Can anyone tell me about the quality of sleep you get from making up the front bed from the seating arrangements at the front of a caravan. I'm a bit worried about sleeping on the cushions over a week or two.Do you put a mattress over these to even out the bumps or are they good enough to sleep on? Any tips at all?
We turn the cushions over so there are no bumps, never had a problem with losing sleep and we tour a lot through-out the year. Memory foam mattress toppers are an option to improve the comfort of the cushions.
We used to also turn over the cushions then put a memory foam topper over, very comfortable, the downside was that the topper was heavy and took on the form of a dead body when rolled up and stored in the wardrobe. We now have a fixed bed caravan which means we are able to leave turned made up, heaven.
------------- May, Bridge House Marina Garstang
May Willowbank Southport
June Ashes Kendal
July Laverick Hall Halton
July Bridge House Marina
Aug Solway View, Borgue
Sept Willowbank Southport
Oct Wagtail Farm York
Oct Fisherpool Delamere.
the cushions are best turned upside down so the buttons are on the underside and the rolled edge also.
i have a 50mm thick memory foam sheet that i roll out over the cushions and then a mattress topper over that.
at 6'4" tall i still dont find it comfortable but its not too bad. i can put up with it for 10 days. i and up with back ache and cant lie in in the morning, however having a 3 year old and 6 year old thats not an option anyway.
i want to change my caravan and the ideal solution would be fixed bed and fixed bunks but thats not possible so will have to endure the same in the next van.
the thing that does cheese me off is making the bed up every night and taking it down in the morning. with the foam sheet and mattress topper this its a time consuming task.
We experimented and found there is one way of putting the cushions, upside down, so there are no lumps or bumps and we sleep well
------------- We camped for years. In 2019 we bought an Elddis Avante 454. We like it as it is short (6.9m) and fits in our driveway and has a fixed bed.
We had 127 nights away in the caravan in 2023.
We also turn the cushions upside down, in our case so that the knee rolls (although underneath) are running head to foot, not side to side. We then use a sleeping bag over the cushions, a duvet over us and we both sleep well.
Hi Cabbieman
We had a Bailley Cadiz and now own a Cartagena, and have used the front seats into a bed many times. Firstly the bed ìs large and we have found the çomfort to be high and on par with our Hypnos mattress at home. The quality and density of foam is critical for comfort and in my opinion Bailley have got it right. We set the bed up as per the instructions turning the hump in the seat to the walls. I found having to make the bed up a pain, hence the change of van to the Cartagena with its fixed bed.....also very comfortable.
Turn the cushions upside down, we also have a duvet underneath us. I never sleep well in the caravan no matter how we do it but my OH sleeps like a log!
I turn the front cushions over so that the knee roll is face down and actually find I have a better nights sleep than at home. I like a nice firm bed and with the setup up described above my caravan bed is perfect for me.
Turn the cushions, duvet on top of the cushions and another one over you, top up with a little alcohol and have a good nights sleep. Not tried memory foam but I've no doubt it works well.
I turned the cushions so the 6foot lengths went across the van and filled in with the little pieces so we slept on long bits. I always had a bad back within a couple of nights.
Found I tended to get up very early to go fishing but that stop when we got a fixed bed.
I suppose it depends on how big a "knee-roll" the seat cushions have, and how sensitive you are (see fable of "The Princess and the Pea").
Ours aren't too bad, so we just leave them right-side-up and put a Duvalay on top of the cushion without turning them.
Incidentally, we have stopped rolling up the Duvalays for storage during the day (it's not easy finding room to store a rolled up Duvalay - especially the thicker versions).
We just turn them upside-down & leave them on the seat (duvet side down) and cover with a fleece blanket.