For parents, ensuring the health, wellness, and safety of their kids take top priority. This means invoking a stricter code of acceptance with every product purchase, from food to clothing. However, most parents tend to overlook one of the biggest purchases they ever make for their kids: their beds.
It’s not enough that your child’s bed looks cute or bouncy. You also have to consider its health aspects, such as the mattress’ capacity for housing allergens that can potentially harm your kids as they sleep.
Potential Allergens in Your Mattress
It might not be a big deal for adults, but children tend to be more sensitive to chemicals present in the common mattress. For example, most bed manufacturers use formaldehyde and flame retardants in processing mattresses. While the amount is negligibly small that it might not prove harmful to adults, inhaling its fumes might cause significant damage to a child’s nascent immune system.
Even mattresses that claim to be ‘all-natural’ can still expose your kids to harmful contents. Cotton fibers are usually soaked in boric acid as part of treatment before processing them into a mattress. Furthermore, latex foams can contain polyurethane to help sustain the mattress’ bounce.
Furthermore, mattresses are generally considered a dust-mite hotspot. These microscopic bugs are the most common cause of asthma and other respiratory illnesses in children.
How to Avoid Allergens in Mattresses
The best way to prevent your kids from falling victim to these allergens is to avoid purchasing a conventional mattress altogether. Despite the fact that mattresses are required by law to be flame resistant, there are still mattresses in the market that are manufactured with minimal use of chemicals in the process, thereby sparing the release of any harmful gasses.
An organic mattress store is one of the many specialty stores that offer a solution to this dilemma. Organic mattresses usually pass the required laws by displacing flame retardants pure wool, one of the main material components and a natural fiber with built-in flame retardant properties.
However, take note that not all mattresses labeled as ‘organic’ are non-toxic. There are still some manufacturers who loosely employ the term because laws don’t keep them from doing so. To guarantee your child’s safety, always remember to purchase mattresses that are certified organic, meaning they garnered the necessary certifications from world-recognized testing parties such as GOTS and GOLS.
Don’t settle for just ‘good’ enough. Remember that your child’s wellness is in your hands. Choose only the best and safest mattresses for your kids.
Sources
Non-Toxic vs. Organic Mattress Review, WellnessMama.com
Organic Mattress Labels You Can Trust, ConsumerReports.org
