Organic Kids Mattress – A Guide to Choosing the Best Organic Mattress for Kids
One of the most important decisions a parent can make is choosing the best discount mattress for kids, and more importantly – an organic kids mattress.
In shopping for an organic kids mattress, price and comfort may be your top priorities. But did you know that even organic mattresses can have toxicity issues?
Since your kids spend more than one-third of their lives in direct exposure from their mattress materials, it’s crucial to their health that those materials be organic AND non-toxic.
Sleep is critical to your child’s health and wellbeing.
A safe, non-toxic organic mattress can help your child sleep better. Kids are more vulnerable to the toxins in mattresses since their fragile organ and elimination systems are developing and they can’t easily detoxify. During sleep, children’s bodies work to recover from the accumulation of toxins and stress from their day. The cells attempt to regenerate, and the body tries to eliminate toxins. The last thing you want to do is interrupt healthy sleep by introducing more toxins from your child’s mattress.
Kids are vulnerable to the chemical exposure from mattresses for these reasons:
They spend a lot of time sleeping
Their fragile systems are developing
They cannot easily detoxify
Bedtime is for regeneration and recovery
Let’s look at each of these factors:
They spend a lot of time sleeping
Kids can spend between 7 and 12 hours every day on a mattress. During this time, they breathe in chemical off-gassing and absorb toxins through their skin. It’s an up-close, ongoing, long-term exposure.
Their fragile systems are developing
Children’s respiratory, neurological, reproductive, and immune systems are in the early stages of development. This makes them more vulnerable to toxic chemicals. Of particular concern is brain development – low level chemical exposure during the critical period of brain development can cause more harm than high doses later in life.
They cannot easily detoxify
When exposed, kids cannot easily detoxify and excrete these toxins, since their elimination systems are still developing.
Bedtime is for Regeneration and Recovery
While sleeping, children’s bodies need to recover from the stress of the day. The cells regenerate and the body attempts to remove toxins. It’s difficult to do this while breathing and absorbing more toxic chemicals from the mattress.
What’s In a Typical Kids Mattress?
These elements can be present in a typical kids mattress:
Fire Retardant Chemicals or Barriers
Here’s an in-depth look at what those elements mean for your kids mattress:
Polyurethane foam is the most common mattress filling, and this is made from petroleum with various chemical additives. Since foam is flammable, flame retardants are either added to the foam or used in a barrier around the foam. Toluene diisocyanate and methylene diphenyl diisocynate are isocyanates usually used as primary building blocks of foam and mixed with water and polyols. Toluene is a known carcinogen and exposure to isocyanates can irritate mucous membranes and cause asthma, respiratory disease, skin inflammation, and chemical sensitivity.
Foam breaks down over time into small particles, which can become airborne. Multiple VOC emissions have been identified in foam mattresses that can be inhaled and absorbed into the body. Memory foam mattresses contain even more potentially harmful chemicals – to make the foam malleable.
Think carefully before buying foam mattresses for your kids’ beds. Many kids (and adults) are sensitive to these chemicals and can end up getting very sick. If that happens, you’re stuck with an expensive mattress that you can’t return.
Fire Retardant Chemicals or Barriers
Since mattress manufacturers are required to meet government flammability regulations, they add fire retardant chemicals or barriers that can be toxic, including brominated, chlorinated, organohalogen flame retardants, antimony, modacrylic, polyacrylonitrile, boric acid and many other chemicals. PBDEs have recently been banned, but have been replaced with chemicals that can be just as toxic.
Some flame retardants are not heavily bound and can migrate from the mattress into the air and into household dust. They then become stored in our bodies and children are most at risk.
Flame retardants have been linked to these health issues:
altered sexual development
Consumers are in the dark about what chemicals are used in the mattresses they are buying. Formulations are considered trade secrets and not disclosed. Even when the company says “no added flame retardants” it does not mean there are no flame retardants in the barriers or the foam they use. They might say “no added flame retardants” because they didn’t add them, but the flame retardants were likely already added by the manufacturer of the materials they used in making the mattress. Since polyurethane foam is highly flammable, chemicals must be used so the mattress can pass government fire standards.
Another issue with mattresses are the glues or adhesives used. In particular, if the mattress (even organic/green mattresses) contains individually encased coils, they are all connected with glues that may be toxic. A lot of glue can go into a mattress with individually encased coils. To date, the only manufacturer we know that heat seals all the encased coils is Naturepedic. Naturepedic does not use any glues or adhesives anywhere in any of their mattresses.
Be Aware! Older Mattresses can be Toxic too!
Since the chemicals never completely dissipate, older mattresses may continue to off gas even though they no longer contain the chemical smell. There is evidence that common bacteria and fungus in re-used, older mattresses can generate a higher concentration of toxic gases than new mattresses.
