Can REM-Fit's kid's mattress impress my 3-year old? My toddler and I put it to the test

REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress: £349 at rem-fit.co.uk

A foam kid's mattress with a 100-night sleep trial

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Our REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress review tries out the brand's only children's mattress to see if it's the best mattress to help a restless child sleep comfortably through the night.

Quick review

This was the first single children's mattress my daughter (and I) have tested, but I have previously tested more grown-up mattresses from the brand; the REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid Mattress and the REM-Fit Hybrid Pocket 1000 mattress. Both of these larger mattresses were totally different sleep experiences, and the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress follows suit.

Whilst it's not designed for grown-ups, sleeping on your kid's mattress is often something that can't be avoided. Whether they're having nightmares and need comforting or your partner switches place with them so that they can sleep in the big bed with you, it's a thing that mums and dads just do to make it through the night.

I, myself, am a side-sleeper with tension in my shoulders and lower back. My husband is also this type of sleeper who also gets over heated. It's tricky to speak of the type of sleeper our daughter is; I'm thinking all the positions! She's also very restless, hot and cold. One thing that we can all agree on, though, is that we like a medium/firm mattress with a decent squish and bounce on top.

When I had the opportunity for us to try out the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress I couldn't wait for us to try it (and to get our daughter into her big-girl bed).

Aside from the toddler bed mattress that she had previously which was from Silentnight, and our king-size mattress, I didn't have anything else to compare it to yet the first thing I noticed was how thin and firm it felt. I found it uncomfortable to sleep on my side, as did my husband. A common thing with foam mattresses is the lack of squish or bounce, too. The temperature regulation was good, though; no hot or cold nights. And the removable and washable cover can be saviour.

I also love that the cover is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and the design uses 75% upcycled foams. This is by far the most eco-conscious mattress from the brand. They also off-set the carbon produced from manufacturing to support the global tree planting initiatives from Carbon Footprint Ltd.

Overall, this REM-Fit mattress is certainly an option if you're super keen on the eco credentials (it has lots) and / or if you and your child are back sleepers. We've since been trying out the Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress and have all found that this is better suited to our nightly needs, sleep style and desire to bounce. If there was more consideration for grown-ups then I feel that it would be far more comfortable, for big and small kids alike.

REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress review

Overall we consider nine factors when we test kid's mattresses. We then use these to score each mattress out of 5. The REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress scored 3.5 out of 5. Read on to find out why.

Specifications

Type: Foam
Materials: Visco elastic memory foam, reflex foam, eco foam
Sizes: Single
Comfort level: Medium / firm
Height: 15cm
Side handles: No
Manufacturer sleep trial: 100 nights (200 nights if you buy a REM-Fit mattress protector)

REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress: £349 at rem-fit.co.uk

A foam kid's mattress with a 100-night sleep trial

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1. Comfort

The REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress is constructed from three layers of foam; Visco Elastic memory foam, reflex foam and then a base of eco foam. It has a total depth of 13cm (advertised as 15cm) of all foam which is then wrapped in a 100% upcycled ocean plastic cover.

In practical terms, we found that this all-foam mattress is true to the 7/10 medium/firm tension (10 being at the firmest end of the scale) with plenty of squish, but not bounce. Our 3-year-old had previously been sleeping on the Silentnight Healthy Growth Kids Toddler Mattress made from 100% recycled plastic bottles (no foam) which had a firm feel yet plenty of support in all the right places. There was no bounce on this mattress either.

Since this was her first big-girl mattress it made it tricky for us to compare. This was until we received the Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress, which has five layers including edge-to-edge support and a spring layer. Compared to the REM-Fit option, Simba's kids mattress is noticeably better suited to side-sleepers and those cheeky monkeys who like to jump on the bed.

My daughter is a side, front, back, and everything in-between sleeper and she found the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress to be too firm ('hard') for her. Myself and my husband also found it too firm, and uncomfortable, for long periods of time on our side.

Of course, there are individual factors that can affect how firm you find a mattress, the main ones being your weight and build. Whilst REM-Fit doesn't specify the weight limit of their Kidz mattress they do suggest that it is 'suitable for growing bodies'. It's always worth baring in mind that where you're holding tension in your body and where you carry your weight can also make a difference to how comfortable you find a mattress.

2. Responsiveness

I've found that memory foam mattresses can sometimes lack responsiveness. This is because memory foam is designed to cradle your body and offer a cushioned 'hug', but this can sometimes create an impression of our bodies on the foam that makes it harder to change position and roll over.

