Best day beds
A day bed takes a proper mattress, which is why it sleeps better than a sofa bed and why the depth is not your choice.
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A day bed is a single frame with a back and usually two sides, used as seating in the day and a bed at night. The important thing about it is what it is not: the mattress does not fold.
That is the whole advantage over a sofa bed. A sofa bed mattress is typically 10 to 15 centimetres because it has to fit inside a sofa. A day bed takes an ordinary single mattress, which is a completely different sleeping experience.
The constraint that replaces it is the back rail. Mattress depth is decided by how far up the back you want the sleeping surface to sit, because a deep mattress leaves nothing to lean against.
The picks
The pick, if you want one answer
Emma Original Lite Mattress, 7.3 / 10. A proper single mattress at a depth that still leaves a back to lean on.
| Product | Best for | From | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emma Original Lite Mattress | Best overall | £199 | 7.3 / 10 |
| Silentnight Sleep Now Range | Cheapest sensible option | From £169 | 6.7 / 10 |
| Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress | Best if it is a child's bed | Mid range | 7.6 / 10 |
| Inofia Elegant Collection Mattress | Most depth per pound | Around £210 | 6.3 / 10 |
Emma Original Lite Mattress: Best overall
£199 · 7.3 / 10
A three-zone pocket spring layer at £199 with a 200 night trial. Measure your back rail height first: a mattress that reaches more than about halfway up the back is uncomfortable to sit against, and that is how a day bed stops being used as seating.
Buy it if
You want a real spring mattress at a depth that works with a back rail.
Do not buy it if
The frame takes a deeper mattress and nobody will sit on it.
Read the full Emma Original Lite Mattress review
Silentnight Sleep Now Range: Cheapest sensible option
From £169 · 6.7 / 10
From £169, from a manufacturer trading since 1946. Confirm whether the springs are pocketed or open coil if it doubles as a child's permanent bed, because linked springs move as one surface.
Buy it if
The day bed is for occasional guests and everyday sitting.
Do not buy it if
Two people will share it regularly.
Read the full Silentnight Sleep Now Range review
Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress: Best if it is a child's bed
Mid range · 7.6 / 10
Scores 7.6. Day beds are common in children's rooms, and children's mattresses are built around the things that matter there: waterproofing, a washable cover, and firm support at a low body weight.
Buy it if
The day bed is in a child's room and used every night.
Do not buy it if
It is an adult guest bed.
Read the full Simba Hybrid Kids Mattress review
Inofia Elegant Collection Mattress: Most depth per pound
Around £210 · 6.3 / 10
Twenty-seven centimetres and a genuine spring core at around £210. Good value, and only if the frame can take the depth without burying the back rail.
Buy it if
The frame has a low back or none and depth is not limited.
Do not buy it if
The back rail is low and you want to sit comfortably.
Read the full Inofia Elegant Collection Mattress review
The back rail decides the mattress
Measure before you choose a mattress
Measure from the slat deck to the top of the back rail. The mattress should leave enough back above it to lean against comfortably, which in practice means the mattress should reach no more than about half that height.
A 28 centimetre mattress on a frame with a 40 centimetre back leaves 12 centimetres of backrest, which is not a seat.
That usually puts day bed mattresses in the 15 to 20 centimetre range, which is shallower than a modern hybrid. At that depth firm works better than soft, because there is less material between you and the slats.
And the slat rule applies as it does everywhere: no more than about 7.5 centimetres apart, because wider gaps cause sagging and void most mattress guarantees.
Making it comfortable to sit on
A mattress is designed to be lain on, not sat on, so a bare day bed is an awkward seat.
Bolster cushions along the back are what turn it into seating. They bring the effective backrest forward and upward, which compensates for a mattress that has eaten the back rail.
A fitted sheet rather than loose bedding in the daytime, so it reads as furniture rather than an unmade bed.
Firm rather than plush. A soft mattress sags when you sit on the edge, and a day bed gets sat on at the edge constantly, which is also where mattresses fail first.
Trundles, and the height difference
Many day beds have a pull-out trundle underneath, which makes them genuinely useful for two guests.
Two things to check. The trundle mattress depth is limited by the clearance under the frame, usually to around 15 centimetres, and a deeper mattress will not slide back in.
And the two beds will not be at the same height unless the trundle has a pop-up mechanism. For two adults sharing that is noticeable; for children it rarely matters.
Check the wheels or castors run on your flooring, because trundles work poorly on thick carpet.
