should you buy a new mattress for your second baby

[Bee]

I am in a quandry about buying a new cot bed mattress for my second child. She will use the same cot as my now 4 year old had.The mattress is a sleepright Mothercare one with a removable cover which has been washed. My baby is now 5 months old and ready to move into the cot. I am getting conflicting advice and would welcome comments from others to help me with this situation. What did you do?

Rozzy is right, as usual the reassuring research didn't get anywhere near as much publicity as the alarming one!!

Bee to be honest I don't think changing the mattress will make any difference and your baby is quite old. But they are not that expensive and how much is piece of mind worth?

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Thanks to all who replied to my message. I didn't hear any of the new research either. I feel much more reassured now,isn't Mumsnet great!

I've heard that you should change the bed linen and get a new mattress cover. But if you're going to worry, the price of a new mattress for peace of mind is worth it.

YOU SHOULD ALWAYS BUY A NEW MATTRESS AS URINE DOES DOES CARRY A LOT OF INFECTIONS

I think it depends on the type of mattress you use, ours is a Mothercare Coolmax (I think) with a protective cover underneath a washable outer layer, so I would think it would be ok to use again. However, as Stella1 said - what price peace of mind?

I actually threw my daughters old cot matress away because I wouldn't have felt happy to reuse it just in case. But I was shocked to see someone else take the old matress out of the bins and take it to their house. A few weeks after this the very same matress was back in the bins only to be taken again on the same day by another family living opposite my flats. The have removed the cover and hung it on the line to dry! I can't believe that some one would even consider using it for their baby but why else would they want it?!

Am somewhat perturbed by this string - I have heard that you are not supposed to reuse mattresses, but cannot think of a logical scientific reason why not. If the urine has got infected, after a few months/years of sitting in the loft/cupboard, there's nothing for the infection virus/bacteria to live on!!It will die very quickly without a new host. It just does not make sense to think that the bacteria are lieing in wait for the next baby. Isn't this sterilising gone mad!!

P.S. have used a second hand mattress for no.1 child (but not off a skip!) and intend to use sameone for next, no mutant germs appeared so far!

I checked with my hv and she very calmly & firmly said there was no problem in re-using a matress, and I have and I have had no problems. If he can cope with all of big brothers antics, plus eating the yellow pages plus God knows what else he finds on the floor, I think the matress is the least of his worries

I suppose it would depend on what the mattress is manufactured of, but there could be moulds in an old mattress, which I wouldn't want a baby to sleep on. OTOH, if the baby comes into the parents bed, then their mattress may well have moulds in it, too!