Hayley Matthews: My six-year-old just wants to sleep with his mummy

I slept in yesterday morning, because I only got to sleep at around 6am when my son got out of our bed to kick a football up and down the hall.

A mummy cuddle is great, but maybe not every night

My hair’s in a bun, I look a riot and even have a hint of BO. I’m sleep deprived and if didn’t have so many beds to strip, floors to wash and errands to do, I’d run myself a bubble bath, have a glass of wine (yes at 10am), then go back to bed.

I naively thought that co-sleeping was just a baby phase. Don’t get me wrong, I love nothing more than when my son creeps in to bed for a mummy cuddle, I wouldn’t change it for the world, but it’s every single night. He also snores like a drunken old man, is restless and kicks all the covers off in a fit of sleep rage. I remember asking other mums years ago “when do they start to sleep in their own bed?”

“Oh they won’t do it when they’re 18,” one said. Huh, really? Over the years, I’ve tried making my son’s room extra cosy, comfortable and smelling of lavender, all while keeping my room cold, with the windows open and the radiators off, all in an effort to make my bed less tempting. I even kept a summer duvet on all year round but it was pointless. Yes, before you ask I’ve tried putting him back in his own room and negotiating with him at 3am, but I accepted a while back that co-sleeping and a mummy cuddle was just how we’d be doing it to get through the night.

Then suddenly out of nowhere, he started to sleep in his own bed. Hallelujah! Let’s get the nice bed linen out and order that new mattress that we desperately needed, especially after years of two adults, one child and three large cats rolling on it (yes all at the same time). Our old mattress had taken a beating, had more humps than a row of camels and was puffed up by two duvets, a mattress topper and some pillows. It was incredibly uncomfortable, but I wasn’t ditching it until I was sure my son was going to sleep in his own bed.

All seemed well so after several unsuccessful trips round all the Edinburgh mattress shops (my partner and I couldn’t agree on one) we decided to try out the Simba mattress with the 100-day free trial. Ordered it online which felt strange. However, the reviews looked good and decided we could send it back if it wasn’t suitable.

It arrived in a box (I’ve no idea how they get it in there) and while it unravelled, it took the shape of a fluffy cloud-like square that I was desperate to finally get a good night’s sleep on. I nearly cried, it felt amazing. Then, that night, it happened. My six-year-old crept through, discovered the mattress along with my new electric blanket and was back in our bed quick as a flash. And there I was, once again, on the edge of the bed, heels digging in my back, toenails scraping down my legs and a juicy bottle drip on my pillow! My partner gushed in the morning about how he’d rather give up football than send our Simba mattress back. Me, on the other hand, the sleep I did get was amazing but I think we’re going to have to buy one for my six-year-old or I’m seriously going to end up on the sofa with the cats, at least until my son gets a girlfriend.