# Co-sleeping and Memory Foam mattress??



## SheBear

Is it safe? we had the opportunity to sleep on a Tempurpedic mattress over Thanksgiving (just us, our toddler was in her PnP) and my dh is totally sold on the comfort of it, and has been talking about the possibility of saving up for one over the next 6 months or so.

Problem is, baby #5 is due in about 12 weeks, and will be cosleeping, or at least side-carring for probably the first year at least.

I sort of instinctively think that the memory foam mattress might not be safe for infants, but I don't know....never even thought about it before!

To clarify, I'm talking about the firmness of the mattress/immediate danger of suffocation, not the potential of toxicity from the foam itself, although I am certainly intending to research both factors (not just for baby's sake, but for ours, too!) before we actually make such a purchase.

Anyone have insight you'd care to share with me? Does this type of mattress pose a risk for cosleepers as I suspect? If so, at what age/stage would it be considered "safe" for a child to sleep on Memory Foam, either with an adult or alone?

thanks!


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## Maedze

No. Baby needs a firm mattress. Those mattresses instantly conform to the body position. If baby flips over onto his face, it will be nearly physically impossible for him to pull his head out of the mattress and he would probably suffocate pretty quickly.

I wouldn't put any baby or young toddler on one, for any reason, truthfully.


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## SheBear

That's kinda what I figured....just needed confirmation!







Seems to me like it would be even MORE dangerous to a child who is sleeping *with* an adult, than a child sleeping separately, because wouldn't the mattress compress to the adult's heavier weight, leaving even more risk of suffocation to the infant?

In either case, it doesn't sound like a reasonable purchase to even consider now or in the foreseeable future, since we don't know if our family is finished growing after this baby or not!









Ah well...not saving up for a mattress means we can save more (and more quickly!) for the infant car seat we need and for the washer/dryer that are limping along on their last shaky legs!







LOL!

Hey, what about the Select Comfort (air-filled adjustable firmness) mattresses? Since I prefer a much firmer mattress than dh anyway, would that be an option? Or is the risk of baby rolling onto dh's "softer" side too great? I dunno....it'd be nice to find a solution that keeps dh and me in the same room together, but what we've had to do in the past is have me and the newborn sleep in the guest room on a firmer mattress, then move fairly quickly (more quickly than I'd prefer, really) from co-sleeping to just sleeping with baby in a crib beside--but not attached to--our bed. Thankfully, our babies have adjusted to that fairly well, and it's not a horrible option, but I'd rather be able to really cosleep longer!


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## Maedze

What about going with a king sized? If you and DH aren't very large people, one of those sleep number beds should leave a sizeable gap on your side where baby could sleep on the firm mattress.


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## SheBear

We are already in a king size....dh is very tall (over 6'6"), I'm not exactly petite, and we are NOT snugglers--we like to snuggle while awake (hence, the 5 kids!







) but when sleeping, we like our space, LOL!

Still, we could manage with a king and an infant without feeling too cramped; it's the firmness of the mattress that causes the biggest problem for us. Sounds like separate beds or a side-car are maybe our best options after all!









ETA: Wait, are you saying that a Select Comfort might be workable as long as there was ample room on the firm (non-daddy) side for the baby?? Hmmm.....maybe that could be a real solution!! daring to get my hopes up....of course, we're talking several months down the road, at best due to budget issues, so it won't solve the immediate newborn issue, but that's manageable!


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## AbbieB

I completely disagree.

We have a king size temperpedic. We've had it for a few years. DS slept on it from day one.

Yes they do conform to your shape but weight has a lot to do with it. A newborn just does not weigh enough to cause a dent in the mattress. My low tone newborn had no problem rolling over in the bed. None at all.

OP, are you aware of the off gassing that temperpedics do when new? I would be worried about that, it's quite strong. We actually left our new mattress in another room with the windows open and the door shut for a few days before sleeping on it.

Once it had aired out it was fantastic. I love it for cosleeping because movement from one person does not disturb another.


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## AbbieB

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Maedze* 
No. Baby needs a firm mattress. Those mattresses instantly conform to the body position. If baby flips over onto his face, it will be nearly physically impossible for him to pull his head out of the mattress and he would probably suffocate pretty quickly.

I wouldn't put any baby or young toddler on one, for any reason, truthfully.

It's not instantly, it takes several minutes for the mattress to change shape. My 250 lb husband's indentation is less than an inch deep, and it certainly is not a perfect body impression.

I find our mattress to be quite firm.

A regular Temperpedic brand mattress is nothing like the memory foam layers that you can buy at many stores. Those are really soft and give quickly. They are totally different animals IMO. It sounds like the poster quoted above is describing one of those.


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## SheBear

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AbbieB* 
Yes they do conform to your shape but weight has a lot to do with it. A newborn just does not weigh enough to cause a dent in the mattress. My low tone newborn had no problem rolling over in the bed. None at all.

OP, are you aware of the off gassing that temperpedics do when new? I would be worried about that, it's quite strong. We actually left our new mattress in another room with the windows open and the door shut for a few days before sleeping on it.

