Mattress for 2 year old

Hi! First of all - Thank you so much for all the helpful information on this site. I am new to this whole process and am a bit overwhelmed, so I am so thankful to have found this site! I am looking for a full size mattress for my 2 year old, and would like an affordable mattress (preferably around $600, but I’d be willing to spend up to $1000 if there was a good reason). I would like a mattress that has the least issues with off-gassing/least toxic… I’ve read through many of the forums on this topic, and have narrowed it down to a few choices:

The pure echo (from previous posts, it seems you would recommend the double sided)
My Green Mattress Pure Echo

this one from mattresses.net
Full Solid Core Latex Mattress Only, Solid Core 7" Latex Foam Mattress, Latex Mattresses-Talalay and Dunlop, All Products

I also like the Abscond from spindle, but that would be at the top of my budget

I know all of these are made by members of this site, so they should probably all be reasonable choices… Also, since they are made of natural materials, they seem to be safe by any standards. Are there any others that I should consider?

I was also looking for any thoughts on the Ultimate Dreams Freedom Customizable Latex Bed from dreamfoambedding. I know that it is synthetic latex. It seems from what I have (briefly) read, that there doesn’t seem to be a big difference between natural and synthetic in terms of toxicity (though I could have misunderstood that!). I was also confused as to whether it was oeko-tex certified, the description said certi-PUR which I thought was more for polyfoam. Is synthetic latex less desirable for a child’s bed, or are there other issues with it. The low price point is obviously a selling point!

I’d greatly appreciate any thoughts anyone might have to offer! Thank you!

Here’s a recent thread with good info:
https://forum.mattressunderground.com/t/only-firm-mattresses-for-kids

Here’s a good article, with links to other good articles at the bottom:

I recently bought a natural mattress from Flexus Comfort and was very happy with the quality of the product and the ease of the whole process. And I just checked and found their 7" natural Dunlop to be priced at $995 for a full size, FYI. That’d be natural latex with an organic zippered cover, and I can attest to zero odor with their products. I think one advantage over the Abscond would be the low cost layer exchange possibilities with Flexus. Their natural Dunlop is sourced from Latex Green.: http://latexgreen.com/LGbrouch_web.pdf

Thank you so much for the helpful links and articles. I’ll check out Flexus comfort as well. They are actually not too far from me.,

Hi sd213,

Post #2 here and the posts it links to have more information about mattresses and children and “safe” materials including a link to some general guidelines for children in post #2 here. It also includes a number of links to the better forum posts and topics about mattress and children as well which have more information about many good mattress choices for children.

Having said that … all of the mattresses you are considering would certainly make good choices for a child.

The synthetic latex in the Freedom mattress is made by Mountaintop Foam and all of their latex (synthetic or natural or a blend) is Oeko-Tex certified. The “safety” of any type of latex is not something I would be concerned about and all the latex you are likely to encounter (Dunlop or Talalay made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will all have been certified by either Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut for harmful substances and VOC’s (see post #2 here). The polyfoam used in the quilting of the Freedom mattress would be the foam that is CertiPUR certified.

There is more about the different types and blends of latex in post #6 here and more about the Freedom mattress and synthetic continuous pour Dunlop in post #2 here and in posts #3 and #4 here. The only issue with the Freedom mattress is that it includes a soft layer which isn’t necessary or desirable as a sleeping surface for a child so if you did choose this mattress I would put the soft layer under the medium layer so that your child is sleeping on a firmer sleeping surface.

Phoenix

Thank you so much for the reply, it was really helpful. and informative. I had read the first link, and that is how I found the mattresses I am considering. It seems like for $800 - $1000, I can find a mattress that is made from natural fibers, without questionable materials. In the lower range from $600-800, the options seem to be hybrids… Now I just have to decide which is “safe enough”. Do you think the SleepEZ Roma (https://www.sleepez.com/roma.htm) and Dreamfoam UD natural (Dreamfoam by Brooklyn Bedding - Dream Foam) are comparable in quality/safety as the Freedom mattress?

In a somewhat unrelated note, when we previously bought mattresses, we did not do a whole lot of research… Luckily the mattress we ended up with was by Parklane, so it probably wasn’t too bad. It was a queen eurotop and we passed it on to our daughter when we upgraded to a king. She’s now 5, and after reading all the information on this site regarding firmer mattresses for kids, I wonder whether I should buy her a firmer mattress. The eurotop is not super plush, but it is definitely more soft than firm. I know that this is a tangential question, but if you have any thoughts, I’d appreciate it.

Again, thank you so much for all of your help!

