Organic mattress vs. mattress wrapping

[Kikibell]

Hey mamas! I need some advice.

So, for us, buying 2 new organic mattresses for the twins isn't so much of an option. (We don't have $500 extra dollars at the moment.) I've been looking for used organic ones on local moms boards but so far no luck, and I feel skeevy about getting a mattress on craigslist.

So, who has experience with mattress wrapping? Is the Babysafe company in NZ the only place to get the covers? Are the wrapping covers waterproof? Because that brings me to my next question - are there waterproof mattress pads that don't off-gas? I had registered for some organic mattress pads but rereading the descriptions they have polyester in them - so that means they're bad, right? But maybe the mattress wrapping makes a mattress pad unnecessary?

Also, has anyone wrapped their own bed? Is that necessary? I think we will be at least partailly co-sleeping for a while. But we only have a double bed (I know - it's gonna be ridiculous!) and are planning to sidecar a crib next to the bed. So I think they will mostly be next to me, but on their own mattress.

Thanks so much in advance for any help! I hope this is understandable - the pregnancy brain thing is in full force and I'm having trouble making myself understood sometimes.

[tcooper]

We used the BabySafe wrap for our sons crib and it was really noisy. Yes, it is waterproof - it is a "non-toxic" plastic bag that the mattress fits inside. I didn't like how noisy it was, so we just switched to an organic mattress (www.whitelotus.net). We got one without any fire retardant. I got a waterproof cover from www.healthychild.com. It is organic cotton with some type of waterproofing between layers. It is GreenGuard certified.

Can your babies share a bed for awhile? That way you can get one mattress/cover and save up for another. Technically, you would need to wrap your mattress, because older mattress still off-gas (due to fungus binding with the chemicals in the bed). We did not wrap our mattress though, which I do feel crappy about. We plan on getting a new mattress for us asap from White Lotus. New baby will be in an Arm's Reach beside our bed on a WL mattress. By the time baby is in our bed, we will have an organic mattress.

[Kikibell]

Thanks for your reply! Good to know about the noise.... Hmmm.
They are going to share a crib for as long as they'll agree to it, but still it will probably be only 6 months or so.
I would love to get us all lovely organic mattresses, really, I just don't think it's in the financial cards at this point.

Anyone else have any experience with mattress wrapping?

[violet_]

DH and I liked the idea of mattress wrapping when we first saw it -- what a great idea to block the outgassing chemicals that may be toxic. Then we read the details of their idea. Unfortunately, there was no scientific basis to any of it. DH and I are both scientists, and we both read the information on wrapping very carefully and thoroughly, and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny at all. Many of the chemical reactions they describe simply cannot occur, and the rest cannot occur in the conditions you would have in a child's room (for example, for some you'd need a pH so high that the chemicals would be the least of your worries, as the child's skin would burn off first). Many of the "toxins" they cited aren't even volatiles. And the fungus theory didn't hold, either.

We also read some peer-reviewed scientific papers in reputable journals (like Lancet) where researchers took their claims seriously enough to investigate, but ultimately showed them to be without basis.

Also, the wrapping advocates had a bit about how they did NOT feel that nursing lowers the risk of SIDS, but they tried to back it up with a complete misinterpretation of the data, which clearly showed the lack of analysis that went into the wrapping plan. The data clearly show the opposite of what they claim.

Based on all this, we decided that wrapping our mattresses would provide no advantage whatsoever.

We're both in favor, though, of mattresses that have had as little as possible exposure to toxic fire retardants, for what it's worth. This was not a part of the wrapping idea, as they were concerned with fungal growth on older mattresses. We are still in the process of picking a mattress, not sure if it will be organic or not.

[Kikibell]

Originally Posted by violet_

DH and I liked the idea of mattress wrapping when we first saw it -- what a great idea to block the outgassing chemicals that may be toxic. Then we read the details of their idea. Unfortunately, there was no scientific basis to any of it. DH and I are both scientists, and we both read the information on wrapping very carefully and thoroughly, and it doesn't stand up to scrutiny at all. Many of the chemical reactions they describe simply cannot occur, and the rest cannot occur in the conditions you would have in a child's room (for example, for some you'd need a pH so high that the chemicals would be the least of your worries, as the child's skin would burn off first). Many of the "toxins" they cited aren't even volatiles. And the fungus theory didn't hold, either.

We also read some peer-reviewed scientific papers in reputable journals (like Lancet) where researchers took their claims seriously enough to investigate, but ultimately showed them to be without basis.

Also, the wrapping advocates had a bit about how they did NOT feel that nursing lowers the risk of SIDS, but they tried to back it up with a complete misinterpretation of the data, which clearly showed the lack of analysis that went into the wrapping plan. The data clearly show the opposite of what they claim.

Based on all this, we decided that wrapping our mattresses would provide no advantage whatsoever.

We're both in favor, though, of mattresses that have had as little as possible exposure to toxic fire retardants, for what it's worth. This was not a part of the wrapping idea, as they were concerned with fungal growth on older mattresses. We are still in the process of picking a mattress, not sure if it will be organic or not.

Oh wow! Thank you so much for posting that Violet! Very interesting.

I wonder how then to explain the NZ study - that no baby has died of SIDS on a wrapped mattress? If they fudged the science AND the analysis, makes me wonder if there was ever any data to prove it, you know?

I would be *really* interested to know what mattress you choose - since you've done so much research (and I am not a very scientific person - just want something safe for my babies that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.)

[violet_]

Originally Posted by Kikibell

Oh wow! Thank you so much for posting that Violet! Very interesting.

I wonder how then to explain the NZ study - that no baby has died of SIDS on a wrapped mattress? If they fudged the science AND the analysis, makes me wonder if there was ever any data to prove it, you know?

