Everyday Organic

Information Regarding White Lotus Cribs

White Lotus Home crib mattresses are made differently than any other crib mattress out there on the market. We have worked for years on making a product that is both safe and natural for your baby. Crib mattresses are a very intimidating subject, but one that deserves quite a bit of discussion for the peace of mind that new parents (and old) require. We feel it is necessary to mention all of these issues in order to illustrate why White Lotus Home’s crib mattresses are so great. It is at times difficult to explain the features of our mattresses without making comparisons to other manufacturers’ crib mattresses; this is not intended to be malicious, but merely educational.

At White Lotus Home, we believe that cotton is the greatest sleeping surface any amount of money can buy... it is not only a natural and renewable resource that comes right from the earth, but it also provides excellent support. It's malleability is also an extremely attractive aspect of this fiber, as it can be stuffed into the casing to fill any space. It can also be packed very firmly into its casing material to provide a very flat and smooth sleeping surface. These are important attributes in the crib making business.

The cases for our crib mattresses are made with panels and boxed corners to ensure that the finished product will be exactly the size and shape we desire. Over the years, we have spent plenty of time calculating the exact measurements needed to ensure that even with all of the stuffing and sewing and quilting and TLC, it ends up being 28" x 54" x 3.5". The standard size for crib frames is 28" x 52". The difference in the size of the mattress itself is to ensure that it will fit snuggly into place. This is extremely important; there cannot be any space between the crib frame and mattress for fear that the child could get a hand or foot or stuffed animal friend stuck in there.

White Lotus Home cribs are overstuffed with layers and layers of high quality green cotton batting. Whereas a regular 6" corner futon would have 8 or 9 layers of cotton in it, a crib futon (which is only 3.5" thick) has 9 or 10. The crib is then quilted by hand in a complex pattern; these mattresses receive far more attention and time than a standard mattress (Our regular Toddler Beds, which are the same measurements, get 8 quilts, and a crib has 55).

These two factors combine to provide an extraordinarily firm and flat sleeping surface. This is very important to avoid 'aspiration' (where a baby chokes in a pool of vomit). This is yet another reality that we feel it is necessary to address. A futon that is puffy and lightly quilted will have larger divots where pools could form, or where a baby who could not lift its head could become trapped and suffocate. Babies' necks are so weak that what looks like a harmless puff in a mattress or bedding could be very dangerous. White Lotus cribs are designed to avoid the chance of these things happening.

You may wonder why these questionable toxins do not affect adults who sleep on them regularly; quite simply, the immunity of babies in general, and particularly to the chemicals which have become commonplace in our synthetic world, is much weaker than that of a grown adult. Be wary with respect to mass manufacturers of mattresses who offer a crib size-even if the crib mattress is said to be all cotton. Whereas the cotton is still preferable to various synthetic fibers and fillings, they may still be treated with arsenics and fungicides and dioxin bleaches.

We would like to point out the natural cotton used in our standard crib mattress is treated with borate powder for fire retardancy due to the new FR 1633 laws-for more information please contact www.EverydayOrganics@comcast.net. We do offer three other mattress choices which  include wool wrapping. Wool is naturally fire retardent and dust mite resistant. We feel it is very important that crib mattresses are fireproof because of the extreme helplessness of a baby in a fire situation. Some parents are concerned about the effects of borate, but we feel the safety is far more important than the extremely small chance that a chemical reaction will happen due to allergies. Also, since you will need to have some kind of protection for the mattress (perhaps a puddle pad), it is unlikely that there will be any direct contact with the boric powder. If you are concerned about a reaction to the cotton used in our mattresses, please send us an email with your name and full address requesting a sample of our filling materials. We would be happy to send them out to you; it is always better to be safe than sorry! Please email www.EverydayOrganics@comcast.net for more information regarding borate powder.