Helix Kids Mattress Review

Helix Sleep is a renowned brand in the world of mattresses. They offer a wide variety of mattresses and bedding products that are tailored to different sleep preferences and needs. Shoppers can even take a sleep quiz, and Helix will recommend the best fit for them.

The Helix Kids is Helix Sleep’s designated mattress for kids from the age of 3 to 12 years old. It’s a hybrid mattress with a flippable design and each side has a different firmness option based on age range.

In this article, we will discuss the following for the Helix Kids mattress:

• Pros
• Cons
• Who we recommend this mattress for
• Unboxing Experience
• Firmness, Feel, and Comfort
• Constructions, Material, and Design
• Performance
• Warranty and Company Policies
• FAQs about the mattress
• Final Verdict

The Helix Kids Overview

Pros

• Flippable Design: The Helix Kids has a flippable design with different firmness options, each side is designed specifically for an age range.
• Waterproof and stain-repellent: The cover of the Helix Kids is treated with a plant-based water-repellent finish to combat stains and spills, in addition to an odor-fighting microbe shield.
• Cooling Features: The ultra-soft Tencel covers provide excellent breathability to the mattress, promote airflow, and have quick-drying features, which prevent any chances of overheating or sweating during sleeping.
• Great Edge Support: It’s crucial for kids’ mattresses to include sufficient edge support, to prevent any chances of children rolling out of the bed, fortunately, Helix Kids has exceptional edge support properties, due to the mattress’s structure which includes a blend of coils and layers of foam.
• Hypoallergenic Features: it eliminates triggering any allergic reactions such as itchiness, redness, swelling, or pain, and regulates temperature, and keeps allergens away.

Cons

• Price Range: Helix Kids is constructed from very high-quality materials, and it’s one of the rare hybrid kids mattresses, which makes it more on the pricier side.
• Motion Isolation: The Helix Kids has a fair level of motion transfer, but for many that won’t be a problem since children normally sleep alone.

Who we Recommend the Helix Kids for

• Kids (From 3 - 12 Years Old): The flippable design of the Helix Kids provides two firmness options on each side of the mattress for different age groups.
• Hot Sleepers: The covers of the Helix Kids are made from Tencel, which is a very soft and breathable material that supports airflow and has quick-drying features, which is very suitable for hot-sleeper as it will eliminate any heat accumulation throughout the sleeping experience.
• Back Sleepers: Helix Kids is a great fit for back sleepers, as it supports the spine and keeps it aligned, which is particularly important for children’s growth and development.
• Stomach Sleepers: Kids who prefer stomach sleeping positions will find the Helix Kids to their liking as it provides a nice pressure relief due to the comfort layers of gel memory foam and poly foam.

Unboxing the Helix Kids

The Helix Kids mattress arrives compressed in a rectangular box, weighing between 60-75 lbs, making it relatively lightweight and easy to maneuver. Unboxing and setting up the mattress on your child's bed can be done in about 5 minutes. However, it's recommended to have an extra pair of hands to assist with the process.

The Helix Kids mattress takes between 1 to 2 hours to fully expand. The edges also expanded fully indicating great corner expansion.

Upon unboxing, you may notice a slight non-chemical off-gassing odor, which is common for new mattresses. The odor should dissipate within 24 to 48 hours, depending on the size and ventilation of the room. To speed up the off-gassing process, consider airing out the mattress in a well-ventilated area.

Firmness, Feel, and Comfort For Helix Kids

The Helix Kids Firmness

The Helix Kids includes two firmness options, depending on which side you choose to place the mattress on, the first side has a firmness rating of 7 on our scale, which indicates that it’s medium-firm and it’s designed for kids from the age of 3 to 7 years old.

The second side has a firmness rating of 5 on our scale which makes it medium-soft, and it’s designed for kids from the age of 8 to 12 years old.

There’s an easy-to-read label on each side of the Helix Kids that shows which side is medium-firm and which side is medium-soft, so it won’t be difficult for you to differentiate between the two sides.

The Helix Kids Feel

When we laid down on the Helix Kids we experienced the softness and plush feel of the Tencel cover, it’s also hypoallergenic to prevent any sort of allergy-prone kids. Helix Kids covers are treated with RUCO®-DRY BIO NPE, which is a plant-based water-repellent finish to combat stains and spills, alongside the Odor-Fighting Microbe Shield, AEGIS.

Each side of the mattress has a different feel, as each side has a different comfort layer. The medium-firm side (ages 3–7) has a 1.25-inch layer of high-grade poly foam, which provides excellent pressure relief for back sleepers. We felt great spinal support as adults, which indicates that children will feel even more spinal support, which is essential for the growth of younger children

The medium-soft side of the mattress (ages 8–12) includes a layer of 1.2-inch″ gel memory foam comfort layer, which adapts to the movements of the body, provides a cushiony and comforting feel, and enhances the cooling properties of the Helix Kids mattress.

