Baby Play, Home & Wellness Guides
This guide matches the right mat type to each surface so you can protect your baby, preserve your flooring and avoid an expensive buying mistake.
Rugs soften the feeling of timber, tile and concrete floors. They also reduce echoes and create a warmer place for parents and children to sit together.
Carpeted surfaces may help reduce the severity of some minor household falls compared with bare hard flooring. However, a standard rug usually does not offer the same depth of resilient cushioning as a purpose-made foam mat.
First comes the bright foam puzzle mat spreading across the living room like a miniature daycare centre. Then, when the baby finally goes down for the evening, you step over the play gym, move the toys, find your yoga mat, unroll it over the floor and discover that one corner has started curling upwards again.
Choosing a baby play mat sounds simple until you start comparing a thin fabric mat, a medium-density foam mat and an extra-thick folding mat.
A mat that is too thin may provide little protection from tile, concrete or hardwood. But thicker is not automatically safer. A very soft, deeply cushioned or pillow-like surface can make it harder for a young baby to lift and turn their head, push through their arms or stabilise their body.