My wife and I have a 7" natural latex mattress from Savvy Rest that we love. We are wanting to begin to transition our daughter to her own bed and want to get her a latex mattress for both the comfort and support, as well as the dust-mite proof aspect. We looked at Savvy Rest but the cost ($1369) for a twin size natural latex mattress seems too high. We located one option for $695 at nearby Earthsake in Berkeley, CA; it is a custom mattress that has a 2" latex core with cotton ticking and wool cover. Our daughter is very petite and light so we figured that this mattress would provide ample support for her for 4 to 5 years and then we could upgrade her and keep this bed as a spare for her friends, etc…but we are worried that the cotton will invite dust-mites. We will also need to buy the trundle frame for 595, but we like that it is so low to the ground (2") and it had wheels so we can roll it under our bed in our 1 bedroom. The store salesperson said that the mattress “probably wouldn’t get dust-mites” due to the wool-covering. She said that there is enough wool covering to meet fire-proofing standards which she suggests would also keep dust-mites out. Any thoughts about 1) whether 2" of latex is enough support for our little one, 2) about how dust-proof a mattress with cotton will be, 3)and any other reasonable options out there for a natural latex mattress for a small child would be greatly appreciated.
Hi pracies,
Post #2 here has a list of forum threads that concern mattresses and children that include many links to some very good quality/value mattresses.
I agree with you that Savvy Rest is costly but I also think that for 2" of latex, Earthsake is a costly choice as well.
Dust mites need moisture and if there is wool quilting in the mattress then this will keep the microclimate dry and inhospitable to dust mites although of course you can never completely avoid them. Latex is also the most breathable of the foams so this can also help with dust mites.
For a young light child it probably would be OK although i would tend towards a little thicker … especially at the price.
I don’t think there would be any way to quantify this but with latex and a wool quilting it’s not something I would be concerned about. Dust mites need a warm humid environment for food and water and wool is great at keeping the humidity at bay and regulating temperature. It stores moisture inside the fiber while the outside is still dry and then gradually releases it. I think that latex with a cotton cover quilted with wool is a good choice for a child. Post #2 here has a little more about dust mites.
You will find many better quality/value options in the threads I linked 
Phoenix
Dear Phoenix,
First of all, thank you very much for your response with very helpful and useful information and links! I was pleasantly amazed to discover that we can get a much thicker latex mattress for less than the 2" option at Earthsake…glad I took the time to do some online research and really grateful for your site.
The twin solid core latex mattress sold by Mattresses.net that you provided a link for seems like a great value at $595. They give the following description of this mattress: “a 5 1/2” full latex core, beautiful cotton quilted damask fabric, with 1.5" of Pure Joma Wool quilt on each side to prevent impressions." I noticed that they also offer mattresses made of organic latex / cotton / wool and wonder what the risks are (if any) of off-gassing by not going the “all-organic” route?
Other trade-offs with this model seem to be that the mattress comes in one piece (as opposed to the 2 3" pieces of our Savvy Rest) which means less ability to adjust the firmness/softness level. However, we have had our Savvy Rest for 3 years and haven’t found the need to adjust our layers, so perhaps this isn’t such a big deal. We’re thinking that getting the Medium is probably the best option for our daughter, and that we can add a softer topper down the road as needed.
I realize that I am just talking out my thought and decision-making process but I appreciate any feedback you are generous enough to offer related to these points.
Best,
P
Hi pracies,
You can read a little more about “organic” latex here. There is only one company that makes certified organic latex at the moment and I personally question whether the certification is worth the extra money. In most cases, mattresses that are sold as being “organic” are really only talking about the wool and cotton cover. All the better quality latex (blended, natural, and organic) you will encounter has passed the same Oeko-Tex standard 100 “safe for babies” certification for VOC’s and harmful ingredients or from similar testing organizations. I also know of many people who suffer from MCS who were pleasantly surprised to find that they were fine with even blended Talalay latex even though they were expecting that it could cause issues for them.
Of course there are many people who believe that an organic certification provides a level of assurance that they are willing to pay extra for vs 100% natural Dunlop that is essentially the same material but in the case of latex where the Oeko-Tex testing protocols are quite stringent and from a purely “safety” point of view only I’m not so sure that’s valid.
The mattresses from mattresses.net do have the single piece which doesn’t have the same design flexibility as two 3" layers but as you mentioned once you have a final configuration with latex layers it’s rare to adjust them anyway and with children it may be less important yet. SleepEz has several versions of multiple 3" layers for those that are looking for this feature but at a lower cost than Savvy Rest.
I would make the same firmness choice with a single layer.
I hope this has helped.
Phoenix