Should your children be sharing your memory foam mattress?
25-05-2012
One frequent question regarding memory foam mattresses is whether children are allowed to use them, in particular, parents of infants and young children wonder whether their children should be sharing their memory foam mattress.
While in general memory foam is an excellent material for children’s mattresses, there are some safety issues surrounding very young children. The problem is that children under 18 months old might have trouble turning on memory foam mattresses, meaning that there is a danger of suffocation.
As a rule of thumb we do not recommend memory foam mattresses for children under 5 years of age in Australia.
This means that it is not recommended to have infant children sharing a memory foam mattress. Memory foam’s amazing ability to conform to the particular person’s shape means that it will create a hollow where the infant is lying, making it harder for them to turn over.
While there has never been any known cases of suffocation due to memory foam, the risk is enough that every caution should be taken. If parents are worried about co-sharing their memory foam beds with infants then they could either buy a normal foam topper that they could put on their bed for the duration or they could buy a hanging bassinet that can be placed by the bed.
It is best to be safe in situations like this, so keep infants off memory foam.
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