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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

mattress on the floor?

134 replies

buttertoff33 · 17/02/2019 11:49

Aibu to put the DCs' mattresses on the floor? They both have outgrown their smaller beds, esp DC1.

I cannot afford new beds right now so was thinking of putting the mattresses directly onto the floor. we have carpet, not wooden floors.

People sleep on floors in lots of countries and did so over thousands of years so I don't think I am being hugely unreasonable. DC aren't fuzzed either but a friend said the carpet floor and the proximity to it could trigger all kind of allergies.

Anyone done this? any negative side effects?

OP posts:
Serin · 17/02/2019 16:41

We had to do this with DS1 as from 9months he just kept climbing over the rails of his cot. It did feel a bit "wrong" for him to be sleeping like that but the alternative was risking injury.
Sorry that you are struggling financially OP and I hope things pick up for you .

GregoryPeckingDuck · 17/02/2019 16:42

It’s not very hygienic. The mattress will go mouldy potentially. I would suggest getting some pallets (lots of places give them away free) and using that to create some air flow.

Newadventure · 17/02/2019 16:43

And yeah like a pp said, I could probably afford one, it's just that a bed frame was/is low down on my priorities so mattress on the floor did (and would) suit until I have spare money for one (if I'm gonna buy one I want a fairly decent one, pushing the £100-£150 Mark, that's expensive for me btw)

But maybe I'll get so used to it I'll just stay on the floor forever more!

ShabbyAbby · 17/02/2019 16:55

Just air and flip the mattress once a week when you change the sheets and it won't get manky.

tildaMa · 17/02/2019 16:57

@reallybadidea

I can see that might happen if the mattress is on a cold, hard surface on the ground floor but it seems unlikely in a carpeted bedroom where the warm air is likely to rise.

It's the same or even worse in a carpeted bedroom because the moisture stays trapped in the mattress and carpet, which makes it the perfect environment for mould.

Yabbers · 17/02/2019 17:06

We did it for DD as she can't walk so was still able to crawl out of bed and come to us in the night if she needed to. Did it at about aged 3, bought her a bed aged about 7 when she was tall enough to get off it.

She loved it.

Yabbers · 17/02/2019 17:11

We rarely lifted it, there was never any mould.

skunkatanka · 17/02/2019 17:28

How do you know whether there's mould inside it though? Your children could be sleeping on something disgusting and you may not know. Honestly, providing a proper bed for your child is as basic as providing food and clothes.

Original poster
buttertoff33 · 17/02/2019 17:31

I see them on Facebook and Freecycle but I need to go and collect it. I would have to pay someone to do it or rent a car as my Yaris is far too small (and no, I havent got anyone who could do it for me). not all things 'free' are free Wink

OP posts:
Newadventure · 17/02/2019 17:47

Awww some posters on this thread really do make me believe that true princesses actually exist.
Ffs. Try spending a couple of months sleeping in church yards or phones boxes and come back to tell me that a mattress on an other wise clean and carpeted floor is a health hazard. Fuck me....

Louiselouie0890 · 17/02/2019 17:53

I choose to have my mattress on the floor. It's much more comfortable. It's a bit of metal it's not the end of the world

Strugglingtodomybest · 17/02/2019 18:08

Ds1 took his mattress off his high bed and put it on the floor about a year ago. He loves it and his health is fine.

Me and DH spent about a year sleeping on a mattress on the lounge floor while we built an extension, and I really liked it because the kids were toddlers and it was lovely to all lie on it watching tv.

Bumbalaya · 17/02/2019 18:14

@starzig What are you talking about!? I am a primary school teacher and my husband has a job at a college and I have only £15 to last me the next two weeks.
This is the reality for a lot of the professional people that I know.

You sound very ignorant indeed. Are you still living at home with mum and dad?

ProperVexed · 17/02/2019 18:30

*@buttertoff33 where in the country are you? I'm just about to get rid of a metal single bed frame.....yours if you are in Dorset or close

MegaBat · 17/02/2019 18:34

I agree with @skunkatanka . Providing a bed is part of the absolute basics I think. And I'm sure if you ask on Facebook and state you would be unable to afford to pick it up, you'd find someone community spirited to help you out

Bobbycat121 · 17/02/2019 18:40

Youre not allowed
to ask for delivery on my local freecycle page.

ErickBroch · 17/02/2019 18:41

Just wanted to add - I see single bed frames all the time on facebook marketplace for just a tenner, whenever that becomes an option for you! Mattress on the floor will be fine short-term :)

AnnaFiveTowns · 17/02/2019 18:42

I did this when I was a student and it was fine; lots if students did it.

I would do it now except that I need the space under the bed to store crap.

I think it's great for younger children though.

smurfy2015 · 17/02/2019 18:47

Ive slept on mattresses on the floor before I could afford a bed in one house I lived in. It was a very thin mattress but I survived. I was paying off a bed weekly and was on a very low income.

Depending on the age of DC, could you make it tent like for them with a couple of sheets to make it into a game if you dont want to tell them why you are doing it.

When I was growing up, money was very tight, not that I knew anything about it but at one point our kitchen chairs were wooden crates with a blanket thrown across them to protect us, it was part of the fun and we fought to get sitting on them unaware of the real reasoning.

Chocolatecoffeeaddict · 17/02/2019 18:56

No I wouldn't do this. Kids need a bed, it's a basic need. If social services were ever to be involved with you for any reason, they would be interested that the child didn't have a bed.

CSIblonde · 17/02/2019 18:56

People give away single & kids iron bedframes for free on Gumtree in London all the time, but I do appreciate the high amount of renters (who seem to use pavement to dump every single item too) & people on 1year work secondment helps. As a temporary a mattress on the floor is fine. When you can afford frames Google discount bed warehouses. I found Amazon & Argos are getting pricey for furniture now theyve twigged to huge decor/lifestyle market. The online store I found saved me £30 on same frame.

NotStayingIn · 17/02/2019 19:12

It's absolutely fine if you air it regularly. I think it's wise of you not to spend money you don't have on bedframes when your kids will be perfectly happy/safe/healthy with a mattress on the floor. Much more important surely to try and build up a small emergency savings pot first if you are in a precarious financial situation. It's fine for people to say they wouldn't do it, but if you don't have much money you need to be a bit more creative sometimes. Unlike what some people on here say, a bed frame is really not that urgent.

Sockwomble · 17/02/2019 19:14

When ds with autism was little he used to climb off his bed to sleep on the floor. Eventually we just put the mattress on the floor and got rid of the bed. I think he just feels safer closer to the ground. Social services know and don't care.

DeathyMcDeathStarFace · 17/02/2019 19:15

It will be fine on a mattress on the floor for a while, just air it out regularly.

But if you are anywhere near us we have an old wooden frame bed from Argos taken apart and in our airing cupboard waiting for a new home. It was ds1s first proper bed and we used it for years until we moved to our current house, so it is a full size single, but low bed. (Didn't want to stick it in the tip and haven't done anything to find it a new home yet.) We are in Somerset and if it's not too far can deliver/meet in a public place to show you it if you are anywhere near us.

FlagranceDirect · 17/02/2019 19:17

My ASD son is in the box room and I've just had a bespoke bed made over the box so he can have a desk

My daughter with substantial LD used to fall out of bed with alarming regularity. And climb out as well (with very little personal control) Hence a mattress on the floor solved all problems. Sometimes it's needs led.