Sleep is so important for health, but most of us are not getting enough sleep. Do you know How to Make Your Kid’s Sleep Environment Safer and how to create a toxin-free haven for better sleep?
This post is sponsored by Naturepedic, all opinions and photography are my own. I received no compensation for my recipe other than a free sample of product.
Do you know that it’s recommended for school-aged children to get 9 to 11 hours of sleep per night?
The environment is just as important when it comes to better sleep.
I never used to think about the air that we breathe in our home. In fact, the thought of how many hours we spend in our beds and bedrooms and the air we breathe never even crossed my mind, until MOLD drastically changed our lives.
Going through that experience several times pretty much makes you paranoid about the air you breathe, especially when your children’s health suffered because of toxins in the air.
Because my family has a past history with toxic-mold exposure, we are now extremely sensitive to environmental culprits like mold, dust mites, and dander. We are also very sensitive to fragrances, perfumes, smoke and chemicals.
Moving forward from that crazy journey, I have made an effort to make sure that the air my kiddos are breathing in the bedroom is SAFE.
How to Make Your Kid’s Sleep Environment Safer
Kids spend so much time sleeping in their bed as well as spending lots of time in their bedroom. This means it’s so important to make sure your kid’s sleep environment is safe and promoting health, not harming them.
Quality sleep not only helps physical health, but it also helps with mental focus which we all know is so important for school-age children when it comes to learning.
Reconsider Your Toxic Mattress for Healthier Sleep
Many years ago when I made the switch to real food, I also took a another huge leap and decided to live a “greener”, more natural life too. My thought process was this – if I’m taking extra care to put safe, healthy, non-processed, chemical-free food into my body, then I should also be mindful about what I use on my body as well as what I bring into my home.
One of the first things that had to go was my toxic mattress. Once I started living a natural life, I started researching everything and discovered that the majority of mattresses are covered in toxic fire retardants. They’re also full of chemicals and they can off-gas for years! And all of those foam toppers and beds, they’re no good either because they’re made with toxic polyurethane.
Organic Mattresses are so much healthier and safer!
Why Naturepedic Verse Organic Mattresses are so wonderful!
- Ideal for Your Growing Child: The Verse features firm support, ideal for your growing child or teen. Organic cotton filling provides additional cushion and support over premium encased coils for a comfortable design that promotes airflow to reduce overheating. The Verse is certified organic and is designed without common allergens, glues, adhesives, flame retardant chemicals, or other questionable materials. With its comfortable and supportive design, your big kid will be dreaming in no time at all. Ships compressed and roll packed for easy delivery and set up (source).
- Organic Cotton Fabric & Filling: Organic cotton is the purest form of cotton and a healthier alternative to synthetic fabrics and foams. Naturepedic uses only U.S. grown and certified organic cotton as filling for its mattresses and buys directly from USDA certified sources. This increases purity, organic reliability and support for U.S. farmers. The surface fabric is soft to the touch and easily stretches to conform to your body (source).
- PLA Comfort Layer: The PLA comfort layer adds resiliency and improved moisture wicking for a more comfortable night’s sleep. PLA is a plant-based material used in a variety of industries, including food packaging and medical supplies. Our PLA is made from non-GMO plant starch and does not contain or off-gas harmful chemicals (source).
- Safe Fire Protection Without Chemicals: Due to our innovative natural design and intelligent mattress construction, Naturepedic passes all Federal and State flammability standards without the use of flre retardant chemicals or flame retardant barriers. This is achieved through superior product design, the use of more natural materials and the elimination of polyurethane foam (source).
- Organic & Greenguard Gold Certified: Not only are our individual materials certified, but the finished mattress is certified as well. This ensures that all components meet a healthy non-toxic standard. Certified by OTCO to the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS). All Naturepedic products are also tested for chemical emissions and certified according to stringent GREENGUARD® Gold certification standards (source).
- 7″ Breathable Encased Coil Support: The coils in the Verse are individually wrapped for full body-contouring comfort. This method ensures isolation of movement while promoting balanced support for proper postural alignment. Exclusive construction completely avoids the use of glues or adhesives. Provides just the right amount of bounce while adding excellent breathability and heat dissipation characteristics as compared with memory foam and even all-latex mattresses (source).
