This is a very important topic, believe me. I have found that more and more parents are choosing high-quality “ adult” mattresses for children's beds.  But have you seen the height of these things lately?  During my last trip to a major mattress store, the thinnest mattress I could find was 13” high.  So please consider:

• The height of most bed frames (where the box spring will sit) reaches 12” off the ground (we can usually find out the exact height after you select your bed frame).  This height is often standard to fit a trundle underneath.
  
  
• You will add to that a LOW PROFILE (a regular profile is absolutely out of the question because of height) mattress at around 5 ¼ ” thick.
  
  
• When you add this 5 ¼ ” to the mattress height of, say, 13” -14” and then the 12” from the ground, your child's bed becomes more than 30” high.
  
  So measure that height and compare it to your young child.  I guess this is why they make step stools!  Also, please consider that the higher the mattress, the more of the headboard you are going to cover up (especially if you want a nice arrangement of pillows).  A little advertising secret: almost all photographs of  bedding and beds are taken WITHOUT ANY BOXSPRINGS on the bed to show as much of the headboard as possible.  So unless you take this into consideration, you can't assume that your bed will look like the one in the picture once you get it set with a mattress and dressed with your selected linens.
  
  My best solution to this height dilemma is what mattress specialists call a “ bunky board” .  This is a 1” -2” padded board that takes the place of a box spring.  I would strongly recommend using this with one minor adjustment: Because your mattress is going to sit down  in the side rails of the bed, your bed skirts will have to take a small step up before they can flow down evenly over the edge of the bed frame side rail.
  
  One caveat with bunky boards for toddlers: There is no practical way to install guardrails on a bed that does not have a box spring.
  
  So what does your mattress and sub platform affect, and why is it important to us?
  
• Your sub platform choice of bunky board or low profile box spring affects the length of your bed skirt.
  
  
• The thickness of your mattress affects the width of your duvet cover (a standard duvet cover does not cover the sides of many of today’ s thicker mattresses).
  

These are all things we can help you work out so that your child will have a bed as comfortable as it is beautiful.