We have been developing baby mattresses for well over 20 years and over that time parents-to-be have been bombarded with health scares about foam, and springs, not using a mattress twice, toxic gases from the mattress, dips and dents and poor sizing, radiation from springs, the list is endless.
During this time there has been some fantastic advances in new components and materials. Some companies have taken advantages of these and introduced them, Others fearful of offering higher priced goods have not and cover up their mattresses shortcomings with flowery emotive marketing jargon.
Going forward (I hate that phase) not only will you want to come to a buying decision based on quality and performance but maybe on how our baby mattress will affect the environment and our planets recourses. Virtually all foam comes from petroleum which is a finite resource.
If you put foam in landfill how long will it take to biodegrade ? Are you having a guess? anyone close to a million years! Scary eh?
We will go into this in some detail later but basically if you buy cheap foam with or without springs it will dip and dent, After a year or less it will end up in landfill and you buy another and another.
How would it be if you bought one mattress it lasted all your children and you could maintain its hygiene standards and it went in the loft only to come out as good as new when you lend the cot to a friend. That will save going into landfill each year a length of cot mattress put end to end from John "O" Groats to Lands End.
A quality cot mattress will excel under the following headings:-
Safety, Correct size and support
Comfort, welcoming feel and firmness
Durability. Cope with the extra activity as your baby becomes a toddler
Waterproof Protection, protect the mattress core from urine and vomit
Breathability and Temperature Control a cover that will hold a lot of air to circulate under your baby and help wick away any excess heat
Hygienic, Easy to keep clean and fresh, respond quickly to those inevitable 3am accidents
Guarantee at least 3 years to give you the confidence that your mattress will perform well against normal wear and tear
Environment Will it last a full 5 years with one baby and also for the second? will it be made from biodegradable or recycled components.
Very few mattresses on sale today will tick all those boxes. Next week I will tell what to look for to find the best mattress for you and your baby