As we continued to sink into the comfort of the Helix Kids, we didn’t experience any sort of heat buildup, and we felt more stable and supported, especially in the back sleeping and stomach sleeping positions.

The Helix Kids Comfort

The Helix Kids mattress is designed specifically to assist the growth of children and provide a comforting and relaxing sleeping experience. That’s why the Helix Kids adjusts to the body’s shape and movements and provides excellent spine support and alignment.

After testing the Helix Kids, we found out that it has excellent pressure relief features across all sleeping positions, especially back sleeping and stomach sleeping positions. Side sleeping positions, on the other hand, have moderate pressure relief features, and there could be some pressure buildup on the hips and shoulders if your kid is more on the heavier side.

Firm Side (3 to 7 years old)

Soft Side (8 to 12 years old)

Constructions, Materials, and Design

Materials and Design

The Helix Kids mattress is characterized by its flippable design, with each side designed to accommodate an age range.

The Helix Kids is a hybrid mattress with a Tencel cover, plant-based durable water repellent, and Microbe Shield. It uses a non-toxic certified foam, and it’s constructed using a combination of coils and layers of foam, including Gel Memory Foam, Helix Responsive Foam, and Fire Retardant to ensure the safety of children.

Layers

• Cover: The Helix Kids Mattress cover is made from the ultra-breathable material Tencel, which is soft and hypoallergenic. It’s also treated with a water-repellent finish and an Odor-Fighting Microbe Shield.
• Fire Retardant: Each side of the Helix Kids mattress and the side panels are safeguarded from flammability, which ensures that the children are safe and protected at night.
• Gel Memory Foam: The softer side of the Helix Kids is designed for children from the age of 8–12 and has a layer of Gel Memory Foam, which provides a cushiony and comforting feel to the mattress and has pressure-relieving properties.
• Pocketed coils: Most kids’ mattresses either have an all-coil or all-foam design, but the Helix Kids includes layers of foam and hundreds of individual 6” coils, which limit motion transfer, enhance edge support, and offer a balanced and relaxed sleeping experience.
• Helix Responsive Foam: The firmer side of the mattress is designed for children aged 3–7. It’s made of high-grade polyfoam, which provides spinal support and assists in the proper development of younger kids.

Performance of Helix Kids

Cooling

Cooling is one of the most vital factors to consider when you’re choosing a mattress, especially if you’re a hot sleeper who’s looking for deep sleep without experiencing any disruption or discomfort.

We tested the Helix Kids by lying on it for 20 minutes and monitoring if there was any significant heat build-up occurring, and we found out that its ultra-breathable material and quick-drying features prevent any sort of overheating or sweating during sleep.

Thanks to the cooling features of the Tencel cover, which is a high-end fabric made from wood pulp, it’s very soft and durable, offers great cooling and heat dissipation, and promotes airflow.

We rate the Helix Kids Mattress 5/5 in terms of cooling performance.

Responsiveness

The responsiveness demonstrates how flexible and adaptable the mattress is to your movements and position while you’re asleep.

We tested the responsiveness of the Helix Kids by conducting the ball removal test. We placed a 20-pound ball on the mattress and waited for a second for the ball to settle in. Then, we removed the ball and checked how long it took for the mattress to go back to its original form.

The Helix Kids had an average response time, recovering mostly in 0.8 seconds and completely recovering in 1.2 seconds. which indicates that the mattress is responsive. The results are consistent on both sides, but they feel a bit more responsive on the firmer side.

Since Helix Kids is targeted mainly toward kids, this won’t be much of an issue since the children weigh significantly less than adults, so an average response time is perfectly fine.

We rate the Helix Kids Mattress 4/5 in terms of responsiveness performance.

Motion Isolation

Motion isolation is an important factor for anyone who shares the same bed because it shows how the movement on one part of the mattress could affect other parts of the mattress.

We conducted two tests to measure the capacity of motion isolation on the Helix Kids. The first test was placing a glass half full of water on top of the mattress and dropping a 20-pound ball on the other side of the mattress. The water from the glass splashed on the inner walls of the glass but didn’t spill outside of the glass during the test, which indicates the mattress has a fair level of motion isolation

The second test was to see how well the mattress would isolate motion from a partner. We had one person lie on one side of the mattress while the other person rolled around on the other side. The person lying still reported that he could feel the movement but not enough to disturb his sleep, which indicates that the mattress doesn't completely isolate motion but has average motion transfer levels, and in the case of children, the motion transfer levels will be even lower as they weigh less than adults.

We rated the Helix Kids Mattress 3.5/5 in terms of motion isolation performance.