I would be *really* interested to know what mattress you choose - since you've done so much research (and I am not a very scientific person - just want something safe for my babies that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.)

I'd like to find out more myself -- I'm a bit new to mattress research!

As for the NZ study -- I'd love to see more. I kept seeing mention of it on sites that wanted to sell me something, but I never saw any hard data showing improvement in outcomes for children using this mattress wrapping. There was much talk of no SIDS, but no numbers of participants or any links to peer-reviewed research, etc. If you find a good link, I'd love to look it over. And, I don't think it's necessarily the case that analysis was fudged (though it could be) -- it seemed more like that they just didn't know what they were doing -- particularly in the part about nursing and SIDS.

[mataji4]

www.medical-library.net/content/view/528/41/
Those numbers are enough scientific proof for me- I am not going to be stubborn on this one and wait for more countries to prove their numbers or something! The research paper from the New Zealand Medical Journal can be found, and I see it cited in all the internet articles on this subject.

As far as pads go, wool is very waterproof- we used a felted wool blanket as a "puddle pad" that we bought for $25 at our farmer's market. It worked great and was washable in the machine. If you know someone who felts, they could easily make one of these. Just make it extra big as they do shrink up lots over time. They also sell wool/cotton crib mattress covers- I've seen them for less than $50. They even have them on Amazon (the company is Natura).

[violet_]

Originally Posted by mataji4

www.medical-library.net/content/view/528/41/
Those numbers are enough scientific proof for me- I am not going to be stubborn on this one and wait for more countries to prove their numbers or something! The research paper from the New Zealand Medical Journal can be found, and I see it cited in all the internet articles on this subject.

As far as pads go, wool is very waterproof- we used a felted wool blanket as a "puddle pad" that we bought for $25 at our farmer's market. It worked great and was washable in the machine. If you know someone who felts, they could easily make one of these. Just make it extra big as they do shrink up lots over time. They also sell wool/cotton crib mattress covers- I've seen them for less than $50. They even have them on Amazon (the company is Natura).

That's one of the links I read. Don't get me wrong -- I'm not saying the stuff they put in baby mattresses is in any way ok -- I am only saying the purported mechanism the wrapping groups use to explain SIDS doesn't really seem to fly, given the research. And I looked again for a reference to the NZ study and still couldn't find one. It's quoted without citation all over the place. You've inspired me to look harder.

Also, forgive me if I'm misremembering from when I read this all last week, but I think the mattress-wrapping folks are very opposed to wool and think it's part of the problem. They are very opposed to sheepskins in particular.

[ammiga]

I was really impressed with that NZ study on mattress wrapping... until I realized the only place I could find that study was from the company selling the wrap. So, we ended up buying the organic mattress for dd to sleep on, because all those chemicals really creep us out. We asked for money for dd's birthday and holidays for the mattress instead of toys, and almost everyone in our family was happy to do that instead.

[Kikibell]

Originally Posted by mataji4

[url]The research paper from the New Zealand Medical Journal can be found, and I see it cited in all the internet articles on this subject.

Here are the references I found, but I'm not sure where to find the text. I don't have Lexus-Nexus or anything similar.... [from http://www.thecauseofsids.com/Cause_of_SIDS_Jane_Sheppard.htm ]

References

Fitzpatrick, M.G. 1998. SIDS and The Toxic Gas Theory (letter), New Zealand Medical Journal, October 9, 1998.

Kapuste, H. 2002. Giftige Gase im Kinderbett ("Toxic Gases in Infants' Beds"), Zeitschrift fuer Umweltmedizin No. 44; January-April 2002:18-20

King, M.P. and Hon, A.F. 2001. New Zealand Minister of Health, correspondence, April.

Mitchell, P.R. 2001. Analysis of Official UK Statistics for Cot Deaths and Infant Deaths by Other Causes, 1996-1999.

New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS), Official New Zealand Cot Death Statistics.

Richardson, B.A. 1994. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: A Possible Primary Cause. Journal of Forensic Science Soc. Jul-Sep; 34(3):199-204.

SIDS Alliance. 2001.

Sprott, T.J. 2000. Critique of the 1998 UK Limerick Report.

Sprott, T.J. 1996. The Cot Death Cover-Up? Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.

Sprott, T.J. 2000. Personal communication with an officer of the Ministry of Health. August 11, 2000.

Sprott, T.J. 2000. Research Which Confirms and Supports the Toxic Gas Theory For Cot Death

Sprott, T.J. 2003. The Cause of Cot Death and How to Prevent It, Cot Life 2000, March 2003

Tappin et al, Used infant mattresses and sudden infant death syndrome in Scotland: case-control study, British Medical Journal 2002; 325:1007

Originally Posted by mataji4

As far as pads go, wool is very waterproof- we used a felted wool blanket as a "puddle pad" that we bought for $25 at our farmer's market. It worked great and was washable in the machine. If you know someone who felts, they could easily make one of these. Just make it extra big as they do shrink up lots over time. They also sell wool/cotton crib mattress covers- I've seen them for less than $50. They even have them on Amazon (the company is Natura).

That's true! I hadn't thought about wool, even though I've been crocheting soakers like nobody's business. I'll be able to make one I think - thank you for the reminder!!

[Kikibell]

Originally Posted by ammiga

I was really impressed with that NZ study on mattress wrapping... until I realized the only place I could find that study was from the company selling the wrap.

That's just what my husband said!! A lot of the sites appear to be informational, but then they have links to the Babysafe products. Now, whether that's because the company made those websites, or because of the Fire Retardant regulations make no other company want to acknowledge the data - I don't know.....

[MamaMonica]

Moved to the Mindful Home per DDC guidelines