Once it had aired out it was fantastic. I love it for cosleeping because movement from one person does not disturb another.

I've heard about (but not experienced first-hand) the off-gassing; that was one reason I mentioned that I would want to research the potential toxicity of the foam itself before making a final decision. Hard for me to believe that something that can off-gas so badly, and that warns about harmful, toxic, even fatal fumes in the event of a fire, could be safe to sleep on every night for years, but what do I know?









As for the compression, this is totally just in my mind, but I couldn't help but think (as I mentioned above) that the foam conforming to MY body's weight/shape would cause even more of a risk to a small baby? That apparently has not been your experience, AbbieB?

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AbbieB* 
A regular Temperpedic brand mattress is nothing like the memory foam layers that you can buy at many stores. Those are really soft and give quickly. They are totally different animals IMO. It sounds like the poster quoted above is describing one of those.

Not sure what you mean by this last sentence...what we slept on during vacation was an actual Tempurpedic mattress, not a memory foam pad on top of another type mattress, although I know there are countless brands of those pads and lots of people swear by them. In fact, my sister and BIL have used a Select Comfort mattress with a high-quality (dunno their brand) memory foam pad on top of it....they've used it for years and swear by it...if not for the baby factor, I'd be very tempted to try that set-up, to be honest.


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## SpunkyMama

http://thecleanbedroom.com/Organic_M...x_Mattress.htm

We got one of these. We purchased a soft, medium, and firm layer for each side of the king-size bed. When ds was a wee one we put the firm layer on top. I even talked to the owner about the safety of having a little baby on the bed, and it was her suggestion to just move around the layers as he got older. Now that he is a toddler we have the soft on top.

These ones are great because there is no off-gassing, and you can customize the comfort on each side. IMO it is worth it to spend the bit of extra money on a pure latex mattress instead of another expensive mattress that is still toxic.


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## violet_

I have a Tempurpedic, and they are quite firm. The indentations they show on TV are over small pieces of foam with LOTS of pressure. In a regular sleeping situation your weight is more spread out, and they are firm. Too firm for most people, in fact. I think the knock-offs make people think they are soft when they are not.

I don't really remember the outgassing being a problem, but it was a while ago. For a baby I'd certainly let it outgas all it wanted away from baby for a while, though.

As far as a baby making a dent, I have no idea. Will wait and see. If it looks too soft to me I'll likely get a sidecar. But then, I was leaning that way anyway so I don't stress about moving in bed.


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## *Karen*

Quote:


Originally Posted by *SpunkyMama* 
http://thecleanbedroom.com/Organic_M...x_Mattress.htm

We got one of these. We purchased a soft, medium, and firm layer for each side of the king-size bed. When ds was a wee one we put the firm layer on top. I even talked to the owner about the safety of having a little baby on the bed, and it was her suggestion to just move around the layers as he got older. Now that he is a toddler we have the soft on top.

These ones are great because there is no off-gassing, and you can customize the comfort on each side. IMO it is worth it to spend the bit of extra money on a pure latex mattress instead of another expensive mattress that is still toxic.

Just wanted to let everyone know that SleepEZ's prices are way better, and our two are super comfy.
http://www.sleepez.com/natural.htm

As for the memory foam suffocation thing, that really wouldn't worry me since baby weighs next to nothing. The off gassing would bother me a great deal.


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## Just1More

We got a memory foam mattress pad for our king sized bed 2.5 years ago, and we LOVE it. It's beyond great. Ours came from SAM's, so it's probably one of the cheaper variety.

It was pretty stinky at first, so we let it air out for quite a while, and then wrapped it in plastic (we wanted to waterproof it anyway).

But, we've now co-slept with two babies no problem. If anything, I think they are safer because they are securely tucked in next to me and don't roll around much. Also, the indentation isn't huge like you may think.

Anyway, like I said, we LOVE our bed. YMMV.


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## lotus.blossom

We also have a memory foam mattress (very inexpensive from the evil big box store) and at first I was very worried about my baby suffocating especially since he loved to sleep on his belly and plant his face. So I had a thickish waterproof pad over his side of the bed and it made enough structure that he didn't bury his face.
I can't say enough about memory foam and cosleeping!!!!!!! We sleep so much better than we did with ds1 on our saggy spring filled other mattress. Its amazing. And the previous poster is right. Babies don't really have enough weight to make much of an indent. The only problem is that it is so comfortable that my baby refuses to sleep on any other surfaces!!


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## thebigfam

DD has slept on my tempurpedic from day one! we have had NO problems with it whatsoever. When she moved to a toddler bed she didn't want to because she wanted the tempurpedic. I want to get a King size of me and big daddy and then dd can have the queen one. what other 3 year old can say she has a queen sz. tempurpedic?

Big Momma


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## ihugtrees

I know this is an old thread but I came across it and wanted to comment for future readers, since I'm sure the OP made her decision by now.