Edge Support

Edge support performance affects the stability of your mattress’s surface and is important for maintaining the shape and form of the bed, especially for high-energy children who are constantly in motion.

We carried out a test for the edge support of the Helix Kids by applying firm pressure to the edges and monitoring for counterpressure. We felt sufficient counterpressure from the dense layers of foam, and the edges sprung back immediately into shape as soon as we removed the pressure.

We conducted another test by sitting on the edge of the mattress. The mattress didn’t sink, and we felt excellent support.

The hybrid construction for the Helix Kids provides excellent edge support performance, as the coils extend to the edges of the bed and the dense foam provides exceptional support around the edges and prevents any roll-off sensation.

We rated the Helix Kids Mattress 5/5 in terms of Edge Support performance.

Noise

A silent mattress can make a world of difference in the case of bed-sharing, and mattresses with coils are known for their squeaky and screechy noises, which can easily decrease the quality of sleep for your children, which is essential to their growth.

After conducting a noise test on the Helix Kids mattress by dropping a 20-pound ball onto it, we used highly sensitive microphones to listen for any squeaks or noises, and we found out that there was no sound at all besides the thud of the ball itself, which indicates that the Helix Kids mattress is almost silent and will not disturb your kids in their sleep, whether they’re sleeping alone or they’re sharing the bed.

We rated the Helix Kids Mattress 4.7/5 in terms of noise.

Pressure Relief

A mattress with good pressure relief ensures that your body weight is properly and evenly dispersed across the mattress, which prevents any excessive pressure or soreness in areas such as the shoulders, hips, or back and provides a better sleeping experience.

We used a pressure map to test and evaluate the mattress’s ability to reduce pressure in certain body areas by visualizing the pressure distribution. The results showed the following:

• Back Region: The pressure revealed a relatively consistent blue color on the map for the back region on both sides, across all sleeping positions, which makes the Helix Kids an excellent choice for a back sleeper as it provides great lumber support in addition to keeping the spine properly aligned during sleep and assists in the proper development of younger kids.
• Shoulders Region: For the shoulder area, the mattress showed a mix of blue and green colors on the pressure map for the side sleeping positions on both sides, but more on the firmer side. which indicates that this mattress may cause some pressure buildup for light-side sleepers.
• Hips Region: The hip region showed a mix of blue and green colors on both sides of the mattress, but the softer side only showed a hint of green, which indicates that the Helix Kids might cause some pressure on the side sleeping position, especially if your kid is a heavy sleeper.rs.

Overall, the softer side will offer more pressure relief, while the firmer side has average pressure relief performance, which indicates that both sides are a perfect choice for back and stomach sleepers, but the firmer side will fit lighter weights, while the softer side will fit heavier weights more.

We rated the Helix Kids Mattress 4.5/5 in terms of pressure relief.

Helix Warranty and Company Policies

Warranty

Helix Kids mattress is covered by a 10-year limited warranty, which offers specific legal rights and covers all manufacturing defects. Learn more about the warranty on Helix’s website.

Trial

Helix offers a 100-night sleep trial on the Helix Kids mattress, which means you will have plenty of time to try if the Helix Kids mattress is the right one for you. However, it is crucial to your body for 10 to 14 days to adjust to your new mattress, so take your time before deciding whether you’d like to return it or not.

Returns

If you decide that the Helix Kids is not to your liking within the 100-night trial period, you can return it for free and for a full refund after reaching the 30-day break-in period.

Shipping

Helix provides free shipping in the United States, which, in the case of the Helix Kids, usually takes 3–8 business days.

Pricing

The Helix Kids Mattress is more on the pricey side, and that’s due to the top-of-the-line materials used in the construction of the mattress.

The prices are demonstrated in the table below according to different sizes, These are the original prices and are subject to discounts. To see current discounts, check their website.

Policies Overview

FAQs about Helix Kids

Does the Helix Kids mattress require a box spring?

Not necessarily. You can put the Helix Kids mattress on a platform or a box spring if you’d like. You can also put it on top of a bunk bed or attach it to a tufted headboard.

Does Helix make mattresses for older teens and young adults as well?

Yes, Helix Sleeps is one of the best brands on the market, and they have a huge lineup of top-rated mattresses that are tailored to different sleep preferences and needs.

Is the Helix Kids Mattress eligible for accidental damage coverage?

There’s an option while you’re buying the Helix Kids Mattress to get an add-on accident damage coverage when checking out online or within 30 days of your mattress delivery. In this program, you’ll be protected from stains, spills, pet damage, and other occurrences.

What if my child is heavier for their age?

For children who are bigger than their peers, we recommend trying both sides to determine which one provides the most comfort and support. The label on the mattress serves as a guideline, but your child's individual preferences may vary.