Keeping warm using air mattress

[ddndoug]

Our daughter slips on the fold out couch with an air mattress. She constantly complains that she gets cold at night even after putting a couple of blankets between her and the air mattress. I thought I would try an electric blanket or mattress warmer for her this upcoming season, but in another thread read about the fear of electrical blankets shorting out and the fire risk associated with them.

What have others used to insulate themselves (or children) from getting too cold based on the fact you are essentially floating on a big chilled pocket of air that is not insulated?

Doug

[Grit_dog]

Ditch the air mattress. Best solution. Aside from being about the worst thing ever to sleep on, I learned a long time ago you can’t get warm with an air mattress under you if it’s cold.
Electric blanket or pad is fine if you have power, but not worth it if you’re camping and not glamping.

[navegator]

what you need to do with the air mattress is to insulate it from bellow, the cold is seeping from the bottom up, get a big piece of cardboard that covers the mattress and then a blanket on top and then place the air mattress on top of all this, the card board will insulate the blanket and the mattress, the card board can be stored in the main bed when not in use, or one of those foam units that are used by tent campers to insulate them self from the ground.

navegator

navegator

[JonWalter]

Foam mat underneath, woollen underlay, and a hot water bottle is what I used last year. I don't own a sleeping bag, but I took plenty of duvets.I feel the cold easily.

This year, I have a stretcher that I put the air mattress on. Of course, haven't been camping in the cold yet, so I don't know how much (if any) a difference it will make.

[time2roll]

I recommend a heated mattress pad that uses low voltage. May need a blanket under it.

Mattress pad goes under you and heated air rises so it is more effective IMO. Have used both but not on an air mattress.

I would have whatever it takes to keep my child warm in their sleep. May need a thick comforter too.

[ddndoug]

FunnyCamper wrote:
might be way to simple but turn up the heat in the camper? 🙂 🙂
Hubby and I are less heat is best cause we like the cooler temps, but kiddo is I am freezing type, so we turn it UP and do for her and we sleep almost above the blankets now LOL

We like it cooler too. But, the biggest problem is the furnace is right outside of our bedroom so the majority of the heat goes there instead of traveling thhrough the ductwork and into the rest of the RV (path of least resistance and all. lol) and yes, I've put adjustable vents on the bedroom and bathorrom vents.

Doug

[FunnyCamper]

might be way to simple but turn up the heat in the camper? 🙂 🙂
Hubby and I are less heat is best cause we like the cooler temps, but kiddo is I am freezing type, so we turn it UP and do for her and we sleep almost above the blankets now LOL

[mudhound]

I like the foam topper idea

[wnjj]

ddndoug wrote:
Thanks for all the different ideas. What is the difference between a heated mattress pad and an electric blanket?

Doug

Made to be layed on versus under.

[ddndoug]

... and yes, she SLEEPS on the air mattress not slips on it. LOL

[ddndoug]

Thanks for all the different ideas. What is the difference between a heated mattress pad and an electric blanket?

Doug

[Dave_H_M]

Dennis12 wrote:
Why would she be slip-ing on the couch.

Maybe because the camper is like mine and the only bed besides the master is the fold out couch with blow up air mattress.

[moonstone]

When our boys were in Scouts & did a few winter camps (in Canada) we found the "foil' survival blankets worked well. They used them under the sleeping bag with another blanket under the 'foil' blanket next to the air mattress. Of course the Scout Leader advised against using air mattresses at all for early spring/fall/winter camps as they are the coldest thing to sleep on but our boys didn't like the thin foam pads.

We have friends with a tent trailer & they have 1/4" sheets of styrofoam on the plywood, under their foam mattress as well as a 10-12" high strip of it along the 3 outer sides of their bed, against the tent sides. They covered the styrofoam with vinyl stickey-back wallpaper/shelf liner from the dollar store to protect it. They said the foam makes a huge difference on cool nights. That wouldnt work on top of an air mattress but maybe the insulating material people are using for winter trailer camping would help.

[Grit_dog]

Keep it simple. Ditch the air mattress.
Staying warm on an air mattress is like heating your house with the windows open.

[Rolling_Condo]

Thermarest
I have this mat. It is wonderful to sleep on. With a R6 insulation factor you will stay warm.