Another Important Ingredient in Your Baby’s Safe, Sound Sleep: How to Choose the Best Mattress for a Baby Bed

Creating the most wholesome sleep environment for your new baby involves building a baby bed that is safe and healthy in entirety – from bed to mattress to bedding. Once you’ve determined whether your new child will sleep in a crib, bassinet, or cradle, it’s time for your next important decision: Selecting your wee one’s mattress. To help you in your choice, keep these tips for “how to choose the best mattress for a baby bed” alongside as a guideline.

A Snug-Fitting Mattress is Essential for Your Child’s Safety While in His Bed
All other factors aside, the most important thing you can do for your child is ensure his mattress fits his bed snugly and securely. A mattress that is too small leaves room for your child’s tiny body to be caught between the bed and the mattress, or even for your child to crawl or roll beneath the mattress. Apply the two-finger rule: If you can fit two fingers between the side of the crib and the mattress, that mattress is too small and potentially dangerous for your baby. Check measurements carefully if you’re purchasing the mattress and baby bed separately, and, if you bring a mattress home and find it isn’t a perfect fit to the bed, return it and purchase another. The small price you may pay to return an item is so very irrelevant in the big picture of your child’s wellbeing and your own peace of mind.

Another Very Important Quality in a Dependable Baby Mattress is Firmness
Keeping your baby safe while she sleeps also requires a very firm mattress. A soft crib or bassinet mattress could bunch up around your child’s mouth and nose, increasing her risk of suffocation or of breathing in her own exhaled air in the air pocket that is created. Exhaled air, which is high in carbon dioxide and low in oxygen, could cause her to become very drowsy or short of breath, or even lose consciousness. A firm mattress – and placing your child on her back to sleep – will help to protect your baby from these dangerous situations while she sleeps or naps in her bed. 

Are Gifted or Second-Hand Baby Mattresses Safe for Your Child?
The answer is… it depends. If a green-minded friend or family member offers you a well-loved organic or natural baby mattress, and the mattress meets all of your safety requirements, do consider this opportunity. Eco-friendly mattresses, because they are toxin-free, extremely durable, and very easy to air and clean, are completely safe to pass on to another family and baby. However, a non-organic mattress is unsafe for gifting or selling once no longer needed, not only because it is made from toxic materials and treated with harmful chemicals, but also because bacteria, dust mites, mold, germs, dirt, and more can be trapped in the mattress. Just use your common and good-parenting sense – if a second-hand crib mattress is stained, dented, or torn, it’s not a good mattress for your baby.  

You put so very much care and consideration into preparing your home for your new arrival. Be sure, as you ready your baby’s nursery, to build a baby bed that is safe in every way, with a toxin-free bed, natural baby bedding, and a well-fitting, supportive, baby-friendly mattress. You will sleep soundly knowing that you’ve taken the best care you can of your child, and she will sleep soundly in her safe, healthy, restful cocoon. 

The next posting will have more guidelines for making this very important purchase – your baby’s mattress. Until then, please share your baby-mattress-buying experiences and tips with those readers who are embarking for the first time on furnishing their babies’ nurseries!