Best Camping Cots for Kids (2026)

How we picked

Three of these are cots sold for children; two are adult cots small enough, low enough or light enough that a child is the right occupant. Within that group the order follows our Built-to-Last Score, which weighs rated capacity, frame and deck fabric, the written warranty and listed replacement parts before comfort and weight. The bands are on our scoring methodology page. We have not slept on any of them; every figure links to its source.

One structural note about the scores on this page. Our fit-and-comfort band rewards an adult sleeping surface: 80 inches long, 30 inches wide, 15 inches off the ground. A cot built for a seven-year-old cannot earn those points and should not. So read the fit column on this page as “how adult is this cot,” not as “how good is it for a child,” and read the capacity, warranty and parts columns as the ranking.

Which cot fits which age

Age ranges here are the makers' own, where they publish one, because a cot's fit is about length and capacity rather than birthdays.

• Ages 2 to 5 (Regalo's stated range). A 46.5-inch deck 9.5 inches off the ground, rated to 75 lb. Low matters more than anything else at this age.
• Ages 7 to 12 (Disc-O-Bed's stated range). 62-inch decks rated to 200 lb each. The bunk configuration is the point: two children in one cot's footprint.
• Roughly 6 to early teens. The Kamp-Rite Kids Adventure Cot's 69-inch bed and 250 lb rating, or any of the adult cots below.
• Teens. Buy an adult cot. The ALPS Ready Lite and the Coleman Trailhead II are both rated to 300 lb and will still be in use at university.

The five, side by side

Why the Kid-O-Bunk is first

Because it is the only kids' cot we found that is built like the adult gear on this site. The decks are 600D polyester, water resistant and PU coated, on powder-coated anti-rust steel, rated to 200 lb each. Disc-O-Bed covers all materials and workmanship for five years, and its own shop sells a replacement Mat for Kid-O-Bunk along with stack adapter kits, rubber foot plugs and side organizers. Nothing else in the category comes close on any of those three lines.

It is also three products in one: a bunk (65 x 32.5 x 32 inches outer), a bench for daytime, or two separate 62 x 28-inch cots. For a family with two children and one tent, that is the whole problem solved.

The trades are weight and length. 36.5 lb for the pair means it stays in the car, and a 62-inch deck runs out before a tall twelve-year-old does. If you are near that point, buy an adult cot instead and skip a step; our cots for tall people page ranks by length.

The rest of the list

ALPS Mountaineering Ready Lite (#2). Not sold as a kids' cot, and the best answer for many families anyway: 5 lb, 78 x 28 inches, 6 inches off the ground, rated to 300 lb, with a lifetime warranty and a replacement bed fabric sold by ALPS. The low height means a child cannot fall far, and the weight means they can carry their own bed. The double-layer top also sleeves an air pad up to 2 inches thick, which stops the pad sliding off in the night.

Coleman Trailhead II (#3). The cheapest way to get a child off the ground on a cot they will not outgrow: 73 x 35 inches, 17 inches up, rated to 300 lb, for campers up to 6 foot 2. The warranty is one year and Coleman's own Consumer Care answers state the canvas is not sold separately, which is what keeps it third.

Kamp-Rite Kids Adventure Cot (#4). The one children ask for: a tri-fold cot with a zip-on tent over the bed, 24 inches of interior height, three zippered openings and a window. 69 x 27-inch bed, 250 lb rating, 8 lb, folds to 29 x 28 x 7 inches. Kamp-Rite publishes no fabric denier and no bed height for it, covers it for one year and lists no parts. Note also that the marketplace listing for this cot states a 60 x 23-inch bed and a 200 lb capacity, which contradicts Kamp-Rite's own page; we use the maker's figures and flag the disagreement.

Regalo My Cot (#5). The toddler answer, and the only cot here for a two-year-old: 46.5 x 24 inches, 9.5 inches off the ground, an all-metal frame, a washable waterproof nylon deck, rated for children up to 75 lb. The Deluxe version of the same cot includes an attachable sleeping bag. Its six-month warranty is the shortest term in our entire registry, and Regalo publishes no weight or packed size.

What didn't make the list

• Disc-O-Bed XL and 2XL adult bunks. Better cots in every respect, and Disc-O-Bed's instructions bar children under 6 from the top bed. They are ranked in our cots for two page.
• Toddler travel beds with inflatable rails. Useful indoors, but they are not cots: no published capacity, no frame, and nothing to keep a child off cold ground.
• Unbranded kids' cots. The same problem as unbranded kids' chairs: no maker page, no published capacity, no warranty. See our kids' camping chair rankings for how thin that market is.

How to choose a camping cot for a child

Buy for the length they will be, not the length they are

Children gain about 2 inches a year through primary school. A 46-inch toddler cot has a two or three-year life; a 62-inch youth cot takes them to roughly eleven; a 73 to 80-inch adult cot never needs replacing. The cheapest path is usually one youth cot, then an adult cot, or simply the adult cot from the start.

Low is safer than high

Deck heights on this page run from 6 inches (ALPS Ready Lite) to 28 inches (the Kid-O-Bunk's top deck). For a child who rolls, the floor-adjacent options are the ones that never cause a problem. If you use a bunk, put the younger child underneath and respect the maker's age floor.

Add a pad, for warmth rather than comfort

A child on a cot loses heat underneath exactly as an adult does, and complains about it less articulately. A cot pad with a published R-value fixes it; our cot pad rankings cover the options, and our cots with a mattress page covers the pairings.

Check whether the deck can be replaced

Children put holes in fabric. Disc-O-Bed sells the Kid-O-Bunk mat, ALPS sells the Ready Lite bed, TETON sells cot tops. Coleman, Kamp-Rite and Regalo sell nothing for these models. Our cot replacement parts guide is the full list.

Watch the pinch points at set-up

Cot frames are springs under tension. The last leg or end bar on any cot is the one that snaps into place with force: TETON builds a pivot-arm lever for exactly that reason. Set up and pack down the cot yourself rather than handing the job to a child.

A tent-cot is a want, not a need

The Kamp-Rite is genuinely popular with children, and it is one more thing to carry, pitch and dry out. If the tent is the appeal rather than the bed, a cheap pop-up tent next to a plain cot does the same job for less.