Rather than have their child sleep in a separate bed or cot, is not unusual for the parents of a small child to have their child sleep with them, as it is considered to be beneficial both to the early development of the child and to the parental relationship with it. It is often found in practice however, that problems occur due to the lack of bed space, the danger of the child falling from a raised bed, the child being smothered by the parents, or the general disturbance caused to the parents'sleep patterns.

To overcome these problems whilst providing a sleeping environment for the child that is in immediate proximity to his or her parents, in my British Patent no. 22664531 describe and claim a child's bed comprising a sleeping platform of adjustable height; and a wall or walls enclosing all but one side of the sleeping platform. This has become known as a'bed-side-bed'. Preferably, the sleeping platform is supported by a frame and mountings, or legs, that are adjustable to allow the platform height to be varied to match the mattress height of the parents'bed.

However, a perceived drawback to the prior design is that an open side leaves a space through which a baby or infant may crawl, which may be dangerous if the bed is left unattended with the baby or infant in it.

Nevertheless, my prior design has much to recommend it and a conventional cot with a drop-down side, while meeting the perceived drawback, does not fulfill the aims of my original invention as the drop-down side, even in its lowered position, provides a barrier between the child and parents and prevents access to the child directly from the side of the parents'bed. Furthermore, conventional cots do not provide for the sleeping platform to be adjustable in height. Thus, for a number of reasons, a conventional cot is prevented a from being used in the manner of my'bed-side-bed'.

According to the present invention there is provided a cot having side walls surrounding a sleeping platform which is adjustable in height, one of the

side walls being slidably movable between a first position in which it closes a first side of the cot and a second position in which it is removed from the first side to allow unrestricted access to the sleeping platform.

Preferably, the movable side wall can be slid to a second position on the opposite side of the cot to the first side. It may also be slid to a dropped-down position to provide ready access when being used as a conventional cot.

Advantageously, this is achieved by providing a slotted channel in each adjacent end wall of the cot, the channel extending along the upright edge of the end wall adjacent the first side, along the top edge of the end wall and along the upright edge of the end wall adjacent the opposite side, and a plurality of fittings located in and slidable along the slotted channels, and mounted on the movable side wall to attach the side wall to the end walls. The movable side wall can thus be lifted from its normal position closing the side of the cot, up and over the sleeping platform and into a position similar to its original position, but on the other side of the cot, leaving the first side open. A mattress on the sleeping platform can be slid across slightly to make space for the slidable side wall and also to abut the mattress of the parents'bed, occupying the space previously occupied by the slidable side wall.

In use in a conventional manner, the side wall may be lowered to the usual drop-down position.

The sleeping platform may be adjustable in height by providing telescopic legs or by providing adjustable mountings for the platform on the legs, or on the end or side walls of the cot and/or on the sleeping platform. The slidably movable side wall may be latched in its various positions for safety.

Additionally, the cot may be provided with an adjustable link or similar to secure it to the parents'bed in fixed position.

Preferably, the cot is supported by lockable wheels, castors, or the like, so that the cot can be moved and fixed into position with the minimum of effort.

An example of a cot according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of the cot adjusted so that the sleeping platform is in an upper position; Fig. 2 is an isometric view of the cot with a side wall! adjusted to a dropped-down position; Fig. 3 is an isometric view showing the side wall in an intermediate position; Fig. 4 is an isometric view showing the side wall in a second position on the side opposite the first; and, Fig. 5 is a partial view showing the connection between the movable side wall and the end walls.

With reference to Figs. 1 to 4, the cot has a sleeping platform 1, rectangular in shape, and enclose by walls 2A-D. The platform 1 supports a mattress 3 or the like to provide a comfortable sleeping surface for the child.

On the upright and top edges of each of the two end walls 2B adjacent to the side walls 2A, 2C, there are provided slotted channels 5, into which are located fittings 6 (see Fig. 5) which are attached to the side wall 2A adjacent its top and bottom edges.

The height of the platform 1 can be adjusted so that, when a mattress 3 is placed on it, the height of the mattress is equal to that of the parents'bed 4 (see Fig. 4), and the platform 1 is then fixed in position by inserting threaded bolts (not shown) through holes 7 provided (as seen in Figs. 1 to 4) through the lower halves of the end walls 2B. The bolts are then tightened by being screwed into engagement with wing nuts or the like. As described in my earlier patent, by having a plurality of holes in both the sleeping platform 1 and the walls 2B, with the spacing between the holes in the sleeping platform 1 being smaller than that between the holes in the end walls 2B, not only can a large number of platform heights be selected, but also fine adjustment of the platform height is possible.

In an alternative construction (not shown) the holes 7 may extend, from the inner side of the end walls 2B, only partly through the end wall and may contain threaded metal inserts into which bolts may be threaded from the inside

of the cot to fix the mattress in position. This improves the external appearance of the cot ends.

The cot may be supported by castors (not shown) on each corner, so that the cot may be easily positioned. Once the cot is in position, the castors can be locked so as to prevent the cot being pushed or knocked away from the side of the parents'bed 4.

As can be seen from the figures, the cot can be converted from operation as a conventional child's cot, ie. location of the side wall 2A in the positions shown in Figs. 1 & 2, to a bed-side-bed as shown in Fig. 4, after releasing the fastening assembly 8 which may be foot operated, by the relatively simple sliding movement of the side wall 2A guided by the sliding of the fittings 6 along the slotted channels 5, through the position shown in Fig. 3 and by edging the cot mattress 3 towards the open side both to allow the side wall 2A to be located on the opposite side and to enable the mattress to abut the parents' bed 4.

The fastening assembly also allows the side wall 2A to be lowered into the position shown in figure 2 and, when the side wall 2A is in the position shown in figure 1, latches the side wall 2A to prevent both upwards and downwards movement of the side wall.

In an alternative construction (not shown) the top end 2B of the side walls is curved more arcuately. This may improve the sliding'up-and-over' action when the side 2A is moved.