Blog Bash : Natural Mat

When I was shopping for crib mattresses I saw a lot of diffrent types, from the awful super cheap ones that are a big piece of foam covered in plastic to full on spring mattresses much like whats on your adult bed. In general they went from awful to ok, but none of them were something I really would want to sleep on myself. Connor's mattress is somewhere in the lesser of two evils, its the most supportive one I could find in my price range but its still nothing to write home about. At the time I honestly thought I had found the best I could in the range of crib and toddler mattresses, that was until I found out about the Natural Mat.

The Natural Mat was created originally for boats. It was created in Devon, England by Mark Tremlett and Peter Tindall, two sailors who were frustrated by the quality of mattresses made for boats. Once Mark had his first child shortly after he learned much like I did that a decent baby mattress is non existent and Natural Mat expanded into the baby market, lucky for us! The best part is there are no plastics, chemicals, or PVC found in any natural mat, only organic raw materials some of which you might never have thought of when it comes to mattresses!

The Natural Mat line in the US includes :

• The Mohair Mat - The most luxurious in the Natural Mat line, made from made from five layers of organic goodness including mohair fleece, coconut husks, and horsehair along with their signature pure cotton cover this mattress is fit for royalty. You may be thinking to yourself, horse hair?!, but horsehair is actually one of the most historically desirable ingredients in a mattress. Up till the invention of the coil spring it was actually the most commonly used mattress ingredient and is incredibly long lasting. Many horsehair mattresses are passed down through several generations with only the covers and outside tickings changed they are so durable. Even the Queen of England is said to sleep on one, so truely it is a mattress fit for a king! I myself would kill to own one, I can't even imagine how amazing it must be to have one as a baby!
• The Latex Mat - For babies with eczema this would be a dream mattress, between the natural latex core and the lambswool dust mites, also known and attributed to flaring up eczema, have no chance with this mattress! Super supportive and hypoallergenic its especially nice for babies with respiratory conditions or allergies. Connor suffers from what appears to be eczema around his ankles and arms, I can't help to wonder if this would help.
• The Coco Mat - I am putting this one on our ultimate wish list. We received a small cutout of this mattress and from the moment I took it out of the package I was so impressed. Incredibly soft and 100x more supportive than Connor's current mattress (which by the way was towards the top of the line in the mattress selections at the major retailer that we purchased it from), this mattress leaves me wishing I had one of my own. I can only imagine how wonderful the other two mattresses must be if this one left such an impression me. With a coco core sandwiched by two lambswool layers it offers great dust mite protection as well as impressive support. Now I just have to convince Connor's dad that we really need one. Heh.

All in all the Natural Mat is not a cheap mattress solution, but if you take in account that your child spends almost half of their time (and even more as a newborn) sleeping and most children stay in their crib mattresses well into the toddler years, can you imagine how many yucky chemicals you are exposing your child to daily, as well as to the extended amounts of time! With families just starting out who plan on having multiple children, the materials used in the Natural Mat historically are much more durable than materials used in more commonly available crib mattresses, so I'd be tempted to say that you'd actually save money in the long run as one mat should last you through several children. Though I have not tested this theory, I'd certainly be willing to bet on it!

For those of you that are interested in organic crib bedding Natural Mat also offers a great line of organic sheets and mattress protectors that will leave even the most Crunchy Mama satisfied!

The Natural Mat is available at BareBabies! Visit barebabies.com and use the code actnm10off to get 10% off your Natural Mat purchase!!