Making the shift from a crib to a bed is a big transition for any toddler and her parents. Once deciding your toddler is ready for this change, there are a few different mattress options to consider. There is no one mattress firmness that is best for a toddler. Each available option varies in firmness but is still a safe and comfortable option for your child. What you choose may depend on your child’s attitude towards change, available space and expense. There are generally two types of crib mattresses, foam and innerspring, each of which are suitable for both infants and toddlers, says Consumer Reports. Both are very firm, which is important as it prevents infants from sinking into them. Many parents choose to simply use their crib mattress on a toddler bed until their child is 2 to 3 years old and ready to move into a larger bed, as toddlers still find this firmness to be comfortable. A toddler bed looks like a regular bed except it is lower to the ground and comes with side rails.
Most crib mattresses fit toddler beds. Some cribs come with the option of purchasing a convertible mattress. These mattresses are extra firm for infants on one side, and softer on the other. According to Consumer Reports, the softer side for toddlers is made of standard foam or springy, viscoelastic memory foam. Convertible mattresses can be used either with a crib that converts into a toddler bed, or with a regular toddler bed. They are generally more expensive than regular crib mattresses. Some parents choose to simply buy their child a twin bed that he can grow into, putting rails on the side if necessary. When purchasing a regular mattress, look for a softer mattress with innersprings. Softer mattresses will conform to a toddler's body, which is much lighter than an adult's. What Ages Are Toddler Beds Designed For? How to Turn Crib Into Toddler Bed How to Convert a Crib Into a Full Size Bed Safety of Crib Netting Is a Toddler Bed or Twin Bed Better for a 2-Year-Old?
Pillow Safety for Toddlers How to Keep Toddlers from Running Away When in Public The Best Mattress for Large Heavy Side Sleepers Signs of a High IQ in Toddlers Tips for Keeping an 18-Month-Old in a Toddler Bed How to Stop a Toddler From Falling Out of Bed What Should a One Year Old Eat? The Effects of Chocolate on Toddlers How to Get a 14-Month-Old Toddler to Sleep at Night Shortness of Breath in Toddlers How to Clean a Crib MattressFinding the best mattress for your child can be hard work. won’t make specific recommendations. There are, however, recommendations on ways to narrow your search to find the best mattress for your child. One of the easiest ways to begin is to decide what size mattress you should get for your child. Since children start out small, many parents opt for a twin mattress. However, that may not be the best choice. suggests that if space allows, consider a full-size mattress to make storytime and cuddling in bed with your child a bit more comfortable.
If your child’s room doubles as a guest room, that’s another reason to think about getting a larger mattress. You also have some choices to make about box springs since they come in different heights. suggests you consider a low profile or bunkie board to keep the overall height of the bed a bit lower. Also keep in mind that your new mattress may last 10 years. Think about what will be best for your child in the future. reports that traditional innerspring mattresses are by far the most popular, and it calls them the “best mattress for most.” notes that mattress owners generally rate memory foam, air, water and latex mattresses higher than innersprings in comfort, durability and longevity. reports about 20 percent of owners of memory foam mattresses complain about the hardness of their beds and some report an unpleasant odor when the mattress is new. It notes that latex mattresses tend to be springier and durable, but they can be expensive. notes that children of all ages need a mattress that provides comfort and adequate support system.
If your children are older, it recommends getting them involved in the buying process. The Better Sleep Council suggests using the acronym SLEEP when trying out a mattress: "Select a mattress; Lie down in your sleep position; Evaluate the level of comfort and support; Educate yourself about each selection; Partners should try each mattress together." notes that hand-me-downs clothes may be cool, but hand-me-down mattresses aren’t such a good idea. If a mattress isn’t good enough for you anymore, it’s not going to provide enough support for your growing child either. If you’re buying an infant mattress, make sure it’s firm. Infants should sleep on firm mattresses to reduce the risk of SIDS. How to Clean a Crib Mattress Exercise Ball Work for Lower Back Pain How Old Should a Baby Be Before Using a Pillow? Is Flame-Resistant Clothing Safe for Children? Exercise for Upper Back Pain Is it Safe to Reuse a Crib Mattress?The last time I bought a mattress for myself was about 11 years ago.
