Avoiding Flame Retardants: Crib Mattresses

Baby’s crib mattress worried me more than any of the other items I had to purchase for Frankie because he was going to spend more than 12 hours a day on it. Now that he’s here and has started flipping himself onto his tummy to sleep with his face pressed up against the mattress, I’m certainly happy that I made sure his crib mattress didn’t have any flame retardants for him to breathe in. In the end, the crib mattress that I settled on was not only free of flame retardants, it was also free of any toxic materials.

Like pajamas, mattresses are also required to meet certain flammability standards. As such, basically all mattresses have flame retardants. I decided to start my search by Googling “organic crib mattress.” In doing so, I came across sites like the ones below that helped guide me. 

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/flame-retardants-in-your-babys-crib-mattress-heres-how-to-avoid-it.html

http://www.healthychild.com/safe-non-toxic-organic-crib-mattresses/

Frankie after having finished tap dancing on his crib mattress, free of flame retardants

Based on my search, I narrowed my choices down to the following: 

White Lotus Cotton and Wool Chemical Free with Puddle Pad: Made with wool, which is naturally flame resistant, the mattress doesn’t require any flame retardants to pass flammability tests. I decided if I was going to get this mattress, I needed to get the puddle pad to protect the investment. Now that I’ve had Frankie, I would definitely reiterate the need to have a crib mattress that repels moisture. Frankie has released all of his bodily fluids (with the exception of blood, thank God) onto his mattress, some in extraordinary quantities, in only four months. In the end, even though it’s made in the USA, I passed on this mattress because of the price ($573) and I couldn’t find a warranty or guarantee on the mattress. The website only said that I should expect the mattress to last an average of 10 years.

Also, a word of caution is needed here because some of White Lotus’ mattresses are treated with boric powder, which they say is less harmful than table salt, but upon further investigation may be less innocuous than they suggest. Specifically, this flame retardant additive concerned me for two reasons. First, they mention research that indicates that 4 out of the 6 studies conducted indicated no observed adverse health effects. This statement also implies that 2 out of 6 did find adverse health effects, which is mixed findings in my field, and hardly “conclusive proof.” Second, they state the level at which borate powder would be toxic (i.e., cause death). Making sure something is non-toxic, which is not the same thing as something being 100% safe (e.g., hydrogenated vegetable shortening), is a great thing to be concerned about, but I’m also concerned about other long-term adverse health effects, none of which seem to have been addressed by the research cited.  

The Coco Mat: Made with organic coir, which is made from coconut husks, and wool, this mattress passed flammability standards without any flame retardants. It comes with a free waterproof protector.  I didn’t choose this mattress either. Again, the price ($399) was prohibitive and the mattress was only guaranteed for 5 years, making it not the best choice for someone who wants to have more than one kid. I was also looking for something made in the USA. This mattress is made in the UK, which didn’t concern me, but I prefer to support my economy whenever I can. In this case, I definitely could. 

Naturepedic Organic Cotton No-Compromise™: In the end, this is the mattress that I chose. Made in the USA and free of flame retardants because it’s designed to be fire-resistant with it’s non-toxic materials—they use organic cotton fabric, organic cotton batting, potato starch plant-based PLA batting, and steel innersprings which tend to smolder rather than ignite to pass flammability standards. I chose the Classic over the Lightweight because I preferred the steel innersprings over the Wavesupport™, which is made with food-grade polyethylene. I wasn’t worried about the plastic core in the Lightweight; I just try not to buy plastic whenever possible, and in this case, it was possible. I went with the Classic over the Ultra because the only difference was the upgraded coil innerspring, which I didn’t think was worth the extra $100 over the Classic. There is also a Quilted Deluxe option, which I passed on because it was $150 more than the Classic and didn’t have a waterproof food-grade polyethylene surface. The price was also $140 more than the Classic. I also passed on the 2-in-1 option because, like the Quilted Deluxe, it was $140 more than the Classic and the big kid side wasn’t waterproof.  You can upgrade to a dual-stage model on the Lightweight, Classic, and Ultra series for an extra $20 to $40 depending on which you choose. Have you picked up yet that I labored for hours over this decision? Oh, and did I mention the price? The no-compromise™organic cotton classic was the most affordable of all the organic options I found (including ones I didn’t mention here), coming in at $259, which seemed like a steal considering Naturepedic’s limited lifetime warranty. Now that I’ve been using this mattress for four months, I’m smugly pleased with my decision because it’s easy to clean when Frankie barfs, drools, pees, and poops on it. Plus, I do not regret passing on the option to upgrade to the dual-stage model because the mattress is firm, but not uncomfortably so. He’ll be just fine to use it in his big boy bed.

Remember how I said that nearly all mattresses have flame retardants? My next step was to replace my flame retardant doused mattress with one that I deemed safe.  My search for a grown-up mattress is coming next…