Tips to Choosing the Right Mattress for your baby
Did you know that newborn babies sleep around 18 hours a day? As your baby gets older your little one will sleep longer during the night and stay awake longer during the day. Sleep plays an important role in your baby’s brain development. Your baby’s mattress is very important and choosing the right mattress for your baby will increase the chances of you both getting a good night’s sleep.
Here’s a guide of important requirements that you should follow when choosing the right mattress for your baby.
The Fit of the Mattress
Getting the right size of the mattress is important to reduce the risk of your little one getting hurt whilst inside the cot. There should be no more than 3cm gap around the edges and sides of the mattress to be able to tuck your little one comfortably with any bedding. Your cot and cot bed mattress needs to be at least 8 to 10 cm thick to support your baby’s back during sleep.
Features of the Mattresses
Your little one’s mattress has to be firm, flat and in a good condition with no signs of tears and rips. All our mattresses are breathable and have an air permeable mattress cover, which can be removed and washed easily. Having a breathable mattress allows air to circulate, transport moisture and stays dry. A breathable mattress also ensures that your baby’s temperature is well regulated. Anti-allergy covers are perfect for babies and children who may suffer from allergies as this prevents dust mites from sticking to the cover which may lead to the development of skin rashes from rubbing up against the mattress.
The Filling Material of the Mattresses
There are many different types of mattresses to choose from. Some customers prefer to choose a fibre or foam filled mattress while others prefer to opt for an innerspring or pocket spring mattress.
Foam & Fibre filled mattresses offer superior comfort. Foam is a soft material, which offers a great level of comfort to your little ones. This goes hand in hand with memory foam, also being a soft material, offering excellent cushioning and support at the same time. The memory foam will adapt to the shape of the baby’s body as they move around at night. This means that there are no pressure points from old or hard materials pressing down on them while they sleep. Foam mattresses have a longer lifespan than fibre filled mattresses and will not deform under pressure.
Spring & Pocket Sprung mattresses will always provide the appropriate amount of support as they offer a firm foundation for your baby's sleeping. An innerspring mattress offers general support all throughout the mattress with only minor sagging after long periods of use. Pocket spring mattresses have high-count springs which are very supportive. Being individually wrapped, these springs move independently of each other, meaning they only move where the baby moves for targeted neck and back support. These individual springs are then encased in a high grade of dent resistant foam ensuring superior comfort. Pocket spring mattresses also keep your baby from sinking down too low into the mattress and will last much longer when compared to fibre and foam mattresses.
3. Feature of the Mattresses:
Once you decide on the material of the mattress, you will need to choose the cover and properties of the mattress. Take a closer look at our selection of mattresses:
Click here to view our selection of cot and cot bed mattress
New vs Second Hand Mattresses:
Experts advise not to use a second hand mattress as by time it may have lost its firmness and became soft which increases the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). Old mattresses may also have dustmites which contain allergens that may result in asthma, eczema and may cause other allergic reactions to your baby’s skin.
Mattress Accessories – Bedding & Sheets
A handy feature in our mattresses is that they all have a removable and washable cover, so you can wash as necessary! A waterproof sheet will provide an additional protective layer to your child’s mattress and will prolong the lifespan of the mattress while protecting against nappy accidents and spillages. Our Baby Elegance Waterproof Sheets are made of soft cotton with a waterproof underlay coating and are also treated with an anti-dustmite coat to protect little ones against allergies.
The last things you need to dress your mattress with is a cozy quilted blanket, bumper and musical mobile to provide a soothing and comfortable sleep.
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