I've got an Ikea cot which came to me with a mattress already slept on by 2 kids, though they are not very old.

Since this cot and mattress were made, Ikea have changed all their sizes and now don't do the old ones which fit my cot.

I've had a look about on the internet and can't find one that will fit my cot.

How important is the new mattress thing? Am I going to have to buy a new cot or get one specially made?

If anyone can point me in the right dorection, that would be super helpful.

Thanks!

I had a 2nd hand mattress (it was a water resistant one) and have just bought new bedding.

IMO a new baby equals a new mattress which is why we have 1 cot in the loft with 3 mattresses.

I could sell you my cot and then you could get a new mattress to fit as it is standard sie.

Lots of shops sell cots and mattresses and they are all varying prices. I would suggest you get the best mattress you can afford. That is more important than the cot frame imo.

very important !! i would not reuse a mattress used by 2 other children.

i had a mattress made by a local baby shop when i had DD, as my cot was a few years old and was discontinued, and the mattress size was not readily available.

it cost me £45 i think for a custom made mattress , so not more than a regular shop bought one

if it was a gd mattress to begin with i wld of thought it wouldnt matter? tho im not an expert

TBH not worth the risk!

Thanks everyone.

While I haven't been able to find a mattress in the right size, I have just found a site where you can get a made to measure mattress for cots in different thicknesses, and they seem pretty reasonably priced too.

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

no, there are risks in reusing cot matresses

IKEA cots are increadibly cheap, cheaper and less troublesome to get a new cot + mattress in IKEA, than getting a made to measure mattress

What are the risks in re-using a cot mattress?

I can get a made-to-measure one from this site for £20, so definitely cheaper than ditching my cot and getting a new one + mattress.

Thanks to everyone for letting me know, I had heard that you shouldn't reuse cot mattresses, but no one had said why.

My mum couldn't believe it. Six kids slept on the mattress she had for me!

it can increase the risk of cot death, especially if used by another family..

There is no evidence of anything associated to reusing one that I have seen More ways to get new mums to spend money I think!

The only thing you must get new is a car seat apparently.

I personally am using a second hand one from my cousin. It's clean and does not have any stains. Obviously, I wouldn't use a really old one with other kids "stuff" on it.

But why Lulumama? Am not being arsey, I just need to have a reason to understand why

I'd be interested to hear too. Obviously if there is a proven link then I'd buy new but the books I have read - Miriam Stoppard, Jo Frost etc have all said it is not necessary if pennies are tight.

Our baby crib's not a standard size and it's possible to get mattresses made to measure without them costing a fortune. We ordered recently from Baby Mattresses Online...they've not arrived yet but were very helpful when we phoned up with random questions! Might be worth a try?

there was a report produced where they linked reusing mattresses to cot death, a bigger study was then done which disproved the first and said there was no link - however few people seem to advertise/make known the findings of the 2nd report!!!

Personally provided it comes with a machine washable matress cover that then has a sealed unit underneath I'm happy to reuse.

That was the site I found! Thanks ... don't know how to link or else I'd have done it.

Personally it wasn't something we were prepared to risk and so all 3 children had new pram mattresses and cot ones.

From FSIDS

Thanks Hunker, although the site doesn't give reasons why.

I'm not exactly doubting what they are saying, but I would like to know the thinking behind it. If it mentioned a mattress that is from a smokers house, or an old mattress that doesn't comply with current safety standards then I could understand why ........ but they don't mention anything.

It looks like I will have to investigate further.

I think the foam stuff used in older matresses could disintergrate when very old and their was a risk of fumes (or suffocation if it was too sagy & soft) However modern mattresses are usually completely sealed so nothing could leak anyway.

Thanks too for the link. It's just the same as most books I have read - no real reason given.

Their site is written really badly. Look at this:

"Can my baby share my bed?
There are dangers in bedsharing. The safest place for your baby to sleep is in a cot in your bedroom for the first six months. There is a proven risk in bedsharing if you or your partner smoke (even if you never smoke in bed or at home), have been drinking alcohol, take drugs or medication that make you drowsy, or have had little sleep, or if your baby was born premature, was small at birth or is less than three months old. If your baby does come into your bed, use lightweight blankets and keep your baby’s head uncovered and remember that accidents can happen. Never sleep together with your baby on a sofa or armchair."

There are dangers... What dangers?

Remember accidents can happen... Er, yes, any fool knows that - wtf is the point of writing that?

I thought it was about the chemical fumes that could be given off when urine, sick, etc seeped into the mattress?

Dangers because you could smother your baby for one, but I am sure you knew that, Hunker, and are making a point about those that might not realise.

I remember reading about a mother who lost 2 babies very young when she fell asleep with them. Once on the sofa and once in the bed.

No, I meant that they said "there are dangers" then didn't tell you what they were - or only if you've been drinking, etc. Twattish writing, imo. Raises more questions than it answers!

How horrendous for the woman who lost two babies like that

I phoned FSID last year specifically to ask about the secondhand mattress thing and they were unable to give me any concrete research as to why it is bad. I was skeptical because DD was born in Australia where the official advice from the SIDS charity there is that secondhand mattresses are fine so long as they are clean and in good condition. (See here - follow link the the FAQ). Makes me wonder why the advice is so different between the two countries and makes me doubt the UK advice.

