The Complete Guide to Cot Beds and Cot Bed Mattresses

Decisions, decisions - where do I sleep my baby? Moses basket, crib, next-to-me crib, cot, or cot bed?

There's lots for new parents to think about. You'll be offered advice from all sorts of friends and family, midwives, and even more from the internet and AI!

All of these options have more positives than negatives, and the biggest factor is that your decision may be affected by your lifestyle and your purse. Let's investigate cot beds.

What is a Cot Bed?

Your child can go from newborn up to 6 years in a cot bed - I've known children in this size bed up to ten years old!

The cot bed starts off as a cot, and then you make the decision to turn it into a junior bed. Great fun! There's no exact time - probably from 18 months to 3 years.

"FREEDOM!" - then you have the fun of getting them to stay in the bed!

It's a different experience if you're transferring your baby from a crib to a cot bed versus going straight to a cot bed.

Choosing Your Mattress

There are lots of options here, and again your decision is influenced by the price. Is it for one child, or do you want to use it for two or three?

Whatever you choose, think about firmness, support, waterproof protection, hygiene, and most of all durability. If you want this mattress to last, think about the manufacturer's guarantee.

Mattress Core Options

Fibre

This is the new kid on the block. Fibre has had a massive influence on baby mattresses because it's so very cheap.

The plus points of fibre: it's made from recycled plastic bottles, it's cooler than foam, and slightly more breathable. That's where the advantages stop!

Fibre is not as robust as foam and not as supportive or durable. It will dip and dent after a few months unless you're turning it very often - say a couple of times a week.

Press down firmly on a fibre mattress and it will leave a handprint. Do the same with good-quality foam and it will recover.

A fibre mattress is an OK buy for grandparents if their grandchild is only visiting a few times a year. If you're buying a fibre mattress for 24/7 use, you need to turn it often - at least twice a week.

Cheap fibre mattresses will only attract cheap covers. These mattresses are made to meet an attractive price point and will NOT have any waterproof protection. The marketing blurb may say "water resistant" - this is NOT the same as "waterproof".

If you buy a fibre mattress for a cot bed, you'll need to replace it two or three times, and it won't take the punishment of a toddler treating it like a trampoline!

Foam

Good-quality foam offers more comfort, support, and durability.

There are many different qualities of foam, and as you can imagine, the better the quality, the higher the price. Very few retailers will proudly disclose the quality of the foam they're using.

Foam is measured in two basic ways:

1. Density: The weight per cubic metre in kilograms. Basically, 20kg will be poor and 33kg will be very good.
2. Hardness: The amount of weight in Newtons it takes to squash 10cm depth of foam to 4cm depth. Poor foam quality will squash with 120 Newtons; good foam quality will need 130 Newtons or more.

Put that together: 120/20 will be poor foam, and 130/33 will be good-quality foam. You're now a foam expert!

Most companies advertise their product as "Nursery Foam", so you have no idea of the quality you're buying. You may come across the odd company that's proud to tell you their foam specifications - we've made mattresses with foam 215/50 that would last 10 years!

Foam with Springs

This is becoming the better norm for quality cot mattresses. Please avoid old-fashioned Bonnell springs and go with pocket springs. The pocket springs you want are ones joined on length AND width, not just length - but you can't see this. Ones joined on length only are a little cheaper but nowhere near as supportive.

The British Standard for a pocket sprung mattress is 10cm deep; the springs are 6cm deep. Therefore you have 2cm depth of foam either side to cover the pocket springs - that's all! If the quality of foam is poor, the foam will dip or dent in less than a year.

Foam as a product does not like HEAT, WEIGHT, and DAMP - that's exactly what a baby is! Poor-quality foam will sink and dip, give reduced support, and have a shorter lifespan.

Check out the quality of foam used, or look for a guarantee - then you can be confident your mattress will last at least three years.

Coir and Wool

If a company is manufacturing this product, price is not at the forefront of their mind. Their focus is on quality, comfort, safety, and durability. This natural mattress will have a firm, quality base with quality wool either side, held in with stockinette, then waterproof protection and a quality machine-washable cover.

Perhaps an opportunity to buy a spare cover for when the nappy fails at the normal inconvenient time!

Look out for Outlux or Moulton fabric for a natural mattress. This cover is two layers of cotton with PU sandwiched in the middle, guaranteeing waterproof protection.

Mattress Covers

First, look for waterproof protection in the mattress design. If it's not there, you'll need to buy a waterproof protective cover.

Think about putting the waterproof protection under the cover and over the mattress base - then you get the breathability of the cover. If the cover gets wet, for one night you can just put a sheet over the waterproof cover until you wash the mattress cover.

Look for a mattress with a welcoming cover like padded microfibre, CoolMax backed with a spacer fabric, or bamboo.