We found just this with the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress. My husband and I found that we created a crater when sleeping alongside our daughter, making it difficult to turn over. At times it felt like whoever was on bed-sharing duty that night was in danger of squishing her. She loves to be close to us (a blessing in disguise), but as a result, as soon as she fell asleep we'd take ourselves back to our big bed.

The 25mm of reflex foam in the construction of the mattress is meant to provide some bounce to counteract this issue, but we did find it lacking responsiveness. As our 3-year-old noted, 'the mattress doesn't bounce'.

3. Temperature regulation

I start off cold in bed and then tend to overheat later on in the night if the mattress isn't quite right., and our daughter is the same. My husband on the other hand, is a hot sleeper and is far prone to overheating. All in all, we're a tough bunch to impress in regards to temperature regulation, and yet, the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress gets full marks.

Standard memory foam mattresses can be prone to causing overheating because the material is too dense to allow for airflow. On the Kidz Eco mattress this layer of foam is at the top, under the cover, so it's the first layer your body comes into contact with. As such, I expected it to sleep far hotter than it did. Instead its temperature regulation was a pleasant surprise and none of us experienced any noticeable overheating.

My theory is that the knitted cover helps to ventilate any excess heat, and our 3-year-old moves around enough during the night that she got herself into a cooler position had she at any point felt too hot.

4. Edge support

This was a tricky one to test because this REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress is so thin. My 10kg weight sank the edges down to 8cm from the full height that I measured as being 13cm (not the advertised 15cm). And when I was sat on the edge of the bed to launch myself out of it, it sank so low that I ended up standing up from the side of the wooden bed frame. Our 3-year-old has no comment.

There is no attempt in the design to provide any edge support, though there is on the larger, adult-sized mattresses. A better edge support would definitely make it easier for grown-ups to get in and out of the bed, and most likely more comfortable for growing children who could be sleeping in this bed up until they become teenagers.

5. Ease of care

As with all REM-Fit mattresses the cover is removable and machine washable at 30-degrees, but the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress comes with a difference. The difference between this mattress cover and the others is that it is made from 100% upcycled ocean plastic, whilst others are 100% polyester. REM-Fit have teamed up with the Seaqual Initiative to work with NGOs, fishermen, authorities and local communities to clean marine litter. This litter is then transformed into a fully traceable raw material that can be used again in another product. It's the only product by the brand that I can see this recycled cover being used on and I'd love to see more of this across the product categories.

I'm still dubious about the breathability of synthetic materials but our daughter didn't wake in the night too hot or too cold, so the knitted finish on the cover must be allowing some air flow through the fibres otherwise I'd be dealing with sweat as well as little toilet accidents in the night.

To save on wrestling with a single-sized mattress to remove the cover, though, I would always recommend investing in a mattress protector to keep it clean and avoid any staining to the mattress itself. It's a lot easier to wash a mattress protector than it is to figure out how to clean a mattress. Ready for a top tip? Add a couple of layers of protection with a mattress protector and a fitted sheet for a quick (and easy) sheet strip should an inventible toilet accident happen. You can then all go back to sleep without (hopefully) any further disruptions.

6. Sleep trial

You and your little one can trial the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress for 100 nights, or 200 nights when you buy a mattress protector with it. This is a chance for them to sleep on it, roll on it and jump on it to see if it's right big-person mattress for them. If for any reason it doesn't give your child a comfortable nights sleep then it can be collected and returned for free, and you'll receive a full refund.

By upgrading the trial by buying a mattress protector (which I tell you, will be a good investment) it means that REM-Fit are now on a par with the 200 nights sleep trial offered by Simba, Emma and Brook + Wilde, though this isn’t quite as long as the 365 night sleep trial currently offered by Nectar.

7. Delivery

This is the third REM-Fit mattress I have reviewed this year and each time the process has been seamless.

I received a text message from the courier company, Rhenus, shortly after the order had been placed, and this gave me a selection of delivery times and dates to choose from. Then, on the day of delivery, I received a phone call from the delivery drivers to advise me of the delivery time frame.

Whilst this is not a mattress-in-a-box, the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress does arrive wrapped and rolled in a thick plastic bag in an attempt to make it easier to manoeuvre; word is that REM-Fit have stopped using the outer cardboard box in a bid to reduce packaging.