I bought a fairly new full-sized one off a coworker. Four moves and a decade later, we’ve decided it’s time to replace it with an adult (and sometimes an extra toddler)-sized bed. When we started looking, I was shocked at the prices. $3000 for a mattress? What the heck are these things made of? Knowing very little, we went shopping for a mattress and other things on a Saturday morning. The first place, we stopped, Sleepy’s, seemed nice enough. We laid on a few and honed in on the one that we both felt most comfortable in. Meanwhile, Audrey discovered the fun of letting herself fall backwards onto mattresses and did it all over the store. She was giggling and the whole store couldn’t help but look and smile at her. Unfortunately, we soon stopped smiling. When we found something we liked, the seemingly helpful salesman started to get more aggressive. He asked how much we were looking at paying and I made up a number on the spot, something way below the listed price on the bed.
The said he would “talk with his manager” and see if he could get us that price. Then he started asking us if we could commit and have it delivered tomorrow. Anne had walked outside to give Audrey a break by that point, so I said I had to go out and talk with her about it. We talked about it for a bit, then decided we didn’t like the high-pressure sales pitch, so we got ready to leave. I had the car started up when the salesman came out and approached the car window. He then said that he had “talked to his manager” and he could give us the price we wanted AND a free “platinum package”. I said we would talk about it and let him know. We again decided this was sketchy, but to make good on my promise, I went in and gave him my phone number and left. Later that day we went to Jordan’s Furniture, generally known to be a reputable place with reasonable places. The salespeople there were nice and NOT high-pressure. Prices were generally lower, but strangely, we couldn’t find the mattress we found at Sleepy’s.
They had Sertas, but not the one we liked. Being indecisive, we left with a couple new names of ones we liked. Later, we went to Mattress Discounters. The woman there was not pushy and told us about the BBB complaints that Sleepy’s (a 700-store chain) had gotten. We decided to think some more and head home. At home, I did some research online and I found something strange – I couldn’t find much of anything on the mattresses we saw that we liked. I found some mattresses, many of the same brand, but not the same models. I later came to find out that this was completely intentional. The mattress industry is one big scam. There is no way to make an objective decision on a mattress using actual facts. Here’s a few things that the mattress industry does to get you: 1. They mark up their prices 100% to 200%!! No wonder the first guy was able to get his “manager” to give me such a steep discount. They were probably still going to make hundreds of dollars of profits on it.
2. They give the same mattresses different names in different stores or they set up exclusivity agreements by mattress line in certain stores. This makes it impossible to comparison shop because… 3. They make it really had to get actual facts about the mattresses. Stuff like coil counts, materials, overall construction are shrouded in secrecy. But that doesn’t really matter because… 4. There’s no objective measure of mattress quality. Consumer Reports won’t rate them because they can’t get the data and there’s no testing that actually says higher coil counts are better or the number of wires in the coils makes a difference in any way. You’re left to deciding how much you believe the marketing. Is a pillow top made of alpaca hair any better than one made of cotton? Your guess is as good as mine. 5. There’s very little online reviews of mattresses, probably because the model names are so fractured. The ones I did find looked more like content-free sites designed to attract referral credits.
With some more research, I found out that it was somewhat possible to compare mattresses models from different places. It turns out that they really only make one hardness variation in each line. So you can assume that a Plush Firm mattress in the “Classic” line, is the same as another Plush Firm in the Classic line, even if they have different names. was very helpful in figuring this out. We were able to understand which mattresses we saw and how they related to each other. For example, the mattress we liked at Jordan’s was a product line better than the one we saw at Mattress Discounters, even though they came out to the same price! Clearly Jordan’s had the better deal, but US-Mattress had an even better deal. So I did something I never thought I could do, buy a mattress over the internet. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one we saw in the store and the free delivery and frame were a good deal. I’m sure that even if I’m getting it at half the price I saw it listed at elsewhere, they’re still making a decent profit on it.