Sleep mats

[mlc1982]

What have you used for sleep mats and where have you purchased them?

[Play and Learn]

I'm personally going to be buying daycare cots from All About Kids - it's located in Ottawa, ON. http://www.allaboutkids.info/Aboutus.htm

Depends on where you're located, and if you're wanting to pay shipping fees! I also check on online classifieds.

[gcj]

I use crib mattresses, which are on the large side, but store nicely under beds.

[playfelt]

Right now I am also using crib mattresses - collected from families selling cribs and moving their kids to big beds over the years but they have pretty much reached the end of their lifespan so I too am looking for a change.

My plan right now is to buy the actual daycare cots. I have looked at the ones at all about kids too. PlaynLearn there is a discussion on this on another site and someone posted about a daycare centre in the west end that sells the cots and the price was cheaper than all about kids ($40 cot) or $200 for 6. I want to do some more checking into those.

If you go for the cots do not get the toddler ones cause they are too small. For mats the thicker you can go the better because they tend to roll off the thinner ones more because they don't sense the sides. Have no idea on how well the ones that fold up last but I would have concerns about some poor child's hip or knee hitting the unpadded fold spot and it not being comfortable. By the time you fold up 5 mats they will take up the same amount of space as 5 stacked mats.

[Lovinmomma]

I use Nap mats and love them. They are able to fold, 3 fold great to store. I sewed covers for them with fabric and velcro so they can be washed. I will have to remember where I bought them, but it is was in Newmarket. Supplies school supplies.

[Tot-Time]

I use the nap mats (4 inch thick ones) from All About Kids, they are approved to be used in daycare centres.

I have no problems with storage because each nap mat gets slid under a bed as necessary or for the ones in daycare it gets folded into the storage room.

I don't think I would ever go with the cots, they aren't widely used in the centres back home due to the storage issue (meaning less versitile, they don't fold, they have legs etc), there also is no cushion so it is like sleeping on a hamock, they aren't as easy to clean, the sheets are a little trickier to get on and off, etc. But with that being said, if the children are sleeping on a non-carpeted floor they should not be on a nap mat and on a cot instead.

I have never had problems with the children rolling off the nap mats, but I may have just been lucky becasue I have only been using them for the last 3 years, before that my children slept on beds or on lawn chair cushions.

[FS2011]

I actually use those interlocking foam tiles, often used for playroom floors. They were approved by my LO and they are a much cheaper alternative to cots and mattresses. The kids like them too because they get to "built" there bed before nap time.

[krispy]

I have a few used fold up napmats (foam). I have also had success with foam filled exercise mats that I found used and cover them with a crib sheet

[clep]

I use rest mats. I get them from education station or scholars choice. They are kind of pricey, but store very well and have a seal so that if a child urinates on them the urine can't soak through.

[Daniellesipes]

Thank you so much I need these!

I'm personally going to be buying daycare cots from All About Kids - it's located in Ottawa, ON. http://www.allaboutkids.info/Aboutus.htm

Depends on where you're located, and if you're wanting to pay shipping fees! I also check on online classifieds.