5 Little Monkeys Sleep System Review

Comfort & Feel

There are three aspects that make up our assessment of comfort and feel. We call these "preference-based characteristics" because no rating here is better or worse – rather, the attributes that are most desirable to you will be determined solely by your personal preferences. We apply the same classification standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.

Softness ( what’s this )

Keep in mind that what mattress companies call “firm” or “soft” is a purely a preference. All mattresses should be supportive and promote healthy spinal alignment. Whether a mattress is fluffy and squishy (what mattress companies call soft or plush), or less so (what companies call firm), is purely down to your personal needs and preferences.

We looked at the 5 Little Monkeys mattress from a child's point of view; a heavier adult would find this a much softer mattress than a lighter child. We would call this mattress a Medium overall - it's plenty soft but has firmness below.

Not sure what softness is best for you? Take our Mattress Match Quiz and find out.

Cushioning Depth ( what’s this )

This refers to how deeply you sink into the mattress or feel cradled or hugged, versus a feeling of floating on top of the bed. This is definitely more of the latter. When we pressed into the mattress, our hand got quite deep into it, for what we would term as deeper than average cushioning. However the weight of your child will be a big factor here. Neither of our child testers felt that they were being swallowed by the mattress or had any trouble changing positions.

Responsiveness ( what’s this )

Responsiveness refers to how quickly a mattress recovers its shape after being compressed. When you press your hand into the mattress, for instance, then remove it, does it take several seconds for the mattress to return to flat, or does it recover immediately?

While the 5 Little Monkeys mattress does have some memory foam, we found it to be a very quick-responding foam, with little of that slow responding memory foam feel. The mattress also has very little bounce (like most all-foam mattresses).

Back Support & Pressure Relief

The two things that you should always be sure to get from your mattress are spinal alignment (commonly thought of as "back support") and pressure relief. Unfortunately, no mattress will deliver these two things equally well for all sleepers. In particular, spinal alignment and pressure relief capabilities will vary across sleepers with different weights, body shapes, and sleep positions.

Children need proper spinal alignment and support as much as adults. A mattress that's too firm might result in a child not sinking in at all, which a too-soft mattress might allow the back to curve too much. In our observations with our child testers, support and spinal alignment did not appear to be issues, whether back, side, or stomach sleeping.

Other Characteristics

Beyond the preference-based characteristics of comfort and feel, and the body matching for spinal alignment and pressure relief, a mattress will have a number of other attributes that can make it a better or worse choice for you. We call these "priority-based characteristics" because they are areas in which a mattress can be better or worse, but that will have differing amounts of importance to each sleeper. So, determining how much importance to give to these features will be entirely a matter of your own personal priorities. As always, we apply the same ratings standards to each mattress so you can more easily compare apples to apples.

For the 5 Little Monkeys Sleep System, we looked at factors that would matter to children.

Temperature ( what’s this )

Children can have a tendency to sleep hot. 5 Little Monkeys solution for this is the inclusion of gel in the top layer of memory foam. Gel is a known conductor of heat, and it's used in many other mattress brands for the same reason.

Overall, we did see any reason to think a child would be any warmer on this mattress than any other.

Edge Support ( what’s this )

Edge support can be important for a children's mattress for a couple of reasons, and more for a parent than perhaps for a child. In the top photo, you'll see one of our child testers sitting on the side of the 5 Little Monkeys mattress. He's stable and doesn't sink down too much--helpful if your child likes to sit on the edge, or perhaps to tie their shoes.

But edge support also has a role for caregivers, too. If you and your child like to read a book together, for example, you'll find yourself squeezing in to fit on the side of the bed. Same if you need to comfort a child at night. Our adult tester felt fairly stable on the edge, but as you can see in the lower image, he's sinking quite a lot. Overall, edge support is good, but not the best among foam mattresses.

Green Features ( what’s this )

For mattress shoppers concerned with the use of natural materials, sustainable manufacturing practices or the like, we offer our subjective evaluation of any efforts taken by the company to make the mattress more green, healthy, or safe. 

In the case of the 5 Little Monkeys mattress, the foams are petroleum-based, so not a natural product.

The foams are certified to the CertiPUR-US standard, which verifies that a material has low VOC off-gassing as well as a lack of chemicals and other substances regulated by the CPSC. This certification is so common to be almost standard these days.

While the main mattress materials aren't natural, the Sleep System's mattress cover, mattress protector and pillow cover are all made of organic cotton, so the items that are closest to your child are more natural than the innards of the mattress itself.

Price & Value

How Much Does the 5 Little Monkeys Mattress Cost?

Prices shown are list prices. Remember that GoodBed keeps our site current with the best available discounts on all online mattresses, many of which are exclusive discounts for our readers. 

The 5 Little Monkeys Sleep System comes in three sizes: Twin, Full and Queen.