How to Choose the Right Mattress for Growing Children

When your child grows up enough to be shifted from a cot to a bed, choosing a mattress that is just right can be a bewildering affair due to the number of options available. You need to get your selection right because otherwise, your child’s body growth and spine development could easily be hampered not to mention disturbed sleep leading to increased stress and an array of health issues. All mattresses are not the same even though they may look alike. Some tips on getting the choice right:

Mattresses for Small Children Are Not an Unnecessary Expense

Depending on what you child may feel, toddlers can be moved from a cot to a big bed or they might prefer the snug comfort of a toddler bed. Unfortunately, they will very soon grow out of it too. The mattress that you opt to use on a toddler bed or on a normal bed has a critical role to play as at that age the spine of the child is growing and developing rapidly, especially when sleeping. The mattress needs to provide the support that is required for this growth to take place naturally

Spinal Support Is Vital

For the child’s spine to be able to grow without any hindrance, the mattress support should be such that both the neck and spine are in a neutral position. Amazing as it may seem, a child’s spine may grow by as much as 1.5 cm when sleeping at night due to inter-vertebral discs filling up with water. Therefore, it is essential that the mattress should be comfortably soft without allowing the body to sink in too much. As the child’s spine is extremely flexible it can adapt very easily to the stress due to an unsupportive mattress, however, this lays the foundation for more permanent deformation when exposed to stress continuously and for long duration. Refer to memoryfoamtalk on loom and leaf for more details on how mattresses affect spinal alignment.

Ensure That the Mattress Is Clean

Even though the law specifies that new mattresses must be dust mite treated before being sold, it is quite natural for dust mites to develop over time. Dust mites are a leading cause of respiratory tract diseases like asthma. It is worth keeping in mind that you keep on shedding skin and losing a lot of moisture while sleeping, so the mattress can become quite unhygienic over time. Moisture-barrier and anti-allergenic properties can be added with special-purpose mattress cover, however, using sprays to remove bacteria and dust mites is not recommended as the child will end up inhaling toxic chemicals as well. Cleaning bed sheets, airing the bed, dusting, and vacuuming are good ways of ensuring less buildup of dust mites, however, the most effective method is mattress replacement every few years.

Conclusion

Even though it may not seem so, choosing the right type of mattress and keeping it as clean as possible is the best way of ensuring a healthy growth environment for your child. Many of the physical and psychological issues that are encountered in later life often have roots in sleep quality in childhood.

Author Bio: Charles Morrison is a sleep researcher and has written a number of informative articles on memoryfoamtalk on loom and leaf on the issue of mattress selection for different target groups.