Alternatives to Toxic Mattresses
Your kids don’t have to sleep on poison! Fortunately, organic mattresses made with safe materials are available. Some organic mattresses for kids meet or exceed flammability regulations with safe, non-toxic materials.
Here are some things you need to know to choose a safe organic kids mattress:
Choose an Organic Kids Mattress with Non-Toxic Materials for Your Child’s Bed
Yes, an organic kids mattress is definitely important, but it’s even more important to ensure that ALL the materials used are non-toxic and there are no harmful fire retardants or barriers.
Cotton is firm and breathable. 100% certified organic cotton is a perfect filling for a child’s mattress. It’s also the best covering or surface ticking material, especially when it’s quilted.
Natural latex can also be a safe material, depending on how it’s made. Latex comes from the milky substance of the rubber tree plant. If you are going to use latex, make sure it’s all natural latex, preferably organic, and stay away from chemical/natural latex blends. If you can find GOLS certified organic latex, you know you are getting the purest natural latex available.
Wool is also used in organic mattresses. Wool is a safe, non-toxic material when it’s organic or processed according to organic standards.
Eco Foam, Bio Foam or Soy Foam – Beware!
Some mattresses are marketed as green, eco-friendly, or plant-based with descriptions such as Eco Foam, Bio Foam, or Soy Foam. Beware of these since the manufacturers replace only a small percentage of the polyurethane foam with plant-based ingredients. For instance, soy foam is usually polyurethane foam with 10-20% soybean oil (GMO) mixed in.
These mattresses are mostly polyurethane foam, which is highly flammable, so they also need fire retardant chemicals to comply with the flammability laws. Don’t be fooled by this green-washing. You’re still getting a load of toxic chemicals and off-gassing with many of these so-called eco mattresses.
It’s important to check into all materials used, and it can be difficult to get full disclosure from the retailers or the manufacturer. Look for organic mattress and bedding companies who are GOTS certified. The Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) are the trusted organic textile processing standards for mattresses.
The standards require that fiber and fabrics used within a mattress, with limited exceptions, must be made from National Organic Program (NOP) certified materials and processed in accordance with the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). All other components (such as innersprings, fire protection, etc.) must meet strict non-toxic standards.
A common practice is to borrow a GOTS logo from a supplier. The mattress manufacturer might use an organic fabric from a supplier that is GOTS certified. But if the mattress manufacturer is not certified, and they simply use GOTS certified cotton, then this is not a certified organic product and it may contain toxic components.
Non Toxic Natural Fire Protection
Always ask the manufacturer or retailer for complete details about what they use to pass fire standards. Retailers cannot legally sell mattresses without fire protection, unless you have a doctor’s prescription for a chemical-free mattress.
There are safe alternatives to chemical fire retardants that will allow a mattress to pass flammability standards. Some manufacturers use wool since it has flame resistant properties. There are companies that use only pure wool for this purpose, but some companies use wool with chemical treatments added to boost the wool’s fire resistance.
PLA fiber (made from plant starch) is flame resistant and a safe alternative. PLA fiber is non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and performs well in the wash. Make sure the PLA is free of GMOs.
Choosing the Best Organic Mattress for Kids
The way to ensure a non-toxic sleep environment is to avoid polyurethane foam, memory foam and other synthetic materials. Also avoid mattresses with fire retardants. Your kids need a mattress with good quality organic, non-toxic materials.
In this next section, we take a look at:
Firm vs Soft Mattress for Kids
Trying to decide between a firm vs soft mattress for kids? Kids generally need firm support for postural alignment when they are young. A kids organic mattress that is too soft might lead to improper spine alignment, which could cause posture and back issues. A good comfort level for a kids mattress is firm or cushion firm, which means the organic mattress is supportive and firm with some cushion for comfort. Good postural and spinal alignment is not simply about firmness but whether a mattress distributes weight properly (see the section below on individually wrapped coils).
As they grow older, kids may begin to prefer a softer mattress, but this is always a matter of preference. It’s best to begin with a firm mattress since you can always add a soft topper as your child grows older. You can always make a firm mattress softer, but if you start out with a soft mattress and find your child needs more support, there’s not a lot you can do.
Should you get an organic kids mattress with metal coils or innersprings?
There’s a popular belief that the metal in a mattress acts as an antenna to attract and amplify EMFs. I’ve extensively looked into this, and there is not enough evidence to this assumption. The misunderstanding comes from a blog post that provided speculation about innerspring mattresses, which was not based on fact. In actuality, the authors of the study that is supposed to make this claim actually say that metal in a mattress has a weakening or attenuated influence on EMFs. Even so, the conclusions of this study are continually misrepresented. EMFs are definitely something to be concerned about, especially in the bedroom since they can interfere with sleep. It’s important to keep electronics, cell phones, etc out of your child’s bedroom. If you’re still concerned about metal in a mattress, avoid innersprings that are connected with metal helicals and get encased coils that are individually wrapped in fabric. Or buy a mattress with a natural latex core.
