Cot Mattress, is it really useless once used for one baby?

[nicolamumof3]

seems such a waste to just throw out a £100 mothercare fully sprung mattress, but i guess theres nothing else for it?

I reused mattresses for my babies.

Used a vinyl covered one that my sister had for her baby, too. Just wiped it over with disinfectant before use.

I must admit to using a foam Ikea one three times - once for my eldest, then my sister used it for one of hers, now we're using it again. .

It has a cover, which we washed each time, and aired the actual foam bit outside for a couple of days in between babies. So far, no problems.

I would definitely re-use a £100 one!! (I think ours was £12!)

I wouldn't use a heavily -used second hand mattress from someone else but reused ours for my own kids. I can't see what special bugs/infections the baby is going to get from the mattress that won't be present in your home anyway ... and will be slobbered all over your baby by your first DC when s/he decides to "kiss" the baby .

I am all for safe sleeping but I do think teling parents to swap mattresses between siblings is a bit of a marketing con tbh.

FWIW I gave our old cot and mattress to a friend (mattress was a cheapie mothercare, just foam covered in plastic). It was clean and used only a bit (kept a GPs house) and she is using it for her baby.

I think manufactors play on parents' fears. I do not know how much evidence there is that a second hand mattress in good condition where you know its history can cause cot death. Or its it just speculation.

Its like a thread on car seats the other day.
If I was you I would reuse the mattress.

I used the same mattress for all three children. Think I might have replaced the moses basket mattress at some stage but it was secondhand when I got it and then got passed around a bit between friends.

I reused a mattress between DDs 1 and 2. I bought a new one for DD3 as there was a visible dent in the mattress where the other two had laid their enormous bonces.

I would probably not use a second-hand mattress from someone I didn't know.

we used ours for both babies, I wonder if the guidance is a bit like car seats, they like you to know the history?

It's exactly like the 'advice' on car seats, and given for the same reason: to gouge more money out of you by frightening you.
It is, I suppose, probably not a good idea to reuse a mattress that the previous user died of typhoid on, but it's certainly safe enough to use the same mattress for your own second baby if it looks and feels OK.

I used the same mattress for both my dc....didn't realise there was advice to not do so

Freecycle it if your unsure, nicola. They can be very useful as spares for older toddlers.

I understand if you buy the cot from an unknown source eg eybay you might want to replace it as you dont know eg if its had a cot death on it but

I dont see why a matress that one child slept safely on for 2/3 years is suddenly dangerous for another child to use whether they are from the same family or not

i think i will keep it then, i can't believe we had exactly the same one before for DS2 and i threw it away to buy anoter for DS3, i think because i had a friend who's baby passed away from cot death im maybe ultra sensitive. i will keep it as it is just like new tbh it has its own removable cover on and i used a seperate protector on it!

I was going to post something similar today. I have been given SIL's cot complete with matress, and am wondering whether I really need to buy a new matress for my PFB. Seems the consensus is no. Any other opinions?

I was advised it was ok to use for siblings.

I've never got the reasoning behind that advice. Changing mattresses between siblings sounds OTT to me. Fair enough if you don't know the history of the cot and don't know what previous users could have been suffering from/infected with, but within the same family?

DD often co-slept with us so she was sharing an adult mattress (gasp). That would turn the mattress experts puce with horror, wouldn't it?

It does sound as though it is from the olden days, when bugs, beasties and diseases would live in the mattresses.

I can't see any reason why cot death would be more likely with a 2nd hand mattress.

What about those of us who co-slept? We certainly weren't going to buy a new adult mattress based on such small risks.

I may have got completely the wrong end of the stick, but i thought it was more to do with mattresses no longer being supportive enough/going out of shape rather than harbouring diseases, though whichever way I agree that it's probably just another money-making scam. I certainly won't be replacing dd's barely dented, rarely puked-on mattress when dc2 arrives despite the "advice" of mothercare.

I have for a couple of reasons:

• DS had some huge vomitey bugs so the mattress has been soaked through. Obviously I washed the cover and dettoled the foam bit but it still seems a bit disgusting. I'll keep it as an emergency spare
• The cot we have is a cot bed, and this baby will be using it as a bed. The mattress we had is the bog standard one that came with the cot, presumably the cheapest, so seemed sensible to upgrade if it's going to be used for a few years.

Oh and the new mattress we've got "regulates the baby's breathing" - yes she managed to tell me that with a straight face. So I don't think there's any doubt they play on parents' fears!

Oooh I wonder how it does that, Ladystealth.

well presumably if there are any problems it administers CPR and alerts the parents

i'm using my first baby's mattress for my second one now.. i reckon it's just a load of bs when they harp on about not using a mattress for the second time/baby..

reusing ours for 2nd baby

I used the same mattress (sprung, vinyl covered) for all mine.

Those foam ones with the fabric-covered end are probably best replaced each time, but the vinyl ones should be OK.