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Organic Mattress

January 8, 2013 / 21 Comments
 

 
The search for an organic mattress begins! 

Henry’s been sleeping on a crib mattress on the floor (Montessori-style) since we stopped co-sleeping around two months. Now that there’s a new baby on the way (due at the end of June), it feels like a good time to upgrade him to a twin mattress on the floor. Eventually, we’ll probably pair the mattress with the MALM bed from IKEA, but for now we might as well keep it as low to the ground as possible. 
It won’t be much of a transition to go from a crib to a twin mattress, but we might as well implement any impending changes well before the baby comes. 
Matt and I care very much about eco-friendly and non-toxic products, but we can’t always afford them. For example, our own mattress is from IKEA. And while we might end up with a non-organic mattress for Henry because of price considerations, I would love to be able to provide him with the healthiest sleeping surface possible. After all, he literally spends half his life face down on the thing! Here’s an interesting article about the dangers of sleeping on chemical mattresses.

Honestly, searching for an inexpensive organic mattress is pretty daunting. There’s this recommendation from Young House Love, but the twin version is $1,639. Um, cannot afford that for a child’s bed!

There’s a local place in Austin that offers organic options, but their price tags are faint-inducing, too.

There’s something like this from Wal-Mart (I hate to promote Wal-Mart!), but it’s hard to tell whether it’s actually “eco” or whether they just slapped the label on it.

And all this mattress talk is making me wonder whether we should get a full-size for Henry, so that we can all read stories together before bed (parents + two kids). And will our kids share a room? If yes, will we do bunk beds (like this cheapo twin on top of a full)? If we don’t do bunk beds, then we’ll probably want two twin beds for space reasons.

I don’t mean to turn a small molehill of a decision into a mountain; it’s just that I want to have a vision for the future, so that the purchases we make now can line up with it. Otherwise, we’ll end up wasting more money and having a greater environmental impact by having to replace things.

21 Comments

  • Not So French Girl

    January 8, 2013 at 1:21 pm Reply

    I really like the idea of a full mattress as it leaves room for me! I'm sure there will be nights when my child has nightmares or is sick and I wants me, but I need to sleep to go to work! Also, the family stories idea is nice.

    Maybe both kids will end up sleeping in one bed?

    It is worrisome to think about how much time babies and kids spend on chemical filled mattresses.

    I plan to do cloth diapers, but have bought some disposables for the beginning (which is set to begin, any time!) I tried to buy an eco-friendly diaper, but I think I may have just bought an eco-friendly label. Oh well. Since then I have asked friends and gotten local advice on where to find what.

  • Anonymous

    January 8, 2013 at 2:37 pm Reply

    Set a craigslist alert (and be willing to drive a ways to get it). We purchased 2 very nice organic crib mattresses off of craigslist even though we cosleep. If you put Henry into a toddler bed it would not only allow you to afford an organic mattress for the next 2-3 years for him, but also free up a lot more floor space for games.

    ps – and if you do have to go non-organic, a used mattress will have already off gassed most of its fumes in the first few months of use.

  • Elizabeth Rafert

    January 8, 2013 at 5:41 pm Reply

    Hmm… I tried to post this earlier but it got swallowed by Google+. Hopefully I'm not double-posting.

    I just spent two weeks agonizing over this decision, so I thought I'd share our options with you:

    Options (could probably get this at ~2 months, if baby was sleeping with us)
    http://www.plushbeds.com/latexsofamattress.html $349 35x72x4.5
    http://www.holylamborganics.com/babypages/crib.html (crib mattresses, way expensive, but no fire retardants)
    http://www.nooksleep.com/products-13-pebble-twin-mattress.html ($700)
    http://www.amazon.com/Naturepedic-MT45-Organic-Mattress-Combo-Twin/dp/B000YS059E/ref=reg_hu-br_mrai-recs (this one has a firm waterproof side and a softer non-waterproof side, so we might not need a mattress pad for this one)

    I also wanted to say that it was your original post about what kind of mattress to get that spurred us to decide on a twin-size mattress to start with, so even if your mattress isn't as eco-friendly as you'd like it to be, because of you we're getting a much more sustainable mattress than we might have otherwise. The ripple effect is powerful! 🙂

  • Eclice

    January 8, 2013 at 9:08 pm Reply

    Hi !

