Mattress help for older child and guests

[phoenix]

Hi sbm,

He is a sensitive child when it comes to chemicals… nothing life threatening but tends to be more reactive than most kids.

What are your thoughts about the chemicals in mattress production?

The issues surrounding chemicals in mattresses are very complex and somewhat confusing and there is a great deal of exaggeration on both sides of all the issues involved but post #2 here and the posts it links to has more information about organic, natural, green, “chemical free”, or safe materials and would be the first place I would start to help you decide on the types of materials that you are comfortable with and to help you answer “how safe is safe enough for me?”. Once you have a better sense about which specific materials and components you are comfortable with having in your mattress then choosing a mattress that fits your “safety” criteria will become much simpler.

I live in NJ and spoke with Shovlin Mattress Factory. They recommended their Summit model (which is there lowest end inner spring) for our purposes. The salesperson said it was still of better quality than traditional store premium mattresses.

Not only would they be using higher quality materials … the mattress is two sided as well.

What do you really need for children – should they be the same quality as for adults – because they never are!?

Infants and younger children typically need firmer mattresses than adults (their spine is more flexible and they don’t have the body curves that come later as they develop) and because their bodies are lighter and they don’t need the same quality materials (lighter body types don’t compress the materials as much) which “transates” into lower cost mattresses being suitable. As they grow older into the pre-teen years then their own preferences would begin to play a larger role … although I would still be very cautious about mattresses are too soft for anyone that is still growing and needs good support/alignment. Post #2 here also has more information and links to the better forum topics that discuss mattresses and children.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Want to pick a mattress for me?

As you probably know from your reading here … I can only help with “how” to choose … not “what” to choose … but if you follow the steps in the tutorial post then you will have the best chance of success. I would be very cautious about making a “rushed” choice because it can easily lead to making an unsuitable choice and can lead to buyers remorse much too quickly after a purchase. There is more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase in post #13 here that can also help you make more meaningful comparisons between your “finalists”.

Phoenix