Toxic Crib Mattresses: Part One

I don't consider myself very crunchy. I'm not exactly the most mainstream mom out there either. I'm somewhere in the middle. I do what I think is best, like we all do. But I don't immediately dismiss what I hear from the crunchy world as scare tactics or fear mongering. I've seen enough abuse and deception out of our government agencies to know that anything is possible. So I do my own research and make my own decisions, not trusting that my government has my best interest at heart.

Realistically we should ALL do our own research. It's been proven time and again that our government has allowed dangerous chemicals to enter our homes, rarely taking any enforceable action (or acting too late). We've historically seen it with lead-based paint, asbestos, and various pharmaceuticals. Recently we've seen issues sprouting up over lead in our children's toys, toxic chemicals in our kid's bath products, even bleach on our baby carrots! Take a glance at a recent recall list and you'll see entirely too many children's items and food being recalled over ingredients/poor construction that never should have been allowed in the first place!

One specific issue I vaguely recalled hearing about was toxic crib mattresses. At the time I didn't pay any attention, since none of us were using a crib mattress. But as this pregnancy progressed I felt it may be prudent to do some research and see what the hype was about. The crib mattress we planned to use was originally my nephew's, who is almost ten years old. We used it for Aiden and planned to use it again for this baby. We discussed buying a new one, but we already had that one, so why spend more money? But just to be safe I started googling away.

The first bit of information I came across was that it is not advised to use old and/or used crib mattresses. Many in the field feel these mattresses may be a cause of SIDS. Seriously? I don't really need too much information on this one because ANY supposed link to SIDS is enough for me to take action.

Why the correlation? Many theories abound. Some say it's a combination of toxic fumes that emanate from mattresses as they age (more on this in part two). Others say it's because older mattresses may have small cracks and fissures, allowing various baby liquids (ahem) to leak into the mattress filling. Over time, that liquid can lead to the growth of fungus or mold, and is impossible to clean and remove since it's INSIDE the mattress.

In the effort of providing both sides of the story, the SIDS Alliance published a report refuting all these claims. Interestingly though, they still say you shouldn't use an old or worn crib mattress. So regardless of how plausible the findings are or are not, I won't be using the old mattress. After all these years we still have no idea what causes SIDS, so why take any chances?

Stay tuned for part two, where I'll share what I discovered when I researched how safe (or not!) new crib mattresses are.