New Baby New Mattress
This is a précis of the facts there are hundreds of pages written on this subject
How it all started
In the late 80’s there was a theory that the chemicals used in the production of foam mixed with the body fluids and warmth and moisture from a baby caused a toxic gas and this gas affected the baby’s breathing and heart functions.
When this news hit the press it caused chaos in the baby mattress industry and utter confusion and immense worry for parents. The government responded by getting together a team of experts that worked tirelessly on this theory and found “no evidence of harm to infants from the use of fire retardant chemicals in cot mattresses!”
So who do you believe?
What happened Next
As a result of the government's Limerick Report and belief in perhaps the toxic gas theory might have some credibility some components in foam mattress production were changed, but the fire retardant requirement in cot mattresses is still law.
I digress, weighing up the risks of this UK fire regulation that makes us put fire retardant chemicals for baby mattresses is a nonsense! It is not an EU requirement, only U.K baby mattresses have to conform. Perhaps only British babies smoke in their cots or British parents use the cot as an ash tray!Lets move on, before I elaborate on the whole ridiculous legislation.
OK back to it The advice from Foundation for the Study Of Infant Deaths, now called The Lullaby Trust. recommended a whole host of measures “Back to Sleep”, no bumpers, good ventilation, avoid you baby overheating and also “New baby new mattress” and if you are buying a mattress ensure it has a waterproof wipe clean cover and is firm to give support
. The “new baby new mattress” advice was because of the following dangers:- Using a second hand mattress that was not looked after and you don’t know the history could be soiled with baby fluids and a fungus allowed to grow. With wear and tear the foam could have lost its support, foam does not like heat weight and damp (which is exactly what a baby is.) this causes the foam to become weak and dip or dent. The response to this advice was amazing, cot deaths in the UK dropped dramatically.
One small conflict in this advice is :- if you put as baby on a waterproof cover you restrict the airflow to the baby. Also PVC is now considered carcinogenic. Don’t worry technology has moved on as you will see.
“New baby New Mattresss”
Consider a baby mattress where the core is protected by a separate machine washable waterproof wipe clean cover made from PU not PVC. So no body fluids get to interact with the foam’s fire retardant chemicals.
On top of the waterproof protective cover you zip a highly breathable temperature controlling topper. also have a spare topper so you can keep your mattress clean.
But we still have a support problem to solve. The core is made of springs or pocket springs encapsulated in foam. 95% of current quality foam mattresses is made of 24/130 foam 28CMHR it passes British standards, This foam cannot be more than 2 cm deep each side to allow for 6 cm of spring. On average this mattress will last at most 18 months to 2 years before it dents under normal activity. The foam surrenders first, if you are using a cot bed until your infant is five years sold you will probably have to buy a second mattress
Consider a mattress made from 30/150 foam or even 50/215 foam this will not dip or dent and last 7- 10 years if turned as per instructions and only a few pounds more
Also the world is changing we are all getting more aware of the effects on our landfill. Foam takes 1 million year to biodegrade – scary eh! So consider buying a mattress where the core is protected you can keep it clean and it will offer good support for many years.
perhaps when you dispose of your old cot mattress and take it to the tip, rip out the inner metal springs only takes 5 minutes and put them in the metal recycling bin.