We are looking at a 6" special from SleepEZ (two layers of dunlop) for our 3 year old son. I have seen posts from Phoenix where he recommends a minimum of 28 - 32 ILD (medium range) firmness for young children. I also see a lot of references on the internet about young children needing firmer mattresses.
I was planning to go with a medium dunlop on the top and firm dunlop on the bottom until I spoke on the phone with a couple different latex bed suppliers. They both recommended a soft/firm dunlop combination based on the fact that young children don’t weigh very much and won’t sink into the latex.
We want this mattress to last a long time and we realize that we may need to change/add layers in the future as he grows. In the med/firm case I was thinking we would add a soft topper, but the recommendation from one supplier was to add a medium middle layer between the soft/firm configuration for more support as he grows and weighs more.
FYI, his dad was 100 lb at age 14, so we don’t expect him to be a very large teenager.
Now the questions…
Does anybody have any experience with or recommendations on latex beds for young children?
Does med/firm or soft/firm make more sense?
Should I be concerned about the soft layer being too soft for him?
Is latex maybe not the best option?
[quote]I was planning to go with a medium dunlop on the top and firm dunlop on the bottom until I spoke on the phone with a couple different latex bed suppliers. They both recommended a soft/firm dunlop combination based on the fact that young children don’t weigh very much and won’t sink into the latex.
We want this mattress to last a long time and we realize that we may need to change/add layers in the future as he grows. In the med/firm case I was thinking we would add a soft topper, but the recommendation from one supplier was to add a medium middle layer between the soft/firm configuration for more support as he grows and weighs more.
FYI, his dad was 100 lb at age 14, so we don’t expect him to be a very large teenager.[/quote]
With any generic guidelines that there is always a risk of taking them too literally and the main idea is that children need firmer mattresses than adults because they have a less developed body and their bones and core structure is more flexible which means that good alignment is especially important. Having said that … softer materials will be firmer for lighter body weights so very low body weights will sink in much less to softer materials and they will feel firmer than adults that are in a higher weight range.
Each set of circumstances can be different and I would always take into account the parents knowledge of their children and the body size they are likely to develop along with the recommendations of a knowledgeable and experienced manufacturer. In the same way boys will tend to have higher body mass and will often tend to do better with a firmer choices than girls but with boys that are likely to be in a lighter weight range or who have a slighter build then softer choices can also make sense. Generic guidelines are generally just that … guidelines that are designed to be a “safe” choice on average but they always need to be “adjusted” for individual circumstances.
The advantage of latex vs other types of foam is that even in softer versions it will be more evenly supportive because of the way the firmness increases when latex is compressed (called the compression modulus) and because of it’s ability to contour to the shape of the body so with latex there is less risk with softer choices than there would be with other materials.
All of this is to say that a softer latex comfort layer with lighter children or children that their parents believe would prefer a little softer sleeping surface would certainly work well and that “best judgement” based on each set of circumstances would be the best way to choose. A firmer medium surface wouldn’t be a “bad” choice, but it may not always be the “best” choice in the case of latex.
Given the information that you provided I think either would work well but soft/firm may make more sense for your son because “soft” will still be more “medium” for his lighter body type. In this case then when he gets older and needs more thickness I would add a layer in between the firm and the soft rather than adding a soft layer on top which would be the most likely addition for someone who chose a medium/firm mattress.
I don’t think so no.
That depends on how you define “best” and personal preference is always be the biggest part of the choice between different materials but my own thoughts are that a latex sleeping surface is a great choice for children because of its durability, it’s combination of being both pressure relieving/contouring and supportive, and because it’s a more natural material with less risk of any sensitivities than the other foam alternatives which for many people is a significant part of the “best” choice for their children.
Phoenix, thank you very much for the prompt and thoughtful response. I think we’re going to go with the soft/firm 6" special for him. If for some reason we feel it is too soft for him down the road it can always be a hand-me-down to his little sister and we can get a firmer option for him. Thanks again!
I’m not sure if you saw my post a few days ago, but we just purchased a latex mattress for our 4 year old daughter. My son has an innerspring organic naturepedic mattress. I wish I’d known about latex mattresses before I spent $1000 on my sons innerspring. We picked up the latex mattress today and we all found it extremely comfortable. It is 2x3" layers of Dunlop natural, we ended up with a layer of firm and a layer of medium. Our thought was that as she got older we could add another layer of whatever was comfortable. She says it’s comfortable and my son who is 60 lbs who lay on it says it’s more comfortable than his naturepedic. Although tonight is the first sleep in it! We purchased ours from Spindlemattress.com and I was completely thrilled with the quality of the latex and cover. The cover is organic cotton with wool. It was very reasonable at just $699 for the full. Hopefully she will get many years of use out of this bed!
Update: both layers (firm and soft) seemed surprisingly soft to me and I could hardly tell a difference between them. He seems to sink in a lot just crawling around on the bed, which I don’t like.
I am definitely planning to exchange the soft layer for medium, but am going to wait until our son will be at grandma and grandpa’s for a week so he isn’t without half of a bed in the meantime.
Latex can be surprising and somewhat deceptive to many people that haven’t used it before because it is an unusual combination of soft and firm. It is very “point elastic” and contouring which means that it can compress more deeply under more concentrated weight with little effect on the area around the point of compression (such as when crawling) but it can also be surprisingly firm when you are lying down and the weight is spread out over the length of the body. You would certainly feel a difference between soft and firm if you were sleeping on the latex.
I talked to a manufacturer a couple of days ago that uses this to demonstrate his latex mattress and the point elastic properties of latex. He uses his knee to fully compress 6" of latex and then show that the area beside it is still at its full height.
Thanks for the update … and I’m looking forward to any further feedback after you exchange the layer.