not intended for children or infants to sleep in. They must only be listed in the antiques & collectables category and must include this phrase in the listing: “WARNING: THIS COT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR USE AS A SLEEPING FACILITY FOR INFANTS OR CHILDREN”.

More information

The Commerce Commission has a full guide which is recommended reading. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs also offers advice on how to use a cot safely.