I'd be wary about a mattress I didn't know the history of though.

Are you supposed to get a new double bed matress for each new baby if you co-sleep then?

I read it was something to do with the fact you cannot clean a mattress in the same way you could clean sheets. Something to do with bacteria from the baby being sick or drooling on it - with second hand sheets you should boil wash but wouldnt be able to clean a mattress to the same standard.

Saying that what about mattresses that are plastic backed or sealed - I have no idea but am a worrier so would prefer to spend £60 on a new mattress than worry about just in case. I would be more likely to do so for a mattress from a different family - different people naturally have different germs and you may not know the history of the mattress in terms of cleanliness.

Last time I bought a new mattress (two years ago) but I thought it was to do with just being best for their back or something. If Ds wasnt still in his cot which is a cotbed anyway I am not sure whether I would have bought this baby a new mattress - but probably would have for safety reasons - or mummy worry anyway!

Broccolispears - I really like that co sleep question - has made me think as I never thought about that one

There is a lot of scare mongering about mattresses. They used to say buy a new mattress because the materials used in old ones were dodgy. Our NCT midwife told us that as long as the mattress was made less than 3 years ago it will be fine. It has nothing to do with other babies having used it.

Also re. the co-sleeping question... Babies that co-sleep are far less likely to die from SID syndrome as being close to your body prevents it.

I bought a brand new mattress for my moses basket 10 years ago and have used it for my 3 children to no ill affect.

Money is not an issue and I would have gladly bought a new one each time if I though necessary.

IMO, I though it better to use one I knew the history of and at least then the residual chemical fumes left as a by product of the manufacturing process would have probably worn off by number 3 . Even your sofas have toxic fumes you know.

If its something you are going to loose sleep over then best buy a new one.

I heard that you need a new mattress for each baby too.
I asked my midwife why that was when i was expecting ds2. she said theres no real evidence at all and its just scaremngering. As long as i had a good quality, clean mattress only used by ds1 then i didnt need to buy a new one, so i didnt!
I hate it when you are 'advised' to do something but absolutely no explanantion or evidence as to why is offered!

I went to Ikea today as we have same problem, old cot and need new matress for it. You can bring in your old cot and matress and they will give you a brand new cot when you buy a new matress for it! Just go to customer service and fill in a form. I was really pleasantly surprised by this.

I replaced our second hand mattress, but that's only because it stunk of smoke.

this baby will be using his/her older sister's cot mattress.

she barely used it and we're stony skint.

as it is, baby and i will be co-sleeping for the first few months and he/she will be next to me on the mattress.

I'm pretty underwhelmed with the quality of the information from FSIDS, tbh.

As so much of the SIDS information... it is vague, I read the site, it looks like they don't have much backup there. And as for whether new mattresses are cheap, it depends what mattress you buy. I think I would rather wash the cover and reuse my daughter's cot mattress she has had for last 18 months (bought new from M&P, top of range sleepfresh regulair sprung blah blah) and (touch wood) never been sick on than buy a new cheapo one just for the sake of it. Whereas crib/moses are cheapo foam ones anyway as that's all you can get so I might replace those. I do wonder if this makes me negligent/selfish as I could afford a new cot mattress - I just haven't really seen the evidence to back up the information.

DS2 is sleeping on the mattress DS1 slept on. It's the one with the zip-off cover from Mothercare - decent one.

Like you say, I don't see anything convincing in FSIDS guidance wrt new mattress for each baby - depends on the mattress though and age of baby - I bought new moses basket/crib mattresses because they were foam and cheap and the one DS1 had had seen various posseting incidents.

and also, what if you're co-sleeping? the baby will be sleeping on your own mattress full of dead skin cells and sweat.

EIS, didn't you read the very informative "there are dangers" and "accidents happen" information from FSIDS?

That tells you all you need to know, surely?! Load of crap, eh?

oh, yes, hunker. shame on me, wanting to sleep next to it so i won't have to heave my lazy arse out of bed several times a night to put it to the breast. because this time i'm cracking this feeding lying down shit if i have to lie topless in the hospital corridor waiting for someone to help me get it right .

oh, yes, hunker. shame on me, wanting to sleep next to it so i won't have to heave my lazy arse out of bed several times a night to put it to the breast. because this time i'm cracking this feeding lying down shit if i have to lie topless in the hospital corridor waiting for someone to help me get it right .

Having read the Sids leaflet, I asked a friend about this (very sensible HV who I go to for advice instead of my own HV).

She said using a mattress again was ok as long as the mattress was in good condition and had a cover you could take off and wash. The theoretical risk was from the mattress having less support for a newborn baby due to having had a much heavier baby sleeping in it. This may cause the mattress to dip when the baby lies on it.

We had a mattress that dd1 only used for 8 months and had no hesitation about using it for dd2. It does now dip when she lies in it but she is such a wriggler when sleeping she is all over the bed.

I made a post earlier in Chat about mattresses, I'm not sure what to get - a spring one or a foam one. The foam sounds horrible to me, I certainly wouldn't want to lie on one. Are there guidelines as to which is best?