Organic Mattresses and Your Baby's Health When a woman is pregnant, we say she's "expecting". For soon-to-be mothers, that doesn't just mean she's expecting a baby - she's expecting giggles and coos, dirty diapers, tiny toes to keep warm, and a little one to help stay healthy for years and years to come. There's so much concern over the minutest choices a new mom makes, it's hard to keep it all straight. The most important detail I've ever heard regarding an infant in its first year is this - your new baby, between the ages of birth and one year, will sleep more than 70% of the time.
Given that statistic, where your new baby sleeps is probably the most important decision you have to make before you welcome him or her into your house. In this article, I'll discuss the health benefits of an organic crib mattress and why it's best for your baby; but first, let's look at some of the dangers of traditional crib mattresses and how they might be linked to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). What is SIDS? New and expecting mothers have heard about the danger of SIDS over and over again, but we're rarely given an answer as to why it occurs.
We're told the cause is unknown and that little can be done to prevent it. We'll wake up dozens of times during the night just to make sure our baby is breathing. We lay our babies on their sides, swaddled with blankets at their back, just to make sure they don't roll over and sleep in a prone position - a common belief of a contributor to SIDS. However, new research has brought us closer to understanding what exactly may be the cause of SIDS.
For dozens of years, new mothers may have been laying their babies down directly on the cause - chemical-laden crib mattresses and portable crib mattresses. Crib Mattresses and Their Relation to SIDS Unlike organic crib mattress, the traditional crib mattress contains chemicals like arsenic, phosphorus, and antimony. These were added to the mattresses initially with the best of intentions, as they act as fire retardants. However, before manufacturers added these chemicals to their mattresses, SIDS was rarely heard of.
Afterward, the death rate skyrocketed in newborns. As more and more people are looking at the relationship between traditional crib mattresses and portable crib mattresses and SIDS, science made a startling discovery. As crib mattresses start to age, these fire retardant chemicals react with ordinary household fungi (harmless fungi, at that) to create a very, very dangerous chemical reaction. The toxins emitted, as these compounds interact, are actually a thousand times more toxic than carbon monoxide. In trying to prevent SIDS, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development started the "Back to Sleep" Campaign. This Campaign promotes laying babies on their backs to sleep instead of their stomachs.
As a result, crib deaths decreased by an amazing fifty percent. I believe that the reduction in crib deaths is due to the fact that now babies noses are being turned away from directly breathing in these toxic fumes. But there are still fifty percent that are effected by the chemicals indirectly. Although other factors like nutrition, smoking around the baby, and sleep position are still potentially factors in SIDS, given the research relating non-organic crib mattresses to fatal toxin release should be enough for new mothers to take a look at their baby mattress purchases. I think if every mother switched to an organic bassinet and crib mattress, we would see the SIDS occurrence rate reduce to almost none.
Laura Taff absolutelyorganicbaby.comBuy our 100% organic crib mattress and help protect your baby from sickness and SIDS.
