Hi,
From my own experience it's a good idea to encourage your LO to play a little in the cot as well as sleep there. Not for long periods of times, but just so that they are comfortable and happy in there. DS is 16 months now, and doesn't really play in there any more, but I used to play games with him in there, or sit him there with his toys for short periods of time. The result has been that he's is happy to be in his cot. With a busy schedule and returning to work it's been a god-send that our DS just chatters / sings etc until I go in and get him in the mornings. Like you say, it gives you a few minutes to grab a shower or do something while they are somewhere out of harm's way. We also found that it also helped our DS with self soothing / resettling when he woke up at night in the early months. He would coo and play and then fall back asleep rather than scream the house down.
You hear stories about kids that literally buck-aroo and scream when their parents walk them
past 
the cot, let alone put them in it, so it makes sense for her to associate it with being a happy, secure place to be, rather than somewhere she just goes to sleep. So I'd say you're totally on the right track.
Rachel. x
