Best mattress for kids 2025: spring, foam and all-natural options for growing bodies

The best mattress for kids is an investment for your child's future. Growing children need a good night's sleep to ensure their bones, joints and muscles develop in the right way, not to mention helping them concentrate better at school. An old and saggy mattress can stop that from happening, but the right mattress can ensure they get the quality sleep they need, night after night.

When your child graduates to their first proper bed, it's important to invest in a well designed and durable mattress that provides a good level of comfort and support. Other considerations include whether they suffer from allergies, if they tend to run hot or cold at night, and what kind of bed the mattress needs to fit, from single beds to bunk and cabin beds.

This guide is dedicated to the best mattresses for kids – you'll find plenty of options for UK Single / US Twin in our best mattress and best memory foam mattress guides, although these are not specifically designed for children. If you're not quite sure what kind of mattress you should be looking for for what age of child, our kids mattress size guide will make things easier.

Whatever you’re looking for, we've rounded up the best kids' mattresses. Each mattress has something different to offer (the Silentnight Healthy Growth is our current favourite) but all of them will help promote healthy growth and mental development during your kids' early years.

T3's Top 3

WRITTEN BY

WRITTEN BY

Bethan Girdler-Maslen

Beth is Home Editor for T3, covering style, living and wellness. Having previously held the role of Acting Wellness Editor, Beth has become an expert in all things sleep, offering T3 readers advice on how to get the best night's sleep possible. From what mattress suits your sleep position to the cosiest pillows and duvets for your bedroom, Beth is the go-to person on T3 for the latest sleep-related reviews, tips and recommendations.

Best mattress for kids ranking 2025

The best kids mattress overall

This mattress from Silentnight features 600 pocket springs that offers good support for your child’s spinal development. Furthermore, the springs are zoned to provide support where it counts. The mattress is deeper than most kids’ mattresses too, at 23.5cm, so you can be sure your kid is going to be comfortable on it.

The Silentnight Healthy Growth 600 Mirapocket is foam and chemical-free, vegan-friendly, and uses hypoallergenic and breathable fibres for extra breathability. These fibres are made from recyclable plastic bottles, so they’re nicely eco-friendly too. This mattress has a five-year guarantee and comes in Single, Small Double and Double sizes. It’s single-sided, so you don’t need to turn it, although Silentnight does recommend you rotate it on a regular basis.

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The best kids first bed mattress

As the name suggests, this mattress from Dreams is designed to lie on your child’s 'first big bed'. With 392 individually wrapped pocket springs, it aims to provide a comfortable experience for your little ones, even if they wander over to the edge of the mattress.

It comes with luxurious cover with hypoallergenic and heat regulating treatments to aid sleep, so it’s a good choice if your child tends to get overheated at night. And there’s a top panel with a waterproof layer underneath, which can be removed and washed at 60 degrees, to protect against accidents.

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The best hybrid kids mattress

Another one of the best kids' mattresses designed for bunk beds, this slimline model is suitable for children from three years up. Combining springs that move side-to-side and back-to-front, plus two layers of foam, it’s a medium-firm mattress comfortable for both kids and adults. So it’s a good choice if you expect to occasionally share a top or bottom bunk with your child to help them sleep through the night. Plus, there’s a very generous 200-day trial so you can be sure you like it.

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The best luxury kids mattress

Made exclusively for John Lewis, this pocket spring mattress is filled with a Hampshire wool and cashmere blend that's soft, breathable, and designed to help dissipate heat to regulate your child's temperature through the night.

There's no need to turn or rotate it (and no handles to help you do so if you decide you do want to) and the 100 per cent cotton cover has a luxurious feel. All in all, this is a high-quality kids' mattress at a surprisingly reasonable price.

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The best kids mattress for temperature

This all-natural mattress features a core of 1,000 pocket springs, accompanied by a support pad of coir (a material made from coconuts) and additional wool comfort layers. Wool isn’t the cheapest material, but it’s great for kids because it’s naturally temperature-regulating, keeping them cool in summer, and warm in winter. It makes the mattress super-comfortable too.

Chemical free, this mattress’s cover is made of 100% organic cotton and all of its fibres are sourced and made within 35 miles of Manchester, giving it a low carbon footprint. Aimed at children up to 12 years old, it has a depth of 16cm and comes in Single and Single XL sizes; bespoke sizes are available on request. Note that you’ll need to turn it weely for the first few months, to allow the filling to settle, and then monthly after that.

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The best natural kids mattress

Little Green Sheep is best known for its cot mattress, but it does a great mattress for older children too. Suitable for children from 12 months up to 12, this mattress is naturally chemical-free and hypoallergenic. Its core is created from thousands of coconut fibres, blended together with natural latex to act as thousands of tiny springs, providing support and reducing pressure points. The cover is made from a luxury Herringbone cotton, lined with an extra layer of wool, for extra breathability. This medium-firm, Single mattress comes with a five-year guarantee. Note that the cover is non-removable, and must be sponge cleaned only.

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How to choose the best kids mattress

One of the main things you need to look at when choosing a kids mattress is age. Depending on how old your child is, you'll need to get a mattress that's suited for their age as it'll help their body's develop and grow.

Once that's sorted, you can choose material, like foam, springs or a mixture of both. Price is also important here, and checking to see if the mattress will grow with their child and support them as they do.

See how to choose a kids mattress for more details.

How we test the best mattresses

We test kids mattresses by giving our team's or freelancer's children a cosy sleep set-up and asking hem to sleep on it for at least a month. Where we can, we see how the mattress deals with our children's growth and age changes, to see how the mattress adapts with them, and thoughts on the performance and durability over a longer period.

During the test period, we focus on design, comfort and performance of the kids mattress. For design, we look at how well the mattress is made, materials and extra features like covers, handles and whether they're water resistant for child spills and accidents.

For comfort, we consider what it's like to sleep on in a range of positions, to see if it supports the body from all angles. We look at edge support, temperature control, and motion transfer, too.

For more details, read how we test at T3.

FAQs

What size should a crib or cot mattress be?

The best mattress for a newborn is one designed for babies, which is often known as a crib or cot mattress. It needs to be the exact right size for your baby's crib so it first perfectly and there's no gaps.

In the UK, there are two standard sizes for cot mattresses which is 70cm x 140cm for a standard cot bed, and 60cm x 120cm for continental cot size.

What age should babies move to a toddler bed?

Babies are usually moved to a toddler bed at around 18-36 months, but it's completely dependent on your child's development.

It also depends on sizing, as mattresses for toddler beds are often the same size as cot beds. In theory, it can be fine to use the same mattress as your child had in their cot, but keep an eye on their growth and the wear and tear of their mattress.

What size should your kids 'first bed' be?

Once your child has outgrown a toddler bed, the next step is to move them to their first big bed. Depending on their size and age, look at the following bed sizes, like 75 x 120cm for a small single, 90 x 190cm for a single and 120 x 190cm for a small double.