As of writing, the brand offers free delivery to most postcodes, which involves a two-person delivery to the room of your choice. Since this is a thinner mattress it is, therefore, a lot lighter than the grown-up mattresses so I was personally able to take it up the stairs with relative ease (the trickiest bit was the size). Not all mattress retailers offer this service. Emma, for example, only deliver its mattresses to outside your door.

However, what REM-Fit doesn't offer is a 'white glove' delivery. This is offered by retailers such as Simba who label this delivery service 'VIP delivery'. What it means is that for an extra £50 a specialist team will install your new mattress for immediate use and remove all packaging. Whilst this won't be something everyone needs, if time isn't on your side or you just don't want the hassle, it is a helpful option to have.

Once unpacked, the mattress took just an hour or so to inflate. I didn't notice any strong off-gassing odours from the mattress after unpacking it – a common feature of foam and memory foam mattresses - and it was ready to use that night.

8. Environmental impact

The REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress is the only mattress that I can see by the brand to have made a conscious effort to reduce their environmental impact. REM-Fit are really shouting about the use of upcycled materials and the mattresses ethical design on the webpage.

The brand have even stated that they offset the carbon produced during the manufacturing process by supporting the global tree planting initiate led by Carbon Footprint Ltd. REM-Fit do not point this out on any other of their pages or, indeed, any other efforts to reduce its environmental impact, at least based on the information we could find on its website.

REM-Fit does offer removal of your old mattress if you pay an extra £34.95 at checkout, but we couldn't find any details on whether these mattresses are then recycled. If you return a REM-Fit mattress under the 200-night sleep trial, it'll be collected by the British Heart Foundation within 14 working days of the agreed collection date. The only caveat is that it must be in a resalable condition. Alternatively, it'll be refurbished (steam cleaned, maintained and if required fitted with a brand-new REM-Fit mattress cover) and sold on as a 'rejuvenated mattress' via various channels.

9. Value for money

The REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress is the brands only children's mattress and their only all-foam mattress. It retails for £349 and can only be bought direct from REM-Fit. I haven't seen it discounted like I have with the adult mattresses but that doesn't mean to say that you can't ever make a saving on it, you'll just need to keep an eye on it (if you're prepared to wait).

It would also be worth bookmarking our mattress deals page which has the lowdown on all of the latest discounts on offer from REM-Fit, and its competitors.

To compare, the Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress retails for £299 and the Little Green Sheep Natural Junior Mattress retails for £345.95. Both are cheaper than the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress, but only just. For what you get compared to these two other children's mattresses I feel that the price is quite high, especially if you're to buy it outside of a sale. The materials used are not natural which often command a higher price due to the sources, and it doesn't have as many layers as it could do with.

I haven't seen any other customer comments about the price, or anything else, on the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress but I can see that as of writing, REM-Fit scores 4.1 out of 5 on Trustpilot, and whilst there are some customers who note specific issues with their mattresses, overall 74% of reviewers gave the brand a five star rating.

REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress: £349 at rem-fit.co.uk

A foam kid's mattress with a 100-night sleep trial

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How I tested

Jennifer Oksien

I'm Jen, one of the Ideal Home team's Consumer Experts. My previous REM-Fit Hybrid Pocket 1000 mattress review and REM-Fit 600 Lux Elite Hybrid Mattress review have put two of REM-Fits's bestselling grown-up mattresses through their paces, so I was eager to find out how the brand's one and only children's mattresses – the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress – could help my daughter to comfortably sleep through the night.

Here are our sleep stats:

Sleep position: side (me), side, front and back (daughter)
Tension preference: medium / firm (me), medium (daughter)
Sleep problems: shoulders, lower back and 8mo pregnant (me), kicking off the duvet (daughter)
Height & weight: 5ft 8 & 80kg (me), 2ft 9 & 22kg (daughter)
Average sleep time: 8 hours (me), 11 hours (daughter)

During my testing of the REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress I assessed the nine factors that the Ideal Home team deems vital to any kids mattress purchase.

With the help of my 3-year-old daughter I assessed the mattress for comfort, responsiveness, temperature regulation, and edge support through at home testing. This means that the mattress was slept on by my child (and me or my husband every so often) for a minimum of two weeks before writing my review.

I also took into consideration durability, any sleep trials available, the delivery process, and the mattress's environmental impact and its value for money.

Where possible, I also took into account third-party customer reviews – to see if they aligned or were at odds with my own experience – before writing my own review and giving this mattress a star rating.

REM-Fit Remy Kidz Eco Mattress: £349 at rem-fit.co.uk

A foam kid's mattress with a 100-night sleep trial

View Deal