My son is nearly three, so we are getting ready to transition him from his crib to a bed with a twin mattress. We hope that he will be able to use the mattress that we pick until he is around 10. Based on his growth, he is going to be well over 6’ as an adult, so we figure he will need a bigger bed for middle school and high school.
After reading many articles and posts on Mattress Underground, we have narrowed it down to four mattresses. If we go with an inner spring mattress, we will go with My Green Mattress’ Eco Pure 2-sided Organic Cotton. If we go with Latex, then we are trying to decide between the Spindle Blue Shoal 7" ($595), the Flexus Comfort 7" natural latex ($675), and the Sleep EZ 7000 7" ($750). (We had considered the Sleep EZ Roma until we found that it contains soy foam and Rayon.)
Can anyone offer material and construction comparisons between these three latex mattresses to assist in our selection process? The price of the Spindle Blue Shoal is the best, but I wonder about the spacing of their 7-zone comfort system, given that my son probably will be growing 1’-2’ during the time that he is sleeping on it. All three mattresses use 100% natural Dunlop latex, have two 3" foam layers, let you choose the firmness of both layers, and have zip-off organic cotton covers with wool batting.
Are there any significant differences in company policies that I should be aware of?
All of these would be good quality/value choices and they all use high quality materials and have good value.
The main differences between them is that Spindle uses two 3" layers of 100% natural Dunlop that is made by Mountaintop foam with a continuous pour process.
Flexus uses 100% natural Dunlop made in a mold.
SleepEZ gives you the choice between either 100% natural Dunlop made in a mold or blended Talalay.
All of them have a cotton and wool quilted cover.
I would also consider a twin XL instead of a twin if your son is likely to be taller so he doesn’t outgrow the mattress when he starts to get taller.
All of these also provide a choice of firmness levels and you can either add a topper when the time comes that he may need it or you could order a thicker cover and add an additional layers inside the mattress.
The My Green Mattress 2 sided organic cotton would also make a great choice (either with or without the latex which would make it softer) but this is a completely different design and the choice between them would be a preference choice based on which materials you would prefer.
The zoning in the Spindle is “mild” meaning that the differences between the zones would be fairly small and it isn’t likely to be an issue for a child or for those that are a normal height but you can talk with Neal about this because he will have more experience with this mattress than anyone else.
When you are down to finalists that are between “good and good” where any one of them would make a great quality/value choice and there are no clear winners between them … then a final choice (see post #2 here) that would be “best for you” would really come down to “best judgement” based on how you feel about your more detailed conversations with each of them and all the objective, subjective, and intangible criteria that are most important to you.
Any one of them would make a great choice for a child.
sab, we are stuck on the same decision for our 3 year old! Leaning towards the Pure Eco but also considering the Sleep EZ 6" Dunlop. The ones on our list are all $595 before the mattress underground discount (5%), which makes the decisions just as difficult. Good luck!
I think that the same comments I made to sab would apply to you as well
The most effective way I know to choose between them would be to talk with each of them on the phone which I would consider to be among the most important parts of any online mattress purchase.
Thanks for the info, Phoenix. I had forgotten that Spindle uses the continuous pour Dunlop. I will give Spindle a call this week and ask about the comfort zone spacing and how it would affect people of various heights. I will post their response to this thread.
We will be using a bunkie board instead of a foundation, so I wonder if the holes in the latex mattress will work as well at dissipating heat?
Unfortunately, we can’t go with a Twin XL because we will be using a twin frame that we already have.
I would use the same criteria for a bunkie board as I would a foundation (the only difference would be the height) and I would suggest a bunkie board that has a slatted non flexing surface with gaps between the slats that were no more than about 3".
I finally got time to call Neal at Spindle. Regarding the 7 zones for their mattress, he said that the density of the foam is the same throughout. The difference in the zones is the size of the holes in the latex. There are smaller holes in the middle section of the mattress, which deals with the bulk of body weight. This info alleviates our concerns about the zones.
Neal recommended choosing firm and medium for the two layers, with the firm on the bottom. We are still trying to decide whether to go this way or with firm and firm. He did note that the 7 inch mattress can handle a body up to about 120 lbs. Given our intention to switch to another mattress around age 10, this should be ok. Boys in the 95th percentile are supposed to be around 100 lbs by that age. I wonder if the medium and firm would still be as supportive at 100 lbs.?
We are now trying to pick a foundation and are deciding between the 4" Ivy Organics foundation at PJ’s Sleep Company or the 4" Oasis foundation at A Happy Planet. They are both around the same price with shipping. Any advice on comparing the two.
A firm/medium will probably provide better support/alignment than a firm/firm combination. The goal of a mattress is always to provide good alignment which means that it needs to be firm enough to “stop” the heavier parts of the body and soft and contouring enough to fill in the recessed gaps in the body profile. A sleeping surface that is too firm can result in support/alignment issues just as much as a mattress that is too soft. There is more about primary support and secondary support and the relationship between firmness/softness and good alignment in post #2 here. I would tend to follow Neal’s suggestion.
I’m not familiar with any specific differences between them but I would treat them as close equivalents. While both are high quality foundations … they may be more costly than what you need and it may also be worth considering some of the less costly KD foundations that are mentioned in the foundation post here that would also be suitable for a latex mattress.
