By offering feature-filled bedding for kids, you’re helping children get the restorative sleep their growing bodies need. Parents will thank you, too.
When their kids can fall asleep sitting up in a car or splayed out on the floor, it can be a challenge to convince parents of the importance of a new, quality mattress for their child.
But sleep is critically important for children’s mental, emotional and physical development. And, as the Mayo Clinic notes, “children who don’t get a sufficient amount of sleep may not appear to be sleepy. Instead, they may struggle with attentiveness, hyperactivity, aggression or disruptive behavior. … Sleep deprivation (also) reduces the immune system’s ability to defend against colds and the flu.”
Of course, a supportive, comfortable mattress is one way to help ensure that children get a good night of rest.
The Better Sleep Council, which leads consumer research and education for the International Sleep Products Association, offers a couple of guidelines for parents to help them tell if it’s time for a new bed for their child.
“If your child’s been complaining about having a hard time getting comfortable in bed, that’s a sign he needs a bigger mattress. If you started him off in a twin, it could be time to move to a full,” according to the BSC.
And, “if the mattress in question is more than seven years old, consider replacing it,” the BSC says. “It’s likely your child isn’t getting her best night’s sleep anymore, and the need for comfort and support increases with age.”
This is great advice for mattress retailers to pass along to consumers.
But here’s the question: If parents — or grandparents or other adults in a child’s life — walk into your store looking for juvenile bedding, do you have more to offer them than an inexpensive twin mattress or two that you keep in the back of the store?
Kids’ Bedding: Comfort and Safety, Designed Just Right
Thankfully, bedding producers have been investing in juvenile bedding lines, offering feature-filled mattresses and sleep accessories with the specific needs of children in mind. Here’s just some of what’s new and notable.
For instance, when Bedgear created a new line of kids sheets that debuted at the summer Las Vegas Market, a priority was keeping them on the bed. “We’ve integrated snaps so you can connect the flat and the fitted sheet to keep the two pieces together,” says Jonah Nelson, director of brand experience for the Farmingdale, New York-based sleep products producer. “So, if you have a thrasher that likes to make a mess of their bed, this will help keep the sheets intact.”
The company offers a full line of juvenile bedding, including crib and kids mattresses, protectors and sheets, with features like Dri-Tec fabrics and Air-X mesh for cooling and breathability.
In addition to its Astro Kids pillow with extra pillowcase ($60), Bedgear offers a Toddler Mini backrest in a moisture-wicking gray fabric with pink or mint green accents. Among other uses, the pillow could make story time more comfortable for younger kids.
Brooklyn Bedding, part of Phoenix-based 3Z Brands, unveiled its first line of kids bedding, BB Kids, earlier this year.
“Creating a mattress that prioritizes safety and comfort for children has been a goal of ours from the very beginning,” says John Merwin, CEO of 3Z Brands and founder of Brooklyn Bedding. “… We take immense pride in presenting customers with an affordable sleep solution tailored specifically for children.”
The all-foam mattress includes 4 inches of high-density foundation foam and 2 inches of cooling gel memory foam. The cover features the company’s Nano Stain Terminator, which protects against spills and accidents. It’s available in twin, twin XL and full sizes with prices starting at $265.
Certifications and awards are important for many parents looking for validation of their purchases for their children. The BB Kids mattress contains CertiPUR-US-certified foams, is Greenguard Gold certified, was named a Best of Forbes Vetted products for 2024 and won the Parents Kids’ Sleep Award for 2024.
Mlily USA jumped into the juvenile bedding market in 2021 to provide kids ages 3 and older with their first “big kid” mattress and pillow.
The Knoxville, Tennessee-based bedding producer’s Jama collection includes two foam mattresses that are enrobed in washable covers and come with a mattress protector. The 5-inch version is available in twin and full sizes, with prices starting at $449; the 7-inch model also comes in queen size and incorporates gel memory foam (starting at $549).
With kids in mind, the mattresses come with bright teal or purple accents, incorporate CertiPUR-US-certified foams and are designed for safe use with bed rails, bunk beds and trundle beds.
A coordinating pillow has three individually wrapped layers — two flat layers for height adjustment and one contoured layer for a supportive fit — as well as a washable Modal fabric cover ($65).
The Jama line also benefits children in another way. A portion of sales of both Jama mattresses and the Jama pillow are donated to Special Spaces, an organization that creates dream bedrooms for children with cancer.
Los Angeles-based Avocado Green Mattress offers a full line of natural and organic crib and children’s mattresses, pillows, mattress and pillow protectors, and bed frames.
For instance, its Eco Organic Kids mattress includes components often found in high-end adult mattresses — wool, individually wrapped coils, organic latex certified by the Global Organic Latex Standard and organic cotton certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard. In addition to those certifications, the mattress meets EWG Verified and Made Safe standards and, this year, the company received Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certification for the Eco Organic Kids mattress and two other adult mattresses in its line.
The juvenile mattress is available in twin, twin XL and full sizes, with prices starting at $649.
The company’s Organic Toddler pillow contains GOLS-certified organic latex and GOTS-certified organic kapok fiber. It’s covered in a GOTS-certified organic cotton cover ($34) and has won the Good Housekeeping Parenting Awards.
Key Selling Tips for Juvenile Bedding
Bedding producers are clearly stepping up, offering products designed to help children get the restorative sleep they need.
Here are four ways to market them:
- Tie a new bedding purchase to back-to-school shopping. Labor Day has long been one of the best times for mattress sales, but many school systems start back in early or mid-August. Begin running marketing campaigns in July that encourage parents to evaluate children’s bedding at the same time they are going through closets to see if shoes and pants still fit.
- Tout the third-party endorsements. Parents want the best for their kids so product certifications and awards can be particularly appealing to them when shopping for juvenile bedding.
- Court grandparents. Grandma and grandpa often have more disposable income than parents — and a desire to shower grandkids with gifts. Market bedding to them as a meaningful, significant gift for kids and a nice way to help parents out financially.
- Discourage hand-me-downs. Pass-along T-shirts and dress pants that kids wear for a few hours at a time over a season are fine. But children are going to spend as much as half their time over the course of several years on a mattress, so encourage customers to purchase new bedding that suits each child’s size and sleep preferences.
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