Hi fuzzysig,
There is more information about the 3 most important parts of “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well you will sleep), durability (how long you will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on suitability, durability, and all the other parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you (including the price of course and the options you have available after a purchase if your choice doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for).
Outside of PPP … the most important part of the value of a mattress purchase is durability which is all about how long you will sleep well on a mattress. This is the part of your research that you can’t “feel” and assessing the durability and useful life of a mattress depends on knowing the type and quality of all the materials inside it regardless of the name of the manufacturer on the label so I would always make sure that you are able to find out the information listed here so you can compare the materials and components in a mattress to the quality/durability guidelines here so you can confirm that there are no lower quality materials or obvious weak links in a mattress that would compromise the durability and useful life of a mattress before making any purchase.
Unfortunately their website doesn’t provide any information about the density of the foam layers in the mattress you purchased and without this information it’s not possible to make any meaningful comments about the durability of the materials or the mattress as a whole or identify any possible weak links in the mattress. If you can find out the foam densities from the retailer you purchased from or from Glideaway itself and post the information on the forum I’d certainly be happy to make some comments about the quality and durability of the materials and let you know if it includes any lower quality materials that would be a cause for concern.
Post #2 here and the topics it links to have more information about mattresses and children and “safe” materials including a link to some general 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 which have more information about many good options for children which are worth considering (although it may be too late now that you have already purchased your mattress).
The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOC’s (see post #2 here for more information about some of the more reliable “safety” certifications) and if the materials in a mattress have a reliable “safety” certification then for most people they would be “safe enough”.
While I don’t know the quality/density of the foam layers in your Glideaway mattress, at least they are CertiPur certified so for most people they would be “safe enough” although I would tend to avoid memory foam mattresses for children (partly because of potential sensitivity issues and partly because it can be too soft for children).
There are certainly many great options for children that are significantly less than the $1500 budget range you mentioned.
Phoenix