“You will never sleep again!” is something that people love to say to expecting parents.  But, I decided my baby (and therefore my husband and I) would sleep happily, comfortably, and safely.  On what, was the question.

My first nursery purchase was the ever-practical crib mattress.  After reading a mattress article in The New York Times about harmful flame-retardant chemicals like PBDE’s (which have been found in breast milk), I knew that I wanted an organic mattress; one that was VOC-free and used natural flame retardants like cotton, wool, and natural latex.

At one national mattress retailer, their “organic” crib mattress had only 20% organic material—soy—the rest was memory foam with potentially toxic VOCs!  Perhaps the way to go was the smaller, mom-and-pop shops.  Of the indie sellers I located, none were within driving distance from our Jersey digs.  I certainly wanted to test the mattresses in person (isn’t that half the fun?).  And, if I didn’t pick a comfy mattress, I felt certain that our future soccer player would complain about it…at 4 a.m.!

Read the rest of this entry »