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Achieving good quality sleep every night is essential for an individual’s overall health. During your night’s sleep, your bodily systems work harmoniously to process all events that transpired during the day and get your body ready for tomorrow’s activities. Indeed, sleep makes everything better, and it is even more critical for children.
Sleep is an integral part of your child’s development, so ensure that they’re getting the best each night. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, kids aged 6 to 12 and teens aged 13 to 18 require 9 to 12 and 8 to 10 hours of sleep daily, respectively. Having enough sleep helps your child prevent the following health conditions:
- Attention and behavioral problems
- Poor mental health
- Injuries
- Obesity
- Type 2 diabetes
Importance of Mattress in Your Child’s Sleep
To offer good quality sleep for your children, a mattress plays an essential role. The Bed Advisor can guide you through your journey of finding the best mattress for your child’s bed. When it comes to your children, you’ll have to go the extra mile in picking the best one.
Keeping this in mind, here are the best tips and consideration for choosing the perfect mattress for your child’s bed:
1. Prioritize Spinal Support and Comfort
The main difference between a child’s mattress needs from an adult is the emphasis on spinal support because their spine continues to form and develop during their age. When choosing a mattress for your child, opt for a firm mattress that can support both spinal support and comfort.
During sleep, your child’s neck and spine have to be in a neutral and comfortable position, allowing bone formation and development without any abnormalities. Moreover, despite their sleeping style and position, the mattress should reduce as much spinal stress as possible.
Keep in mind that the mattress should be firm enough to provide neck and spine support and development but provide a comfortable and sound sleep for your child. Ideally, an innerspring mattress has the right balance of firmness and softness to prevent your child from sinking during sleep.
2. Avoid Synthetic Materials Due to Irritability
A child’s body parts and systems are still delicate and sensitive to foreign stressors. Your child’s skin, being the largest organ of the body, can quickly become irritated because of two main factors:
- children have thinner skin than adults, and
- their immune system is still on development, so they’re not fully equipped to deal with the environment’s stressors
To minimize irritations and sensitivity of your child’s skin, avoid mattresses made up of synthetic materials, and shift to natural and organic ones. Look carefully on the mattress’s label, and if it is sourced from the following materials: organic wool, cotton, natural latex, silk, coco latex, and bamboo, they’re excellent options.
Steer clear from memory foam mattresses because they tend to have more materials made from toxic chemicals, such as polyurethane, which gets released from the bed through off-gassing. While these mattresses can work fine for adults, it is a substantial health threat for children due to toxin release.
3. Choose The Right Sizing
Your child significantly grows before you realize that they might be growing too big for their beds. When choosing the right size, don’t settle with mattresses with the exact fit for your children’s size and height, especially in their puberty stage.
Here are some tips to acquire the best mattress size for your children:
- Bring them with you during mattress shopping.
- Allow a few inches due to outgrowing.
- If two or more children share in one mattress, make sure they’re comfortable to move around.
- Also, take note of the bed furniture. Make sure that the bed feet are not too high for your child to climb up and down.
Generally, the best mattress sizes for children range from small single to twin XL. However, you can go specifically for smaller children. For instance, crib mattresses can cater more toddlers from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2, then transition to a bigger, toddler bed when they reach 3 to 4 years old.
If you plan to keep the mattress long enough, toddler beds are an expensive option. Therefore, choose between twin, twin XL, and full depending on how many children will use it and how tall and big they are.
4. Look for Easy to Clean Features
Children tend to be messy, and it is a part of their childhood experience. As a parent, you should adjust accordingly to their mess and simultaneously teach them cleanliness when they reach the right age. Since their beds are a vulnerable place to create a mess, choose mattresses with additional features for easy cleaning.
For example, opt for waterproof mattresses to prevent staining of pee, poop, vomit, and spilled beverages. Also, washable cushions allow your child to sleep comfortably without accumulation of dust mites and other pests.
Takeaways
As your children grow up, their sleep experience with their mattress will become a significant part of their childhood. When choosing the right mattress for your child, consider these tips to ensure your child has quality sleep, contributing to their present and future health.