When I asked one of my friends to critique my new blog, she made the helpful suggestion that I might want to begin at the beginning, so to speak. That is, she felt that starting the blog with a review of something more basic, and building up from there, might be more helpful. It seems I’d fallen into the common parental trap of forgetting that not all babies are the same age as mine! 
So, on her suggestion, I’m going to start working on reviews of the things we’ve purchased from the beginning.
With that in mind, I’m going to tell you about the mattress we selected for our baby girl’s crib. You can’t get much more basic than that, can you?!
Toddler mattress and baby mattress in one
We chose the Simmons Kids Pampering Sleep Supreme, which is a convertible mattress. That is to say, it has two sides to it, a firmer one for the first year or so of your baby’s life, and a softer one for their toddler years. The sides are clearly marked by the label on the side, making it easy to know which side goes up. It’s supposed to last your kiddo up to four years old, and we found it to be very well constructed (it has a 35-year warranty, so Simmons is clearly serious about this). Given that we had chosen a convertible crib for the same reason, it made perfect sense to go with a convertible mattress as well! It doesn’t hurt that this is one of the few products I’ve ever seen on Amazon which has a perfect five-star rating (at least as of this writing).
Safety first!
I mention the firmness aspect first thing because it’s probably the most important thing about any crib mattress you’ll be using for an infant’s first year. Reason being, soft mattresses are among the most common things implicated in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Of course, we always put Kayleigh down to sleep on her back, but it was only a matter of time before she learned to roll over on her own. My mom tells me I was a devoted tummy sleeper as a baby, usually with my legs curled up under me. So I suspect Kayleigh may show the same propensity very soon. The firm mattress helps me feel better about letting her follow whatever her natural inclinations may be.
This mattress is the standard crib size (27 1/4x 51 5/8, with a 6 inch height), which is also important in avoiding SIDS. This is because it fills the crib completely, and prevents there being any chance of a creeping baby sliding in between the mattress and the bars of the crib. In researching SIDS, I learned that this is an especially important measurement, because many hand-me-down cribs made prior to 1974 don’t conform to this standard. Of course, we didn’t have anyone pushing any hand-me-down cribs on us, but I wanted to make sure to mention it, because I know many families like to keep furniture as heirlooms, and use them for generations. While I have nothing against antiques, when it comes to SIDS, it is definitely better to go with modern stuff so that size standardization works in your favor.
Easy maintenance
One of my favorite things about this crib mattress is that it is entirely covered in vinyl. This makes cleanup a breeze! Just a damp washcloth will take care of any mess that happens to make it to the mattress. While thus far, there have been mercifully few messes, I know that over time, I won’t be so fortunate, especially considering I hope to keep her on this mattress through preschool! Of course, I also wipe it down every time I change her sheets, because there might be something there I can’t see. Speaking of changing the sheets, this mattress is pretty light for an innerspring model…but then it is crib size. 
Still, the light weight makes changing the sheets a breeze!
Another reason I picked this particular crib mattress is that it has the same kind of innerspring construction that makes adult beds so sturdy. While we’ve moved on to visco foam mattresses for ourselves, I remember how rough I was on my own beds as a kid, and thought that this would stand up to the abuse of the toddler years better than any visco foam mattress could. Not to mention the fact that I don’t think they make visco foam in a firmness level that would be safe for an infant. Besides…I remember my visco foam mattress had a smell to it that I didn’t care for the first couple of nights. This mattress had no detectable smell right out of the package, which made me even more pleased with my purchase. I know my baby’s lungs are more tender than my own, so less off-gassing can only be a good thing!
Where can I find a Simmons Kids Pampered Sleep Supreme mattress?
Several stores carried this crib mattress back when I bought it; Target and Walmart among them. I just checked their web sites, though, and it looks like they no longer stock it. Amazon, however, still has it right here
, though it was more expensive by about ten bucks, even when factoring in shipping.
Are there any other reviews of this crib mattress?
You betcha! As always, Amazon is the place
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