    It is nice to read you are searching for a good matress. But I don't get how you could be worried about the matress and want to consider that ikea bed frame (?) Did you notice that I=it is not made of solid wood ? (like manyyyyyyy ikea things) and particle board / fiber boards / MDF etc. are famous for being really… not great (to say the least) in regard of health considerations :'(

    I did not get an organic matress for myself (I wanted on organic wool matress but there was only one shop so far away that I couln't try it…). But I do make sure I never buy wood particle furniture 🙂 My partner has serious breathing issues so it is really a concern to me.

  • Jen

    January 8, 2013 at 10:16 pm Reply

    We are planning a full size mattress so that it could also be used as a guest bed for visiting adults if necessary. However, we only have one kid so the space restrictions of needing to fit two beds in a room is not a consideration.

  • Anonymous

    January 9, 2013 at 3:38 am Reply

    we bought Bea's mattress from White Lotus a few years ago. It's a cotton futon type. I think it was probably around $600. No complaints. It's held up great. I don't think we went with the organic option, but when researching it seemed to be one of the less toxic options if we couldn't afford the straight organic route.

  • Anonymous

    January 9, 2013 at 3:38 am Reply

    we bought Bea's mattress from White Lotus a few years ago. It's a cotton futon type. I think it was probably around $600. No complaints. It's held up great. I don't think we went with the organic option, but when researching it seemed to be one of the less toxic options if we couldn't afford the straight organic route.

  • Annalisa

    January 9, 2013 at 12:47 pm Reply

    we have a keetsa for ourselves and love it. i did buy it online but they worked with me in the event i didnt like it.

    my big concern was flame retardants and all their mattresses are wool covered.

  • Catoctin Mountain Mama

    January 9, 2013 at 3:21 pm Reply

    I just ran across the option…

    http://openyoureyesbedding.com/

    Not sure how comfortable the mattress is but supposedly it's great for your back. They sell the DIY kit to make the mattress (so they don't have to add flame retardants). You can either buy the buckwheat hulls from them or from a local source.

    One thing that appeals to me about this option is that you can make the mattress larger or smaller depending on your needs.

  • Erica

    January 9, 2013 at 5:29 pm Reply

    Hey Sara!!! Congrats on your pregnancy and thank you for sharing your family's life with us all!

    I saw this several months ago and thought of it again when I read your post this morning. I like this bunk bed option.

    http://www.howwemontessori.com/how-we-montessori/2012/11/a-shared-montessori-room-jack-and-miles-1.html

    Also, if you are looking at the full on bottom, twin on top, you could always buy the twin now and buy the bed frame and full mattress when you transition the new baby later down the road. Regardless, the money wouldn't be wasted now if you purchase a twin since you will need it later as well. It would also give you time to get settled and see if a full bottom would take up too much space.

  • RaleighMom

    January 10, 2013 at 2:54 am Reply

    You can go to http://www.theorganicbedroom.com or call them at 919-521-5566. The owners are super helpful and have great options for chemical free mattresses for adults and children. They can talk you through the whole process and almost all of their mattresses can ship anywhere. They also carry a full line of organic and chemical-free bedding accessories.

  • Heather

    January 11, 2013 at 4:04 am Reply

    I seem to remember reading that you can buy a mattress without flame retardants if you have a not from your doctor. I am thinking about doing this when I buy a twin for my youngest. Flame retardants are toxic and don't really seem to work anyway (http://tinyurl.com/bbc29br). One more thing to think about.

  • lauren

    January 12, 2013 at 11:13 pm Reply

    I vote for the Walmart mattress. I don't think you should feel bad either. While I'm not a fan of big box stores either, I do think there is value in rewarding companies for offering items like this.
    And as for greenwashing?It seems legit–it has many of the same materials mentioned in YHL's mattress.

    In fact, YHL wrote about finding a good eco-option for their daughter's crib at Walmart here:xhttp://www.younghouselove.com/2010/02/nursery-progress-crib-notes/

  • Jenny Lynn

    January 27, 2013 at 1:12 am Reply

    Hi Sara
    Price is obviously is a huge factor to consider – before you purchase, I'd suggest a little research on talalay processing latex and the fact that the Walmart mattress is a mix of natural and synthetic latex – most people with latex allergies have an allergy to the synthetic latex. Try to find a balance between potential exposure to toxic chemicals and budget – we resell Naturepedic line – organic twin quilted is $649, made in USA http://www.organiclifestyle.com/eco-gifts-for-kids/quilted-innerspring-mattress/

    (Our price includes shipping but happy to price match it and then some)

    I hope this helps
    Jenny
    organiclifestyle.com

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