what can I do with a used cot mattress?

[Meglet]

I'm not having any more dc's and dd no longer needs the cot. It has some water marks on it from a leaky beaker but its only 18 months old so just binning it seems an awful waste.

AFAIK the general advice is to not re-use mattresses so selling for a few quid doesn't seem like an option.

Any ideas? Or is it off to landfill?

I covered mine with an old kids' curtain I found for pence in the local chairty shop - and - voila - a crash mat for somersaults, jumping and general crash landings. The kids like to build a slide off the sofa by propping up the mattress off the edge and sliding down it. Its invaluable for "letting off steam whilst we are all stuck indoors" moments.

I keep meaning to cover our old one and put it in the playhouse for seating.

If you can't use it for that, put it on freecycle and someone will probably want it for something similar

I second the above (except I never bothered covering it with anything). DD1 (2 years) uses it as her 'trampoline' indoors. Fantastic for half an hours worth of entertainment when its raining (i.e. from about October to March).

You could also try putting it on freecycle (or whatever its called now). Someone might be able to use it as e.g. a dog bed.

thank you everyone. I think I will have a rummage at the charity shop for something to cover it with, the dc's can use it for practising roly-polys .

or if I don't get organised I'll freecycle it.

I freecycled mine and it went to be a comfy dog bed.

We've still got DDs - at first it was on the floor by her bed in case she fell out, then just for generally sitting on/making dens with etc.