If you are not far from Flexus, then I would definitely go in and see and try everything firsthand. Both guys I worked with were very helpful there too. I have no doubt that they’d spend the time needed to help you make the best choice possible.

PS I think this is great advice from the article:

[quote]One caution for toddlers - not too fluffy on top. Some cush is good, and keep in mind that a mattress protector and sheet will firm the feel up a bit. But, you don’t want their little faces sinking too far into a bunch of foam that can potentially cut off airflow.

You can always add additional cush to a mattress as that child grows up with a mattress topper if you need to, later.[/quote]

Thanks for the rec, if I get a chance, I’ll try to check them out in person.

I am sold on getting a firm bed (he came out sleeping on a firm crib mattress, so I am sure he’ll be fine), now I just don’t know whether to buy a new firm mattress for my older child :unsure:

Thank you again!

Hi sd213,

There are really two questions here that aren’t connected.

In terms of safety you would need to see the results of the actual testing for any harmful substances that can leach out of the materials and harmful VOC’s to make any specific comparisons between the materials used in any specific mattress and this isn’t information that would be available to you so there really isn’t any way to provide a specific answer. All you can know is whether a material is certified which means that it has tested somewhere below the threshold limits. The Oeko-Tex and Eco-Institut certifications that you will generally see for latex are a little more stringent than the CertiPUR certification for polyfoam but most people would consider any of these mattresses to be “safe enough” although some people are more comfortable avoiding polyfoam completely. In other words these are “best judgement” choices that depend on your comfort level with each type of material that is in a mattress. It would be a similar type of choice as the type of diet that your children eat where some parents would only consider organic food or even vegan food to be “safe enough” while others wouldn’t be as stringent in their choices.

In terms of durability there is also no way to quantify the number of years that any mattress will last but you can see the durability guidelines I would suggest in post #4 here. None of these mattresses have any lower quality materials or weak links in their design so I wouldn’t have any issue with the durability of any of them and it would be reasonable to expect any of them to last for 10 years or longer. The weakest link of a mattress is generally in the upper layers and synthetic Dunlop in the Freedom and the 100% natural Dunlop in the Roma and the UD natural are very durable materials. The Dreamfoam UD natural uses 2 lb polyfoam in the support core and the other two use latex so in “theory” the latex cores would be more durable but in practice the deeper layers will have much less effect on the useful life of a mattress than the upper layers (there is more about latex/polyfoam hybrids vs all latex mattresses in post #2 here).

This is something that only you can decide for your kids but I can confirm that children will generally do better with a mattress on the firmer side of medium rather than on the softer side until their body begins to develop into more adult proportions and weight when they can add a softer comfort layer if they need it (although some will still be fine with a firmer mattress depending on how they sleep).

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix,

I really appreciate your thoughtful response. I guess I was initially asking whether the mattresses would be comparable because they had similar components (namely certified latex and polyfoam), but I understand what you are saying about not knowing each individual component’s test results and that makes sense. It boils down to the fact that I’ll just have to decide what is acceptable to me.

Just a few last questions (I hope!): 1. If I were to buy a mattress with polyfoam, is there any difference in terms of “safety” in whether it is in the core or in the quilting?
2. The bed frame I am looking to buy has a trundle. I found a super helpful post on trundle mattresses on the site. Given that it will be used so infrequently (a few times a year at most), I was just going to get an inexpensive mattress that is certi PUR certified. Do you think that given that my son won’t be lying directly on it, that it’s probably not an issue.? I apologize if I am not articulating my question well!

Thank you again!

Hi sd213,

Assuming that a material has the possibility of being “unsafe” in any way that can be measured in the first place … then the only way to answer this would be based on the “laws of physics” which means that there would be three variables that affect the VOC’s that you would be breathing in…

  1. Any VOC’s that are coming from a material that is closer to the air you breathe would be more concentrated than the same material that was further away and would be diluted more when you breathe them in. In other words the materials that are closer to you on top of a mattress would have a bigger effect than the same materials that were further away that are deeper in the mattress.

  2. Materials that are present in greater volume will have more effect than materials that are present in smaller volumes because the amount of VOC’s that are emitted would be proportional to the amount of the material in the mattress. In other words a material that was 6" thick would have more effect on the air you breathe than the same material that was only 2" thick if both of them were the same distance away from the air you are breathing.

  3. The properties of any layers that are in between a material that you are concerned about and the air you breathe (either in the mattress itself, your mattress protector, or your sheets). A material either absorbs VOC’s to some degree or restricts the airflow in between the material and the air you breathe would reduce the level of VOCs that you inhale compared to a material that would absorb less VOCs or that would restrict the airflow more. In other words a material such as the carbon blanket mentioned in post #3 here here would have a significant effect on reducing any potential harmful VOCs that reach the air you are breathing from any material in the mattress and a material such as 5 mil polyethelyne that is also mentioned in the same post would prevent any VOC’s from reaching the air you breathe completely.

