Mattress/bedding recommendations?

[anitakidcrazy]

I am SO overwhelmed, which seems to be the norm in the past few months since I've been navigating the world of allergies with my 14 month old. We are converting to a king size bed and I don't know what to do....any suggestions? We want to purchase a mattress that is affordable, allergen and chemical free...is this possible? It seems that some of the allergen-free options have loads of chemicals or boric acid. The natural ones, all cotton futons, seem to be a brand new housing development for the dust mites, mold and fungus. Is it more important to buy a good mattress cover? In fact, what do I need to get....up until now, we have just a very old mattress with a cover that does not actually cover the whole mattress. What do you all use? Do you need a waterproof cover and an additional cover for the dustmites? Just tell me what to do....my little one is so clingy and attached to me right now I barely have time to post this, let alone research the world of bedding. Gotta go.....she's crying for me right now.

[kjbrown92]

I'm pretty sure they have waterproof dust mite/allergen mattress covers (I think that's what we have on all the beds; at least I know we don't have multiple covers on each one, and I know they're allergen covers). I'm pretty sure that's what we have on ours. I love my mattress. Futons are like sleeping on a rock (at least the one we used to sleep on). Horribly uncomfortable and yes, they seem like an infestation of dust. I got our covers at Sleepys (New England chain, I think) and they had like a 10 year warranty on them or something like that. I'm not big on details tonight, am I?

[Koalamom]

You can get a mattress without boric acid if you get a doctors or chiropractors note. I got a mattress from Green Sleep that from a friend that was only used a few months so I got a good deal on it. It is so well made that is doesn't require a dr's note. it is rubber inner and wool outer.

I use a wool cover from Natura brand that is water proof and machine washable. For extra protection, I put a sheep skin under my dd who co-sleeps.

For an affordable mattresses see whitelotus.net. They have great prices and sales all the time.

[anitakidcrazy]

Well....I would love to buy a latex, natural rubber mattress, but we can't go over $1500 for a king and we need a platform bedframe also. I couldn't find the mattress cover on Sleepy's website. Are there waterproof, chemical and allergen-free mattress covers or would you buy those separate: one to keep out dust mites and another to prevent leakages going through. I feel like I need to enroll in a college course "Avoiding Allergens: 101" to get all the information I need! Does anyone LOVE their bed and have any suggestions for us? How bad is boric acid....isn't that the flame retardant chemical used by most mattress companies? Is this a problem if you have your mattress encased in a cover? I guess anything is better than my current bed which is older than me, floppy and falling apart.