Simplified Pillow Case Mattress

When our daughter was a newborn, I can count on one hand the number of times she slept more than 2 hours at a time. We had such a hard time getting her into a sleep routine. She was almost nine months old when she finally started sleeping through the night. After we hit that milestone, she was an excellent sleeper, until she turned three. Her third year was one of constant shake-ups and her sleep routine went out the window. She was waking up two to three times a night and climbing in bed with us and while I love snuggling my little one close, all the waking up and squishing three people in one bed was aggravating my migraines. Something had to change and quick!

I had seen pillow case mattresses floating around Pinterest and Facebook but was really against the idea of sewing it from scratch, it seemed like a pillowcase mattress should be just that, made from pillowcases. I talked to my Mother-in-law and we came up with probably the easiest solution ever. It is so easy, I didn’t even take step-by-step photos.

You will need:

3-4 pillow cases (3 is long enough for my 4-year-old)

Pins

An Iron

A Serger

Pillows

First iron the pillow cases flat and then lay two on top of each other. Pin one edge together and serge the pillows together. Do the same thing on the other side of one of the pillow cases. When serging the pillow cases together, you want to serge on the inside of the existing pillowcase seams. This will cut off the extra seams and reduce the bulk and make the cases slightly smaller, holding the pillows in place better. Add the pillows and you have a mattress in less than 10 minutes.

This little mattress has quite literally saved my sanity. It lays on the floor next to my bed and if my little girl wakes up in the middle of the night now, she lays down next to the bed and goes to sleep without waking anybody up. It is magical. Totally worth 10 minutes.