Where a day bed genuinely beats the alternatives
Against a sofa bed: a real mattress, no mechanism to fail, no bar to feel, and a much better night's sleep. You give up proper sofa comfort.
Against a folding guest bed: permanently available, and it uses the room rather than a cupboard.
Against a normal single: it makes a spare room usable as a study or snug rather than a room with a bed in it.
Where it loses: it is not a sofa. If the room's daytime job is seating for several people watching television, a day bed will disappoint and a sofa bed will not.
What not to do
Buy a deep hybrid mattress for a day bed. It buries the back rail.
Buy a soft mattress. It sags where you sit, which is the edge.
Forget the bolsters. They are what make it seating rather than a bed against a wall.
Buy a trundle mattress deeper than the under-frame clearance. It will not slide back in.
Assume it replaces a sofa. It does not.
Also considered, and why they are not here
A roundup is only as useful as what it leaves out, so here is what was assessed and rejected for this list.
| Product | Why it is not on the list |
|---|---|
| Emma Sofa Bed | Scores 6.6. The alternative if the room's daytime job is genuinely seating, at the cost of a mattress limited to what fits inside a sofa. |
| Inofia Tri-Fold | A folding mattress, which is the cupboard version of the same idea and gives you no daytime furniture at all. |
| Mlily Memory Gel 200 | Scores 5.5. Shallow foam suits the depth limit, and no published density and no spring layer make it a weak buy at the price. |
| Origin Hybrid Pro | The highest scoring mattress here at 8.4, and too deep for most day bed frames. Check the back rail height before wanting it. |
How this list is made, and who made it
Independence
No brand pays to appear on this site and no placement is sold. Some links earn a commission if you buy, which never changes a score, an order or a verdict. Several of the lowest scores here are on products that carry commission, and several recommendations carry none.
Who writes this. Kyle Klinkradt has worked in the mattress and bedding industry for over ten years across retail, distribution and brand partnerships, and has handled, sold or assessed products from every major UK bed-in-a-box brand. Every review on this site is written by one person, so the scores mean the same thing from page to page.
What the assessment is. Construction specifications against what they physically do: spring height and where in the mattress it sits, spring count for the size, gauge, whether the base is sprung or foam, foam density where it is published, comfort layer depth and material. Then the commercial terms that decide what you are actually buying: trial against returns policy, guarantee length against the company's UK trading history at Companies House, and the regulatory record.
What it is not. This is not a laboratory. I do not publish pressure-mapping data or claim to have slept eight years on every mattress here, because nobody has and pages that imply otherwise are not telling you the truth. Where a judgement rests on construction rather than long-term use, the review says so.
What gets a product removed. Leaving the UK market, a specification change that makes the review inaccurate, or a corrected fact. Brands that have withdrawn are kept on the site with the score removed rather than quietly deleted, because people still search for them.
See editorial independence, corrections and the author page.
How these were chosen
Every product here has its own review on this site with a score out of 10, and the score is a judgement rather than an average. Nothing appears in a list because it pays more.
A score is against the market, not against its own range. The cheapest mattress in a lineup is usually priced to make the model above it look reasonable, and the flagship of a budget range has risen into a bracket where better brands compete. Both are judged against what else you could buy for the money.
Everything listed can actually be bought in the UK. That is not a given: Casper withdrew in July 2020 and Leesa no longer sells here, and both still appear in current British roundups with affiliate links attached.
I do not pad the list. Where only three or four products genuinely qualify, there are three or four. A list of seven when the category contains four good ones is a list with three bad recommendations in it.
Prices move constantly. Judge the cash price on the day rather than any percentage beside it. See every review on this site or where the real savings are.
Questions people ask
What depth mattress does a day bed need?
Usually 15 to 20 centimetres. Measure from the slat deck to the top of the back rail: the mattress should reach no more than about half that height, or there is not enough back left to lean against.
Is a day bed better than a sofa bed?
For sleeping, considerably, because the mattress does not have to fold into furniture, so there is no bar and no fold lines. For daytime seating a sofa bed is better, because a day bed is a mattress with cushions.
How do I make a day bed comfortable to sit on?
Bolster cushions along the back, which bring the effective backrest forward and upward, and a firm rather than plush mattress, because a soft one sags when you sit on the edge.
What should I check on a trundle day bed?
The under-frame clearance, because the trundle mattress depth is limited by it, usually to around 15 centimetres. Also that the two beds will not be level unless the trundle pops up.