Easy and safe ways to secure mattress to bed slats?

[SinkGirl]

I posted a little while who about DT2 (age 3, ASD and partially sighted) who’s still in a cot for his own safety, and who started pulling his mattress up and out and jumping on the slats. DT1 also is still in a cot to keep him safe but he doesn’t do this.

We’ve been investigating specialist beds (at a cost of thousands each) because we need to get them out of cots asap. We have been referred for a social care OT assessment to see if they’ll help with funding or write a report that will enable us to seek funding from a charity.

In the meantime, I want them into an alternative urgently before DT2 especially gets hurt. There is a charity that lends specialist beds out but not without the OT report we are still waiting on.

Another SEN mum linked me to a great Australian product - it’s a mesh cover that fits over a specific Ikea bed and can be zipped close. It would be ideal at least as a temporary measure. For the beds, mattresses and covers it’s going to cost me nearly £1000 for two, but that’s better than the £6k I’m looking at for the specialist beds I think we need (they can be packed away and transported so we could actually consider a holiday one day).

My only concern with this option is that the mattress is accessible and can therefore be removed.

As he used to constantly remove his sheets we now put his mattress inside a duvet cover which prevents him from removing it. So I need an option which would work with a mattress that’s enclosed in a duvet cover.

I’m not comfortable with long straps like luggage straps as if he managed to get them free he could strangle himself.

I know you can buy velcro loop fabric so I could put velcro hook tape on the slats. But I would need to make mattress covers that are a sheet on top and loop fabric on the bottom. I am crafty but cannot sew for the life of me even on a machine - I’m useless!

Does anyone have any other hacks / suggestions?

His current mattress is really light so a heavier sprung mattress may solve the issue but I want to have a back up plan - can’t afford to waste £1000!

I’ve seen those - at the moment they sleep in grobags and like them (plus they help prevent climbing!) but will definitely try these in whatever we move on to.

How're you getting on @SinkGirl

Hi @SinkGirl

If it's the same Kura bed from Ikea that i had for my kids when they were younger then with the bed low down there are no slats. The mattress is just on the floor.
You only get slats if you have the mattress on the top version.

Maybe I'm wrong though. I'm also not sure if this helps or hinders your problem.

If I'm wrong, then could you do something like attach the mattress with ties and sew (or get a local dressmakers shop) to make buttonholes in the duvet cover to put the ties through.

That might not be too easy though in the night though. Hmm...

Or how about velcro all around the sides of the mattress and a normal sheet attaches that way?

What a tricky dilemma. I do hope you can get the funding for the specialist beds sooner rather than later, it sounds exhausting for you and anything that makes it easier is well deserved.

Hold on. Ignore me. I've just realised we had the mattress on the top bunk part which is why our bottom mattress for guests was on the floor. When you turn the bed upside down without a top part, you can use the slats.
Doh!

I

It does also mean its going to be trickier for you to get into any ties or velcro straps to undo in the night because of it being boxed in.