Mattress for a two year old child

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

First of all I want to thank you for providing so much helpful information. I read your mattress industry guide and purchased a mattress about 4 years ago that has been amazing!

I was hoping to ask some advice about a children’s mattress. I have a 2 year old child that keeps jumping out of his cot. We are looking into purchasing a mattress to keep on the floor for for now so he doesn’t hurt himself.

Given his light and this probably won’t be a long term thing I’m thinking of purchasing a cheaper mattress from somewhere like ebay for now - then updating in 4-5 years time.

I have found the following: ebay.com.au/itm/KING-SINGLE-NATURAL-LATEX-PILLOW-TOP-POCKET-SPRING-28cm-THICK-MATTRESS-LPT-KS-/191936641870?hash=item2cb050bb4e:g:uiIAAOSwARZXoGyL.
ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: ebay.com.au/itm/KING-SINGLE-NATURAL-LATEX-PILLOW-TOP-POCKET-SPRING-28cm-THICK-MATTRESS-LPT-KS-/191936641870?hash=item2cb050bb4e:g:uiIAAOSwARZXoGyL.

This seems like a standard pocket spring mattress with latex pillow top. However it doesn’t stipulate what type of latex is on the pillow top and I’m a bit sceptical as I called the place and the staff don’t know if it’s dunlop or telalay either. It’s also one of those pre packaged mattresses to, not sure if that’s a problem though.

Given this will be my sons first mattress and he’s only 2 years old, do you think there’s something in particular I should be mindful of in the purchase process?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards,
Winston

2

Hi Winston P,

There is more information in post #2 here and the topics it links to about mattresses and children and “safe” materials including a link to some additional comments and some general firmness guidelines for children in post #2 here.

It also includes a number of links to the better forum posts and topics about mattress and children as well and while most of the mattresses they mention wouldn’t be available in Australia … they will give you some good reference points about different types of mattresses that would be suitable for a young child.

For younger children any mattress that uses materials that are “durable enough” that you would also consider to be “safe enough” and are in a medium to medium firm range would generally be a suitable choice for a child. The choice between different mattresses that meet these criteria would really be more of a budget and preference choice than a “better/worse” choice.

[quote]I have found the following: www.ebay.com.au/itm/KING-SINGLE-NATURAL-…e:g:uiIAAOSwARZXoGyL.

This seems like a standard pocket spring mattress with latex pillow top. However it doesn’t stipulate what type of latex is on the pillow top and I’m a bit sceptical as I called the place and the staff don’t know if it’s dunlop or telalay either. It’s also one of those pre packaged mattresses to, not sure if that’s a problem though.[/quote]

I would be very cautious about any mattress that is being sold on ebay because there are some very unreliable suppliers that sell there and there is a higher risk of buying a used mattress or a comfort return or a warranty return.

I would also want to know the name of the manufacturer that makes the mattress and confirm with the manufacturer that they are an authorized dealer for that manufacturer.

There will be little value with a return policy or a warranty because returning the mattress after it has decompressed would probably cost more than the cost of the mattress.

I would also avoid any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the information you need about every layer and component in the mattress (see this article) to make sure there are no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that would be a reason to avoid it (and in a mattress in this budget range there probably is).

While it’s not always the case … most pillowtops are in a softer range and would be too soft for a child. I would keep in mind that a mattress that would be “comfortable” for most adults would likely be too soft to be suitable for a child. You can also add a softer topper to any firmer childrens’ mattress when they get older and develop more adult proportions if and when they need a softer top layer in their “sleeping system”.

Overall … if I was in your shoes I would need a lot more information about the mattress, the manufacturer, and the vendor before I would consider buying it.

Phoenix

3

Thank you for the advice. I’ll have to attend some local outlets and see if I can get further information then take it from there.

Kind regards,
Winston