Therm-a-Rest - Trail Scout Sleeping Pad

it depends on what r-value you need, but honestly most sleeping pads that are thick and comfortable are going to be inflatable of some sort, either self inflating or otherwise. under a hundred you'll end up with a zlite or some other foam pad which is fine, but not very plush. I use an old thermarest (maybe a scout?) on a neno switchback and it's pretty comfy, serves me down to about 25°f. when my partner and I go camping, we use an exped megamat which is great. we have friends who use a Nemo roamer and they love it.

I use a thermarest Trail Scout. Gets the job done.

Thermarest trailscout is an excellent mattress around the price. Trusted brand and packs really nicely in my dry bag.

My kiddo spends at least 30 nights a year camping since she was born.  Without knowing what kind of overnight temps your dealing with it’s hard to give specific recommendations, but if it’s anywhere where the overnight lows are below like 45f, I wouldn’t be putting them on something that isn’t camping-specific.  We use an exped megamat duo for us and a thermarest trails scout short for our 3 yo. I picked one up on sale for like $30. And we got our megamat on sale as well for like $120. You could get your kid a megamat - they are the top of the line, or you could find something of that style that’s specifically for camping, but cheaper (I think REI makes one).  Go with something that has foam and isn’t purely inflatable (the ones mentioned above are both) for durability.  At 18m I wouldn’t do a cot just cuz they may fall out. And I wouldn’t purchase a cot that doesn’t have any insulation under it - it’ll be cold.  We have an REI wonderland 4. It will fit the 3 of us and our stuff no problem, but if you plan on expanding your family, I’d get something bigger. 

A thermarest scout is in budget; it doesn’t save any weight over the old pad, but, since you have the mechanical advantage, I’ll go on: -comfortable. The way the foam works in self inflating pads is just quite comfortable. -warm. The 3.1r value seems accurate. I used it down into at least the teens. Durable. Here I must admit both of mine suffered ill fated premature failure, however, I do not blame the mattress. One is a simple pinhole I just need to fix and the other is a dog inflicted wound. The materials and the build quality to me seem plenty durable, like, overbuilt. -packable? Meeeehhh, prolly 3L or so? -self inflating, no pump/pump sack.

I have the basic thermarest trail scout in long. It's okay for side sleeping, but I might consider their base camp model instead if I were buying today. Thicker, more insulation. Should be better for side sleeping. Still reasonably priced.  I'd shy away from used on this purchase.

Thermarest trail is a great option. Has lasted me over 10 years now, no leaks. Only thing I’d change now is getting one slightly thicker.

The Thermarest self inflating is rubbish. Just some thin foam that helps to expand and suck air into the pad. But you still need to inflate it further. My exped mat is filled in a minute with the pump sack.

We use fold up carton type mats as our base. Then in our tent we have Sea to Summit self-inflating bed rolls. Our kids have the same base and use Therm-o-rest self-inflating ground mats. We find as long as we stay on the self-inflating mats, we’re pretty comfortable. The ther-o-rests are almost 20 years old and still in great shape. We upgraded to Sea to Summit because they fold up so small for backpacking

I just switched from expensive Thermarests over to these crazy cheap Night Cat hand pump pads and I am never going back to thermarest/self inflation. My arm goes dead without fail sleeping on the Thermarests and they take up nearly twice the room in my gear. The only benefit of the Thermarests I can see is that they are really tough, which could be great for some hardy adventures maybe. But nothing a couple patches can't fix IMO... So Choo choo I'm on the air pad train. These newer cheap designs are legitimately very good, they roll out crazy long and then shrink up. I probably can't share amazon links but "Night Cat Inflatable Sleeping Pads". There's a bunch of brands making this style now too, I'm not trying to spruik any particular brand, this was just the one that was affordable where I live.