Unfortunately these types of questions that require “numbers” that aren’t available can’t be quantified in a meaningful way that would provide you with answers that are specific to the materials that are in any particular mattress. Anecdotally and in very general terms … there are more people that seem to be sensitive to memory foam than polyfoam and there are more people that are sensitive to polyfoam than to latex but when you hear anecdotal evidence it’s not always possible to know which of the materials or components in a mattress someone may be reacting to because even some type of fabrics may have something added them (to make them waterproof or add to their drape or reduce wrinkles etc) that some people may be sensitive to so they may be “reacting” to a certain material or component in a mattress when they believe they are reacting to something else.

Again this would depend on the specifics of the material and on the variables in the first part of this reply. For most people a material that was CertiPUR certified would be “safe enough” but there will always be some smaller percentage that choose to avoid polyfoam or any synthetic material or any material that they consider to be “questionable” completely. These are lifestyle choices that only each person can answer for themselves.

Phoenix

Hi Phoenix! Many thanks for all of your help! I will report back once I decide on which mattress to buy. Decisions, decisions! Thank you again for your guidance. Have a good night :slight_smile:

I still can’t make up my mind, but I just wanted to post a quick update! I spoke to Chuck from Dreamfoam, and he said they could swap out the soft latex layer in the freedom mattress for another firm or med. I’m visiting MA next week, so I may go check out Spindle and then decide. Thanks again :slight_smile:

Hi sd213,

Thanks for letting us know that this is now an option they provide and I think it would be a good idea to replace the soft layer with something firmer.

As I mentioned earlier you are certainly looking at some very good quality/value choices for your child.

Phoenix

I am so close to making a decision thanks to all the extremely helpful info on this site! I think I am actually going to go with the SleepEZ naturale (I don’t know how I missed it earlier). It seems quite firm on one side (but that’s probably appropriate for a toddler anyway), and we’ll flip it when he gets older. I can’t think of any downsides to it, and it’s probably more than adequate for a child, even as he grows,. It has one layer of latex, but I don’t think we’ll require too much customization flexibility for a child of his age. I’ll report back once I make a purchase and update this post :slight_smile: Thank you again!

Hi sd213,

I would agree that it would be more than adequate for a child and would certainly make a good choice as well and it would remove any uncertainty about polyfoam you may have completely. It actually has two layers inside it which are the firmer layer and the softer layer although it’s not a component mattress with a zip cover so you would just flip it to change the firmness rather than rearranging or exchanging layers.

I’m looking forward to finding out what you end up deciding :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hi, I just wanted to update. I ended up finally buying the Sleep EZ Naturale. My only concern was that it might be too firm for an adult who wanted to sleep on it, but since that was not the primary use for the bed, I went ahead with it… Anyway, last night was our first night sleeping on it, and my two year gave it an enthusiastic “I wuv it!”. Half way through the night, I ended up sleeping with him, and it was comfortable for me too (I’m 5’4" and 125 lbs, side sleeper). So far, I am happy with my purchase. Thank you so much for all of your help! :slight_smile:

Hi sd123,

Thanks for taking the time to let us know what you ended up deciding and for sharing your comments and feedback about your new mattress as well … I appreciate it!

As you know I think you made a great choice and it’s good to hear that you have the “thumbs up” from your child and that it seems to be a good choice for you as well :slight_smile:

Phoenix

Hi!

I am back again, I finally decided to buy a second mattress for my daughter, who is now 7. My son still loves his mattress (a SleepEZ naturale), which I no longer see on their sight. I actually still find it comfortable too, more so than my own bed! For my daughter, I’m looking into getting her a medium firmness mattress from Spindle. Do you think that is adequately firm for a child? I thought it would be a good compromise and offer some versatility in being able to change the firmness as she grows as I am hoping she will keep this mattress for a while (she has a queen bed). As always, I really appreciate your thoughtful responses and thank you again for all that you do!

Hi sd213,

Welcome back! :slight_smile:

The good news is that the Naturale is still available from Latex Mattress Factory, which is a newer site from SleepEZ.

The Spindle medium certainly would also be a good choice for a growing child, using high quality componentry, and as you mentioned it does allow for future customization.

As you are aware, both Spindleand Latex Mattress Factory are site members here, which means I think highly of both of them and would not hesitate to recommend either for your consideration.

I’ll be interested in learning about what you decide to do for your daughter.

Phoenix