Sleep Number bed=bad idea. I vacationed in a hotel that had a sleep number bed, and was 7 months pregnant. I was able to lower my number to the point of lying on my stomach and being even with the bed (ah, it was so nice!) However, my friend was on the other side & couldn't even see me because I was so deep in the bed. Also, there was a huge divide between her and I...had I been with my husband, and wanted to snuggle, there would've had a big huge wall in between us. To me, that seems like a huge hazard to a baby, especially a newborn! Even if you put the baby on the more solid part in the middle, they could sooo easily roll off. If they are with you in your spot, and your number is lower (or higher, whatever the softest is) it is also dangerous. Maybe if both numbers were very firm, it would work. Otherwise, I don't see how cosleeping would be all right on a Sleep Number.

We bought a Bed In A Box (wayyyy cheaper) recently, and let it off gas for a few days. Our 8 month old sinks into this bed less than any other bed she's ever laid on (and she's never slept in a crib, but on many different mattresses.) We love it so far.


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## bobandjess99

I co-sleep on a tempurpedic. I feel it's perfectly safe.


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## FeminineFigure

I've used a Sleep Number from the time my LO was born. He's almost 9 months. I disagree with the above poster--it has been very safe!

We have a king-sized Sleep Number with the option of having a movable incline for head/feet, which has been fabulous for when i want to sit up in bed and nurse!

However, I do NOT put the LO in the middle without some precautions. I have a Humanity Bed pillow that I rotate having the body pillow down the middle or on the edge of the bed. I rotate the baby sleeping in the middle or to the side of me (to prevent a misshapen head







). The combo works great. I could have my side super firm when baby was a newborn for my peace of mind.


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## MJB

We have a 4" memory foam topper on our bed, will have a newborn on it this summer and had it when my 4yo was a baby. I have a hard time seeing it as a suffocation hazard. Then again, I had newborns who could easily lift their heads when lying on their stomachs. A baby with their head turned to the side would not have mattress coming up over their nose and mouth, no way, no how. If they put their face straight into the mattress and pushed it in with all their strength I could see them *maybe* suffocating but I think they have better instincts than that. The sheet alone keeps the surface fairly level.


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## basje

"In 2005, Walter Bader, owner of the "green mattress" company Lifekind and author of the book Toxic Bedrooms, sent several mattresses to an Atlanta-based lab. A memory-foam model was found to emit 61 chemicals, including the carcinogens benzene and naphthalene."

"Should You Ditch Your Chemical Mattress?" Mother Jones By Hannah Wallace in the March/April 2008 Issue, http://motherjones.com/politics/2008...mical-mattress


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## Pumpkin_Pie

I would not put a newborn on a Tempurpedic mattress under any circumstances due to off gassing. Just because you can't smell it, doesn't mean it isn't off gassing. Little babies are so vulnerable to toxins, and memory foam is about as bad as they come for toxic off gassing.


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## stephbrownthinks

We are in the market for a new mattress and have a baby due the beginning of May. I really wanted an organic one, but they are SO expensive! We plan on cosleeping, but are setting up a nursery as well. For the crib we bought one of those babysake covers to prevent the offgassing. I kept talking about how I wished they had that for "grown up" mattresses too, and today my husband sent me this article: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...-part-two.aspx

maybe something like that would work on a memory foam mattress?


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## MJB

I have scoliosis and chronic back pain, and am also allergic to both latex and wool, so for me, a memory foam mattress is a must-have. And cosleeping is a necessity as well. We use a waterproof mattress cover, and in any case, I'm not convinced that there are detrimental effects from sleeping on memory foam (and a "green mattress" company is not a reliable source of information). You are supposed to air them out at first but we've had our current mattress for 3 years and I think it's sufficiently aired.


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## Jaesun's Dad

Quote:

Sleep Number bed=bad idea. I vacationed in a hotel that had a sleep number bed
I have been in several hotels that have sleep number beds on business travel with mixed results in the way the bed was set up. I own a sleep number for one and only one reason: in my old house it was the only way I could get a bed up the stairs to my bedroom since it was modular, a regular mattress would not have been possible. I have since moved but I still use my bed. I am not a huge fan of it, but it's decent and I sleep well on it. Having your own bed and setting it up properly is a much different experience than using one that's been already abused by hundreds of hotel guests before you.

Pointing out: tempurpedic and sleepnumber are not the same. Nor is sleep number necessarilly memory foam. There's an air matress, then there's foam on top of that, then a heavy mattress material, then a mattress pad on all of that, then your sheets, and then if you're cosleeping the baby goes on top of all that.

I'm in a bit of an unusual situation in that as a family of three we have two apartments, even though we all share the same bed right now that might be one of two beds. I don't think the sleepnumber is as safe as our regular mattress but I don't think it is inherently unsafe either. Both mom and I are athletic builds (not overweight) and while we both snore we aren't very active sleepers (tossing and turning). When cosleeping we have the baby between us and we each have our own comforter with no other sheets. That way our bedding never really gets near the baby.


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