Should I Get an Organic Mattress for My Child?

I am about to purchase a mattress for my toddler’s “big-girl bed” and am wondering how important it is to purchase one that’s organic. I understand that our children spend many, many hours in bed (hopefully!), so it’s important to purchase the safest, least toxic option within our budget. However, I’m wondering if there’s any data to support the hype around providing a certified organic mattress for our toddler, or an organic crib mattress for a baby about to transition from a bassinet into a crib. I certainly did not sleep on an organic mattress at any point throughout my childhood, but of course want to provide my own children with the safest, healthiest sleep environment I can afford!

—Jillian

Sigh.

The main reason people push organic crib mattresses is the idea that they do not emit toxic chemicals (the so-called “off-gassing”). Many crib mattresses use treated polyurethane foam or polyester foam, which, in principle, can cause exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Organic mattresses may be less likely to have these issues.

The deeper question, then, is whether these VOCs do leak out at high levels and whether that is a concern. This paper does a nice job of trying to evaluate how much of these chemicals leak out. The authors argue that there is airborne exposure to these chemicals at some concentrations from mattresses.

The real question is to what extent that matters for anything. There is evidence that indoor air pollution matters for respiratory health in kids at extreme levels, but there are many sources for that pollution. Similarly, research has shown that smoking in the household increases the risk of respiratory infections for children; the exposure to chemicals from an adult smoking in the home is greater than from mattresses.

In the end, the researchers in the paper linked above suggest that the exposure infants get to these chemicals through crib mattresses is similar to what they get through toys and through general living room air. One conclusion could be that you want to lower these chemical exposures at all costs — even if we cannot document negative impacts at low levels, they could be there. On the other hand, we might conclude instead that these numbers are small, and it’s not worth the added money to make virtually no difference.