Is an organic mattress worth it?

[Sonata]

Organic wool and rubber type mattress?

I stumbled into an organic bedding store and she was going on and on about how terrible regular mattresses are and how wonderful hers are, and it sounds kind of reasonable except that I do not consider a saleswoman's speil reasonable background research. :giggle That and people sleep on regular mattresses all the time and do not get sick, including our family, which has never had anything else.

This would be a double bed for the kids' room, that hopefully someone would use for the rest of their childhood. And my son has asthma, if that makes any difference.




(IDK if this is the right forum; please go ahead and move it if it's not!)

[Kiara.I]

:cup

I don't think that sleeping on regular mattresses all the time and not getting sick is really a great marker, since there are certainly some diseases becoming more prevalent. It's not that you'll catch a virus from a regular mattress and not an organic. :no It's that it contains toxins that you're inhaling.

[MegMarch]

For my baby I just unwrapped it and let it air out for several months. I found out LA Baby sells an organic one for $100ish for cribs though and would have bought that if I'd have known.

For future mattress purchases I suppose I'll consider the price and if it's close I'd go ahead and do organic. If not, I'll just hope to live anyway.

[WaitPatientlyOnTheLord]

So I read that the cheap solution to this was to use a futon mattress on top of a box-spring. :shrug3 Its not organic but it has fewer chemicals. I believe even the cheap futon mattresses are usually made or of cotton (which is most likely bleached and dyed) some are made of wool (thus fire retardant) some to have foam so you have to be careful of that.

Some futons even have inner springs which could make them more like a regular mattress.


Replacing our mattress with something less toxic (even if not organic) is one of the first things i hope to do when we have enough money. We only have a regular mattress because somebody gave us an almost brand new one from their guest room when we got married. We're very grateful for it. But it does creep me out...

---------- Post added at 03:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ----------

My biggest issue is how long they continue to off-gas. For Years! Its pretty scary to me. I will insist on an organic mattress or at least mattress pad for babies cribs. :shiver

I didnt know about the LA baby one, thats awesome. :rockon

[Sonata]

It's not that you'll catch a virus from a regular mattress and not an organic. :no It's that it contains toxins that you're inhaling.

This was my general understanding. :yes And that's why it might matter that my son (and husband, for that matter) are asthmatic.

For my baby I just unwrapped it and let it air out for several months.
Yeah, I hear this as an option, but I don't know how much it does off-gas or not....?

For instance, so far ds has spent most of his sleeping life in our bed, which dh has had since before he even met me. So I would assume that it's not off-gassing much any more, even though it's a conventional mattress; we don't know if he would react worse to a new conventional mattress.

So I read that the cheap solution to this was to use a futon mattress on top of a box-spring. :shrug3 Its not organic but it has fewer chemicals. I believe even the cheap futon mattresses are usually made or of cotton (which is most likely bleached and dyed) some are made of wool (thus fire retardant) some to have foam so you have to be careful of that.

:sick But futon mattresses are just not COMFORTABLE!!


Replacing our mattress with something less toxic (even if not organic) is one of the first things i hope to do when we have enough money.

Yeah, since we have no mattress whatsoever for this bed, we have to buy one. Any kind of mattress is a big investment, so I want to get something I won't want to replace later!


I will insist on an organic mattress or at least mattress pad for babies cribs. :shiver

See, I know a lot of people make a big deal about this for their cribs.... but why is it that much a big difference for a toddler? :scratch If it matters for a baby, wouldn't it matter for an older child as well?

[Kiara.I]

See, I know a lot of people make a big deal about this for their cribs.... but why is it that much a big difference for a toddler? :scratch If it matters for a baby, wouldn't it matter for an older child as well?

Yes. But one of the hypothesized causes of SIDS is mattress off-gassing. So when your baby is little, it's a big deal, whereas later on it's less of a known issue.

Plus, I at least just kind of get more casual as they get older. First year--no sugar, organic foods, etc. Age 5--Sure, you can just have your bag of halloween candy to eat as much as you want. :shifty

[Sonata]

Yes. But one of the hypothesized causes of SIDS is mattress off-gassing. So when your baby is little, it's a big deal, whereas later on it's less of a known issue.

Plus, I at least just kind of get more casual as they get older. First year--no sugar, organic foods, etc. Age 5--Sure, you can just have your bag of halloween candy to eat as much as you want. :shifty

I think you summed it up well!! The question is which of those two scenarios is the "real" one.....

[ShangriLewis]

I love my Ikea mattress and their bed frames make more sense to me. They are suppose to be healthier. Not sure though. It makes me feel better thinking they are:shifty

[grandmaof3]

We have a Naturepedic and I love it. Kids spend so much time sleeping on their beds; I think It is well worth the extra cost. Although I agree that it’s not that you'll catch a virus from a regular mattress and not an organic. Still it’s good choice to spend money on.