Do your dc sleep on roll mats?

[Moredofbumsnet]

I gave up on my 'karrimat' at the age of 35 and now me and DH have an airbed. The main reason I want the dc on roll mats is I can cut the mats to size and fit them in our only just big enough tent. Will they fuss all night or are roll mats a perfectly reasonable thing to sleep on when you're young?

[Theas18]

My kids always have, all be it the "self inflating sleeping mat" type rather than just foam.

Watch that you have a good insulating layer under them for thermal insulation as well as comfort. Small kids sleep fine on hard surfaces I find!

[Moredofbumsnet]

It's the plain foam mats I'm thinking of, I'd like to get everyone on SIMS but I can't optimise the sleeping space as Sims can't be trimmed!
I don't know why I'm worrying about it, more worried about them waking me up than their comfort!

[Blu]

They'll be fine.
As long as they are actual good foam mats and not wafer thin yoga mats and the like.

[OldBeanbagz]

My DC have these compact mats which although they're self inflating aren't as big as a full size mat.

[Blu]

We have a Dinosaur version of this child size flowery one.

But DS used to sleep on a foam mat, we all used to sleep on Karrimat's in our teens and twenties, all the kids I know are fine on them, and they are much cheaper.

[DewDr0p]

Our dcs sleep on self inflating mats and are fine apart from dc2 who is a bit princess and the pea - am seriously thinking he might need an inflatable mattress this year. Will the other two be talking about me to their therapist in years to come?

[Moredofbumsnet]

Thanks blu and oldbeanbagz, I've looked at both those, the space I have for the 3 dc is 150 x 200 cm so I was hoping to get one SIM that size and put all 3 on the same mat the wrong way round. But Sims don't come that wide so I'm going for 3 cut down foam mats as that is the only option other than them sleeping the right way round and 'wasting' a lot of space at the end of their mats.

[Blu]

Would they all fit sideways on a double SIM? with some of it overlapping with your mats?

But I am sure they will be OK on foam mats anyway, and cutting them to fit seems a good idea! You can use the offcuts as pads to sit on when picnicking, or kneelers for gardening.

[Moredofbumsnet]

Thanks blu. DC1 is 130cm tall so I was hoping for a 140cm wide double mat but can't find one, I found 130cm wide, 2 of those would fit our 290cm wide tent with 30cm to spare or i could get a 130,110,50 combo. But the foam mats are probably fine, I just feel guilty about not sleeping on one myself.... Getting quite excited about the offcuts already..maybe I will use them to block print the tent inner with pretty stars.

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Just a thought, but a king-size airbed would be 150cm by 200cm I think. Could you put the DC on one of those? They are cheaply available on the internet (though you have to be careful about dimensions as they are Queen size in US-speak) and I think even Argos sell them.

I know a lot of people consider airbeds the devil's work, but I see from your OP that you and DH use them?

[MummyPigsFatTummy]

Interestingly, I was talking to a contemporary recently (early 40s) who used to be a scout and was reminiscing about scout camps in Icelandic tents without groundsheets. They used to bring individual groundsheets and a sleeping bag and sleep on those. They didn't have roll mats (and, oh God, imagine the bugs)!

Any camp I ever went on as a teenager always involved a roll mat - but, like you, I would feel guilty putting DD on one even though she slept on the carpet the other night quite happily in her sleeping bag and playtent and showed no sign of discomfort.

We are bringing them up too soft probably but it is hard to make them sleep on something I would crawl over broken glass to avoid these days.

[PiHigh]

Our two (3 & 6) sleep on roll mats with 3 season sleeping bags. Dh & I have SIMs (bought 2 last year from Aldi to try and might get another 2 this year for the kids). We've never had a problem but my kids tend to sleep anywhere, both of them used to just lie on the floor and nap - I could literally leave them playing to empty the bin and come in to find them asleep on the floor.

[Moredofbumsnet]

I did find some nice big airbeds mummypigsfattummy but I think the bounciness is a problem with dc sharing an airbed. SIMs are less bouncy. And of course jumping on a foam mat is no fun at all. We used to put the foam mats under the tent to protect it, in the days when tents were small and footprint groundsheets had not been invented.

[fossil971]

Yep. They sleep like logs. We have a blanket over the mats, roll the sleeping bags back and then we have useable floor space in the "bedroom" which I don't guess you can do with airbeds. Not all day obviously but if it's wet or they don't fancy being outside for a bit, just helps make the most of space.

Roll mats are so cheap why not just try it for a weekend?

[Moredofbumsnet]

We're def sticking to the roll mats. We did try it and they slept ok (too excited to sleep well) but dc2 complained it was hard. If we can fit them in the boot I'll put mats under the tent and inside. Luxury. You're right fossil about the sleeping area being more useable with mats.

[fossil971]

Yes what I meant was once they stop messing about, prodding each other and being too excited to sleep (about 1030 pm) and finally go to sleep, they THEN sleep like logs all night

IKWYM about trimming them but I imagine dream of them going off on DofE one day with their trusty roll mats strapped on a rucksack. And all their friends being impressed because they are hardened campers and can sleep on the floor.

[Ineedmorepatience]

I also have long distance memories of sleeping (or not) on Guide camp! We used to roll our sleeping bag in our groundsheets and then open them out striaght on to the grass inside the tent!!

We used to freeze and often had worms and beetles in the tents with us! Why any of us still camp is beyond me and yet we do.

My girls have all slept on roll mats over the years and been absolutely fine, put a couple of picnic blankets down first and get them a decent sleeping bag each(try winfields for a good buy).

By the way I now sleep on a 10cm self inflating mat, v.comfy

Enjoy and good luck

[FannyBazaar]

Hmm, I'm sure we had roll mats in the guides even though the sleeping bag & blanket had to be rolled & tied up with the ground sheet (supposed to be waterproof if accidentally dropped in a river).

My DS has a SIM, I am thinking of getting him a 3/4 length one as I have one of these, it's thicker than the one DS currently has but the same size/weight or smaller.

DS is going off to camp without me next week and I've just thought that a camping mat will be easier for him to manage on his own than the SIM so might well get one out of the loft for him rather than investing in a pricier thicker SIM for him to jump up and down on and return with a hole in. He has managed to tear the first one but as he just rolls off in the middle of the night, it doesn't seem to matter.

[AChickenCalledKorma]

We have self-inflating mats for family camping, but the Scouts insist on roll-mats and DD1 has never made any comment about it being less comfortable. Mind you, they don't go to bed until some ungodly hour, so she's probably the walking dead by then .

[Iaintdunnuffink]

They'll be fine. I slept on roll mats into my 30's as they were warmer than air beds, this was the days before sim's. As a teenager doing outdoor activities we often has nothing but a tarp underneath.

You could always double them up or put something like towels on top for extra padding. You could do a nice flat sleeping area, at leas they couldn't roll off as they could on an air bed.

[FourArms]

My two love to sleep on their sheepskins - very cosy even on the floor with nothing else (although they do have SIMS they are often found metres away by morning!!)

[JennyWren]

Roll mats all the way here for DD and DS - they are absolutely fine with them. I finally succumbed at about age 35 to a 2cm SIM - my old bones can't cope with just a 1cm mat any more! That extra cm makes all the difference to me now, but the kids are fine on a basic mat. And it is much more practical for them to manage alone as Brownies etc. on camp. DS (age 4) is still prone to picking bits out of the foam so I only have a cheap one for him, but DD uses a slightly more pricey one she inherited from DH. There doesn't seem to be any difference in how well they sleep though.