- Quality Workmanship: Naturepedic is a family owned business located in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Our workers are skilled Amish craftsmen that take pride in their work, paying special attention to every detail to ensure long lasting durability. We are proud to offer the very best organic mattresses available anywhere (source).
- 10 Year Limited Warranty: Naturepedic is so confident in their products and are happy to stand behind them with a 10 year limited warranty (source).
Cleaning the Air
Getting toxic mattresses out of the bedroom is an important step for a safer sleep environment. There are also other things you can do to make it healthier too!
If your child does not do well with dust mites, dander, and all of the other things lurking on our floors, make sure to vacuum with a HEPA vacuum several times a week. I know that seems like a lot, but it will really help cut down on the yucky air culprits. If dust isn’t an issue, vacuuming at least once a week is ideal. I also really encourage using a HEPA vacuum so you’re not just kicking all of those dust culprits right back into the air. This is the HEPA vacuum that I use.
If there is a window in your child’s bedroom, open it and let fresh air in as often as possible. Outdoor air quality is almost always better than your indoor air quality, so let that air in!
I also highly recommend using a True HEPA Air Filtration Purifiers {not HEPA-Type}. They are so helpful for cleaning the air! My family uses this one, it’s quiet but also kind of has a gentle white noise which can be helpful for better sleep too!
Using nebulizing diffusers with kid-safe essential oils is also a wonderful way to help freshen and clean the air. I only recommend using pure therapeutic grade essential oils that are safe for kids.
You can also add a Himalayan Salt Lamp to your kid’s room. They provide a gentle light that does not disrupt sleep like most other lights do, and they’re also known for helping clean the air. When heated, they release negative ions to help purify the air.
Safer Bedding
If your kids love stuffed animals on their bed like mine do, make sure to throw them into the dryer on a high heat cycle once a week. This really helps cut down on dust mites.
It’s also so important to wash bedding once a week. I like to wash my kid’s sheets and blankets on a hot cycle and dry them on a high heat cycle. Depending on the type of pillows you have, you can throw them into the dryer on a high heat cycle to help cut down on dust mites too.
Naturepedic also carries organic pillows and waterproof mattress covers that help provide a barrier from dust mites and other allergens too. My daughter loves Naturepedic’s pillows and sleeps so much better with them.
Naturepedic carries wonderful organic products for the whole family like Naturepedic’s crib mattress for little ones and a whole line of organic mattress for adults too!
Head over to Naturepedic for more information on why choosing Naturepedic for children is beneficial.
Find Naturepedic online and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Plus check out this delicious recipe that I created for Naturepedic too: Strawberries and Cream Oatmeal {for breakfast in bed!}.
Are you on Pinterest? I pin lots of yummy real food recipes + more there. I have a board just for Health & Wellness and Natural Living + “Green” Home! Come follow along.
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It’s so sweet to see her in her new bed!! What an amazing purchase and gift for her. LOVE all this information. Thanks for spreading it!
Thank you so much Megan! She sure is having fun with her new bed. 🙂
We love our Naturepedic mattresses! They have made all the difference in my kids’ health! Your Tiny Love’s room is so sweet – I’m so glad she is enjoying her new mattress!
Thank you Renee! I love that your girls are sleeping better with these Naturepedic mattresses! 🙂
Wonderful, wonderful tips, Emily! I recently got a HEPA filter and have really noticed a change in my health since then. I sincerely wish I could open our windows, but with all my environmental allergies, not to mention all our neighbors smoking, it just really isn’t feasible. So sad. 🙁
Now off to check out that salt lamp…. 😉
Oh no! Yes, with allergies like that I can totally understand that. It’s wonderful that you have HEPA filter though! I’m happy to hear that is helping you. 🙂
This is so great! New mattresses is something on my wish-list, this company sounds perfect! The other tips for keeping dust at bay are great, too. Great point that our kids spend almost half their day in the bedroom! When you think of it like that, it really is important to keep the air quality good!
Right? When you think about it like that, then it really makes you questions what’s lurking in the air. I hope you’re able to get some new mattresses soon. 🙂
Sharing with a friend that can really use this! thank you
Thanks so much Theresa, I hope it’s helpful!