To expect a mattress

[LiftyLift]

On a U.K. city break with DH and DC and have checked in to a well known budget hotel chain for the night.

We booked a standard room which has a double bed, a sofa bed for DC aged 4 and a travel cot for baby DC who is one.

All fine, except that the cot for the baby doesn’t have a mattress in it. Instead, it had a double duvet cover instead of the mattress. Under the mattress is a plastic liner type thing then the wooden base. The duvet cover is on top, presumably as they know it would be horrible for a baby to sleep on a hard piece of plastic with no cushion.

I’ve spoken to the manager who wasn’t sure what I meant and she has sent housekeeping to me to explain. House keeping have said that they are no longer supplied with mattresses which is why they put a duvet in the cot.

I have explained to housekeeping and the manager that you can let a baby sleep on a soft surface like a duvet and that it is a suffocation risk. I’m also not happy to have the baby in the travel cot without the base either.

We have travelled with the kids lots and never come across this before. There’s always been a thin mattress in travel cots.

AIBU to expect a mattress?

Of course there should be a mattress or pad of some sort in the cot. Unless it states that it doesn't come with one and you didn't notice that bit, they shouldn't be saying they can provide a cot at all.

Any kind of travel Inn I've stayed in have not provided a mattress. Although they've stated this at booking so I've always just taken my own travel cot mattress. It is awkward! But not unheard of.

There was nothing mentioned at booking otherwise we wouldn’t have come here. No one wants to carry a mattress with them.

I thought a used mattress for babies was a SID's risk so I presume this is why they don't provide one.

Yanbu but when we went away with DS it was always no mattress, I guess for hygiene, and pre covid too.

How old is baby?

The recommendation from SIDS is to not supply mattresses in hospitality settings, as sharing mattresses with other babies is a risk. I don't supply a cot mattress in my holiday lets for this reason

It is very strange. For today I think you will need to co-sleep as safely as you can manage. Not really a SIDS risk for a 1 year old, but isn't going to be comfortable for them and I wouldn't take the risk.

With smaller babies you are not recommended to use a used mattress ideally, so even though it would be better than what is provided which is completely unreasonable and unsafe, it still isn't ideal.

Best to take your own travel cot IMO. Most people do.

After that I would complain as it isn't as advertised, and is a major risk especially as other parents arriving might not know and might put their younger baby onto the soft surface to sleep! Escalate to Trading Standards so it can be followed up, too.

Some travel costs only come with a veryh thin plastic mat at the bottom. Is that what there was?

Not helpful to you tonight but I used to have a travel cot mattress that I would take away with us - more like a thick quilted pad.

In your situation I would probably use a towel (assuming that it's not a thick fluffy one) and wrap tightly around the plastic base layer so it couldn't budge but provided a thin layer of cushioning for DC.

Never had a cot mattress supplied - always took my own until 18m when they just slept on a folded up duvet.

I’ve always had a mattress in the cot when I’ve travelled with a young baby, although I know from friends staying in other hotels that not having a mattress isn’t uncommon.

In a way the SIDS thing makes sense, but travel cots aren’t standard sizes so I don’t really see how people can bring a mattress.

I think it's standard to not supply the mattress, something to do with SIDS risks.

They cant use mattresses in cots multiple babies sleep in, its a massive cot death risk.

I have had 3 travel cots and traveled alot non have never had mattresses just those water proof pads which are perfectly safe.

Well they dont have to mention it because its common sense, they litrally cant risk killing babies by suplying something unsafe... your lack of understanding of guidence and rules isn't really there fault.

The mattress is not needed, travel cots are designed to work fine without them.

You putting what you percieve to be comfort over basic safety.

It’s a SIDs risk of using a mattress other babies have used. I always just take our own.

Isn’t the SIDS risk of a second hand mattress related to the possibility it may have come from a smoking house? Which isn’t going to be the case with a hotel.

Travel cots don't come with mattresses. Baby is supposed to sleep on the thin padded bit that goes in the bottom, with a sheet over it. If the travel cot is well used then the base can become a bit thin and worn out. I'd probably ask for a different cot if that's the case.

A bed frame doesn’t come with a mattress either, you order it separately but that doesn’t mean you are supposed to sleep on the slats!

I don’t know anyone who uses a travel cot without a real mattress, and that is a hell of a lot safer than blankets, duvets or towels being used for padding.

@Notanotherone6 is right. In fact every travel cot I've ever had says in the safety instructions only to use the mattress provided which is the thin pad that usually wraps around the folded travel cot. Because they have fabric sides there's a risk that any mattress you add wouldn't fit snugly and baby could get wedged down the side.

I would usually go with my own travel cot though simply because I know that its reliable. That's not always possible though so I'd be annoyed if a location advertised that they had somewhere for the baby to stay but it wasn't usable.

Well they dont have to mention it because its common sense, they litrally cant risk killing babies by suplying something unsafe... your lack of understanding of guidence and rules isn't really there fault.

That's a bit harsh. I wouldn't have known that a travel cot provided in a hotel room doesn't have a matress. Although it is many years since DD was a baby.

The point is, that they literally DID give me something unsafe. A double duvet folded so high it was half the depth of the cot. I certainly know that is less safe than a mattress that’s been used by more than one child.

But sleeping a baby on a duvet is a bigger SIDS risk and the hotel supplied a duvet for baby to sleep on so your argument is totally invalid. And rude.

@LiftyLift sorry X post. This situation sounds bizarre and unreasonable but some people will bend over backwards to justify anything. 🤦‍♀️

There wasn’t even the thin pad. I’m well versed in what the mattress / pad / whatever you want to call it looks like. It wasn’t supplied. I wasn’t expecting a plush stuffed mattress, literally the standard supply, firm bit. Instead there was the wooden base and a plastic slatted thing with a sheet on. There’s no way the hotel expect babies to sleep on that. It would have been like sleeping on the fooor.

I do think the SIDS risk in a hotel setting would be less than at home. All different babies would have slept in different positions, it would probably not be used every night, no smoking would happen, bedding would be changed regularly.

"Take your own" isn't very practical for people who don't drive and have to carry everything on a train 😒