NEW member - need recommendations + a kick in the right direction

[phoenix]

Hi creativemama,

My son is 6 years old and weighs in at 55 lbs. I find him sleeping on his back and side most often and very, very rarely on his tummy. I’m hoping that his current bed frame is going to be suitable for a latex mattress. It’s a pine slat bed that looks very much like this one: woodgears.ca/bed/frame_no_matress.jpg

If your mattress has a latex core … I would make sure that the slats are no more than 3" apart and preferably less (latex is very elastic and will sag into larger gaps over time and this could affect durability). If it’s not possible to add slats (because it looks like the slots for the slats are pre-cut) … then I would add something over the slats that can provide a more evenly supportive surface for the latex. This could be a layer of an inch or two of very firm polyfoam (which is not natural and may not be your preference) or something like this which is made from rubberized coir (coconut fiber) and is more natural. A bunkie board that has more closely spaced slats (vs the type that is just a piece of plywood or hardboard) would also be a good option or a piece of pegboard that has holes in it for ventilation. The goal is to have a strong non flexing evenly supportive surface that will allow the mattress to ventilate.

The next in line is SleepEZ’s January Special (sleepez.com/latex-mattress-sale.htm#) twin size 6" mattress for $595. Is this a good option for my son? When I emailed their customer service department, they recommended a medium firmness for my son but that counters some other information that I’ve read about mattresses for kids in that they should sleep on a firmer mattress. Do you good folks agree with their recommendation of a medium mattress?

I’m not sure if you’ve seen this but post #2 here and the links it contains to some of the better forum posts and threads about children has some good information and links to mattresses for children and the SleepEz “special” would certainly be one of the “good” options IMO.

I also think a medium 6" layer of latex would be perfectly suitable. Firm may be a little too firm and for a child medium is firm enough (and still has some give).

So earlier I mentioned that the more I learn the less I know … so I guess I’m looking for confirmation about this particular mattress. I’m so utterly confused with the terminology. What I want is a natural latex mattress for my kid that doesn’t have any synthetic latex in it with a cover that’s made from natural or organic fibers. It seems that this mattress will fit the bill (but again, I keep shooting myself in the foot every time I think I have it figured out). I think I’m getting confused with this particular offer because it’s quite a bit cheaper than their regular twin size latex mattress.

Yes … the Dunlop they use is 100% natural Dunlop (and they use 100% natural Talalay in the comfort layer of tethe 8" version which I don’t think would be necessary for a child) and the value of this mattress is very good as well (their margins are lower which is why it’s a 'special" which along with the fact that it has an unquilted cover vs the 7000 which has a wool quilted cover is why the cost difference vs the 7000). Bear in mind that there is no 5% TMU discount on this mattress (because of the low profit margins).

Another question I have is whether there’s a huge difference between 100% natural latex with no synthetic latex added and organic latex. Is there chemicals or other “bad stuffs” in the non-organic natural latex that I should be concerned with?

You can read some of my thoughts about the different types of latex including “organic” latex in post #6 here. I think the main reason that people would choose to pay a premium for the “organic” certification is because they want the certification itself and are willing to pay the premium but I don’t believe that there is any substantial qualitative difference between 100% natural Dunlop and the same (or virtually the same) material that has been certified as “organic”. Of course this is a preference issue based on what is most important to people and from this perspective there are no right or wrong choices.

Almost all latex that is blended or 100% natural, Dunlop or Talalay has been through the same testing process (such as Oeko-Tex standard 100 class 1 “safe for babies”) that tests for harmful ingredients and offgassing.

And I’ll ask this last question with a horseshoe in hand, are there any Canadians who have ordered from SleepEZ that could confirm what kind of duties were paid on the mattress?

While I haven’t done this personally … there shouldn’t be any duties involved … only HST, brokerage fees, and shipping.

Just as a matter of reference … this post has a list of sources (which is not of course complete) in both the US and Canada which will ship throughout Canada but each has different mattresses and may have a different method of shipping and the charges involved may also be different.

I hope that covered all the questions for now but feel free to post with any more that you come across the way

Phoenix