Chicco Next To Me Mattress

[NamesNamesAndMoreNames]

I have been given a second hand Chicco next to me. A friend used it for her two babies but it is less than 3 years old.

My research suggests that I need to replace the mattress. The 'official' mattress replacement is £40 and includes the baseboard MDF.

I can see cheaper mattresses available online. They are half the price which is appealing but don't include a board at the bottom. We could very easily dismantle the old mattress so we can reuse the board (which I assume is fine) and then we can place the new mattress on the original board.

My main question though is, is it safe to buy a 'non official' mattress. How do I know the website is reliable and that it conforms to safety standards etc?

Or would you advise just spending the £40 on the proper deal?

Anyone had this crib and care to advise?

I’d advise just spending the £40 - I ordered a replacement mattress cheaply from a different source and it had an inch gap all around the edge - in the end after ordering many others we just ordered from the manufacturer! Cost more organising refunds and paying for poastage from others in the long run I wish we had just gone direct to the manufacturer!

I'm expecting my second dc and thought the mattress you get with it was crap, just a piece of foam and board. Definitely getting a new one for dc2, probably from babymattressesonline - got some fitted sheets made up for it last time and they were good.

I too thought the mattress that came with it was crap, so hard. I know they should be firm but it felt really cheap & thin. I ended up using sleepyhead in ours.

Like PP I think the mattress you get with the chicco is awful. I'm not surprised my baby wouldn't sleep in it. Our chicco became our sleepyhead holder! I do wonder if the mattress wasn't so awful whether my DD would've slept in it!

Not your actual question but I put a blanket under the fitted sheet on the mattress
Softened it up slightly but not too much
My little one wasn't a great fan and we ended up bed sharing anyway🙈🙈

I must be the only person with a baby who has slept beautifully on the Chicco mattress 🙈

I got a new mattress for £12 off Amazon and think it's fine. It fits well and the original board is separate so is easy to reuse with the new mattress.

We just had a new mattress made to measure for it. Cost about £25, met all the British safety standards. Reused the baseboard and washed the cover.
Also machine washed the covers in the main part of the cot.
Can’t remember website but think I just googled made to measure cot mattresses uk.

My baby also slept beautifully on Chicco mattress. I think as adults we would have preferences and find it hard but babies are meant to lie as flat and firm as possible for safety reasons. I think they probably don’t mind it as they don’t know any different!

We had a made to measure one bought online and baby slept well on it. It felt really comfy. We re-used the board with no problems.

https://littledreamersbeds.etsy.com/listing/1735753839
This etsy shop makes replacement MDF mattress boards 😊