Mattress wrapping questions

[Kikibell]

x-posted from DDC

Hey mamas! I need some advice.

So, for us, buying 2 new organic mattresses for the twins (due in July) 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? Someone said the covers are very noisy - has that been your experience?

Any advice or suggestions welcome! Thanks in advance!

[Delicateflower]

Wasn't that mattress wrapping guy exposed as a fraud? Like the back to sleep campaign started the year (1991) before he started telling people to wrap mattresses, and very few people wrap their mattresses, and the SIDS rate has declined just as much as in the rest of the world since Back to Sleep?

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/313/7051/180
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...xRgBTFHe4FMsoA
http://heb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/2/162

Since the Help Prevent Cot Death Programme was launched in February 1991, the SIDS rate fell from 4.2/1000 in 1987 to 2.5/1000 in 1991.

[Kikibell]

Originally Posted by Delicateflower

Wasn't that mattress wrapping guy exposed as a fraud? Like the back to sleep campaign started the year (1991) before he started telling people to wrap mattresses, and very few people wrap their mattresses, and the SIDS rate has declined just as much as in the rest of the world since Back to Sleep?

Hmmm....I'm not sure what the back to sleep campaign is? And I don't see the mattress wrapping mentioned in those articles? I do see that they think the main cause of death from SIDS was babies sleeping on their stomachs - does it just mean that *that's* the cause - not off-gassing? Thank you for those links!!

[Magelet]

from what I've read, part of the reason that sleeping on their stomachs causes SIDS is possibly because off the off gassing. The gasses are heavier than air, so they sit low on the matress, right at baby on it's stomach face hight.

[violet_]

Originally Posted by Delicateflower

Wasn't that mattress wrapping guy exposed as a fraud? Like the back to sleep campaign started the year (1991) before he started telling people to wrap mattresses, and very few people wrap their mattresses, and the SIDS rate has declined just as much as in the rest of the world since Back to Sleep?

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/extract/313/7051/180
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=...xRgBTFHe4FMsoA
http://heb.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/22/2/162

This.

This is what I was attempting to (gently) say in the other forum. All the guy's references are written by him, and none are in actual journals -- they are mostly just links to more of his websites that all sell only his product.

There are never any hard numbers (how many wrapped the mattresses, versus how many did not, etc.) and yet he tries to point to conclusions that are ultimately unsupported.

[Kikibell]

So it's all a scam? Certainly makes my life easier if it is!

[talia rose]

I don't believe it is a scam. I believe the toxic mattress companies have worked hard to discredit him. Besides the SIDS issues there is the problem of the petrofoam chemicals and flame retardants ending up in our unborn babies and our breastmilk. This is huge! Our babies are being born pre-poisoned!

I have had several people tell me they had horrible black mold grow inside their bebe safe covers so beware. Don't wrap a mattress that has ANY moisture in it and check it often....

[Delicateflower]

The back to sleep campaign is what they did after they realised the main cause of SIDS was sleeping on their back. A ton of money and effort and time has gone into SIDS research over the last 30 years, and they've slashed the rate (by 40% in the US, 80% in other countries, and most babies that die now have one of the acknowledged risk factors). The first thing they realised was sleep position (hence "Back to Sleep"), but so far they know that the ways to increase your baby's risk are:

stomach sleeping
solitary sleeping in their own room
not breastfeeding
soft surface to sleep on
smoking

By making the babies bed firm, with good air circulation (no bumpers), in your room, don't smoke, breastfeed and put them to sleep on their backs you'll be significantly cutting the chances they will die of SIDS.

Originally Posted by talia rose

I believe the toxic mattress companies have worked hard to discredit him.

There doesn't need to be any conspiracy to discredit that website. It just doesn't have any evidence to support it, plus it has all the hallmarks of a scam.

For example,

More recently, in 2005, Australia’s SIDS rate was 0.3 in 1000 when the highest SIDS rates (0.5 in
1000 live births) were in New Zealand and the United States. The lowest rates (0.2 in 1000) were
in Japan and the Netherlands.

Since 2000, the SIDS rates in most of the countries have declined minimally.

If mattress wrapping is gaining in popularity, why is the SIDS rate not dropping?

[Kikibell]

Thank you for the explanation Delicateflower! I agree the lack of references on the various sites makes the proof seem less than positive.