Hi- I’ve done lots of research and read through the forum for quite a while. Very educational. I am looking to buy a twin mattress for our 2.5 year old. Admittedly, we have always gone very cheap for our kids mattresses, however when our youngest was born, my eyes were opened to some of the debate over fire retardants and other chemicals in foam and we ended up ordering a Naturepedic crib mattress that we have been very happy with. However, the little guy is now getting a big bed and needs a twin mattress. Our budget is tight and I don’t think we can swing a $700 Naturepedic. The top end of our budget is more like $300? I know that doesn’t exactly give us a lot of wiggle room. So- I have decided that my personal “good enough” equation is to find a mattress that is innerspring/coil (so less foam), any foam to be certified low-voc, and I really want to find something that uses a more natural fire retardant (meaning no chemicals). For our family, I think boron based chemicals are ok, and the fire sock idea with the fibers blended with polyester is also ok (so doesn’t have to be organic, which is good because we can’t afford it!)
Want to avoid the chemicals in the cheap foam that is not certified as well as the other unknown fire retardant chemicals that are just sprayed on. (hoping this makes sense).
The only thing I have found that even sort of fits this is this restwell mattress that is sold through Room + Board https://www.roomandboard.com/catalog/kids/randb-kids-mattresses/innerspring-mattress-extra-firm for $299 + $89 shipping.
It is however “extra firm” (the firm is $399 and with shipping gets out of the price range) and I’m a little worried it will be hard as a rock. We do not have a room + board local to us to try it out.
Is there anything else that would be in our budget that fits the above criteria? If not (here’s my gripe…) why the heck not? We are not looking for organic or all natural latex (since we know that is way out of our budget) or even anything more than just a basic mattress with less chemicals. I sure wish there was an affordable option that fit the bill.
If it is helpful, we live in Sarasota, FL. Most of the mattress companies we have spoken with all only stock mattresses with chemical fire retardants. We have always used BedPros here (they’ve always been great to work with) and bought basic King Koil mattresses for the kids before.
I know you don’t usually recommend specific mattresses, but if anyone knows of a mattress that might fit the above criteria, I would be grateful.
I’m glad the information here has been helpful to you.
The good news is that you shouldn’t have too much of a problem finding something in that price range for a growing child that meets your guidelines.
You may have read this already but just in case you haven’t, there is more information in post #2 here and the topics it links to about mattresses and children and “suitable” 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 options children that would be well worth considering.
As far as a low-VOC certification, CertiPUR-US would be a common polyfoam certification that tests for harmful substances and VOC’s in the polyfoam and memory foam used in mattresses. Here’s a listing of some of the participating companies. Here’s what CertiPUR-US certifies. Mattresses using these certified foams are quite common.
Regarding the flame retardant barrier, most companies are not using chemicals to meet 16 CFR 1632 and 1633. The most common method used to pass the regulations is the use of inherent fire barrier fabrics that are either quilted into the cover or are wrapped around the inner materials of the mattress (like the sock you mentioned). There is more information about fire retardant methods that are commonly used in the industry in post #2 here and in post #4 here. These inherent fabric-type of barriers are ubiquitous in the mattress industry.
Subject to first confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent ( see this article ) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Sarasota /Brandenton area is here .
You really shouldn’t have much of an issue finding something within your price range close to home. If you have more specific questions on anything you find, please let me know.
Thank you for your reply. I will admit, I am still pretty lost. I know what I want-- a coil mattress, twin size, no chemical retardants, preferably no foam or low-voc foam, but even that bothers me. No memory foam since it is for a 2.5 year old. and within our budget of $300 or under. Locally, most retailers have the major top brands only (serta sealy simmons etc). The only exception I’ve found locally in our price range is King Koil which doesn’t seem any better. All of these companies are listed on here as not transparent so I feel like I can’t get a straight answer on what they use for fire retardants. I have looked at every retailer listed under the members here that sells online and all of their twin sizes are out of our price range with the exception of Dreamfoam. However, dreamfoam seems to use foam (granted certi-pur foam) in all of their bedding and I don’t know what they use for fire retardant. Most other companies I’m seeing online seem to be cheap foam from china. Is it possible to find a mattress without polyurethane foam under $300? If there has to be foam, Is it better if the polyurethane foam is in a deeper layer and not right on the sleeping surface for a young child? Is there a dreamfoam model that would fit the bill for us? Can someone point us towards a company that might have a model that would fit the bill?
As I mentioned previously, most mattresses you’re likely to encounter are using the non-chemical inherent FR barriers, not chemical sprays with which you had a concern.
Most of the polyfoam you’re likely to encounter should be CertiPUR-US certified for low VOCs. If you’re looking for a spring mattress with a natural fiber on top, you’ll tend to be in a higher budget range than $300 for a twin. Something like the Pure Echo would be a sample of a more affordable natural fiber mattress. There is a listing of mattress companies using springs and no foams here, but these will all tend to be in a higher price range.
For those that have a more restricted budget then post #4 here and the posts it links to also include many of the better lower budget online options I’m aware of as well.
They’re generally not transparent about the density of their foams (which isn’t as much of an issue for a small child, where you’d want to lean more toward a medium to medium-firm sleeping surface) but they’d be using the non-chemical inherent FR fiber barrier in some form.
Their foams are CertiPUR-US certified (for the low VOCs) and they use the non-chemical inherent fiber FR barrier.
I would read post #6 here about mattresses imported from Asia or China and which may have been compressed for long periods of time in either shipping or storage before being purchased. Being sourced in China would make these mattresses somewhat of a risky purchase IMO.
No, there really would not be a difference. The more important thing would be that the polyfoam was at a minimum CertiPUR-US certified.
Besides going through my links above for lower cost mattresses and those not using foams, it might be worth spending a bit of time phoning some of the manufacturers I listed in my previous post for your area to see if they would be able to create a custom product for you without foams in your price range.
Edited to add: also looking at this one which seems to be coil and latex. It says ultra plush but some of the reviews say it is still firm. Is this appropriate for a child or would we be better off sticking with firm? https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00EVAT3LC/ref=psd_mlt_bc_B00EVAT3LC
It doesn’t seem to be listed on their website, only on amazon. Do you know anything about it? I did send an email asking more questions but haven’t heard back yet.
I’m glad you were able to speak with Chuck. I do think highly of him and Dreamfoam (as you know they are a member of this site). I’m not familiar with the complete specifications of the Spring Dreams or the Ultimate Dreams Pocketed Coil 12" PIllowtop, but like all their mattresses it would certainly be good value from a materials perspective.
The Spring Dreams is a thinner two-sided product which is obviously more spartan, and assuming a 6"-7" innerspring unit, would have only 1"-1.5" of polyfoam on each side. If you were really looking to maximize your budget, this certainly would be on your list of items to consider.
The Ultimate Dreams is a more “substantial” product, and it is certainly unusual to find a pocketed coil mattress with 2" of latex in this budget range. While it would be a more plush item, for a child it would still have a bit of a firmer feel (lower body mass), and this item would more than likely provide you with a longer comfort life. Dreamfoam does have different lines of mattresses that they only offer on amazon, and this mattress (or different versions of it) have been sold on amazon for over four years.
If you’re considering the Ultimate Dreams, you may wish to contact Chuck again and have a more detailed conversation to find out any missing information that is important to you. If you do so, feel free to share any information you learn and I’ll be happy to comment upon it.
