A reader recently asked me if I thought she should go to the expense of getting an organic wool mattress for her little one arriving soon. Money was a BIG concern for her but she didn’t want to risk her baby breathing in harmful chemicals. Of course I cannot make that decision for anyone but I faced the same scenario three years ago when I had my third child.
I already had two crib mattresses and I didn’t want to be wasteful by buying a new one when I had two already. Of course the two I had were most likely filled with plastic and had a plastic cover. But since they were a couple years old I wasn’t very worried about off-gassing anymore. So I ended up using 100% wool army blankets that I got from an estate sale and I made a mattress cover with them. Then I topped the wool with organic cotton crib sheets.
I am happy with the compromise since I feel my son had a safe place to sleep and I didn’t have to buy new or spend $500 on an organic crib mattress. BUT this was my third child. If I could go back in time and get a do-over I would buy a nice organic crib mattress from the beginning and hand it down to subsequent babies.
Now of course you may be wondering why I had/have a crib in the first place since the eco friendlier option would be to co-sleep. Well, I wasn’t very green when I had my first child so I did buy a crib and mattress and then later we had a toddler bed that needed a mattress. Neither of these things got very much use since we did co-sleep with our first two kids.
My third child though did not want to co-sleep. He started out in my bed but he would fuss and flail around if anyone else even moved in the slightest. So I tried putting him in another bed with pillows around him and he slept like a lamb. He actually slept better on his own. He was my first child that would just lay down, stick a thumb in his mouth, and go to sleep the moment his head hit the pillow… IF he was in there alone… otherwise he would fuss.
At three years old he is just NOW starting to want to co-sleep and has been in my bed for a month now. But I digress… I would encourage any parent to wait to buy a mattress until they really know if they need it. If they cannot afford a pricey organic or natural crib mattress then they CAN make do with wool mattress pads and organic sheets. And if you really want to make the investment in a good mattress I have really come to like Natural Mat. In particular I like the Coco Mat. It is a breathable and natural organic crib mattress filled with coir from the only certified organic coir plantation in the world. Coir is made from coconut husks which are coated in natural latex to make a supportive and breathable fibrous layer. The coir is then wrapped in lambs wool which is bathed in a mixture made from extracts of lavender, lemon and eucalyptus making it completely anti-dust mite as well as maintaining the excellent thermal insulating properties of natural wool. I have a cut section from the Coco Mat and I wish they made King size cause it would go on my wish list… I will need to replace my mattresses soon.
Just look at it above. Does that not look amazingly natural and comfortable??? It passes strict US Fire Retardants standards without having to use toxic fire retardants. AND this is a big bonus… every element of the Natural Mat mattress is biodegradable and compostable.
