A Our manufacturer believes that cotton is the greatest sleeping surface any amount of money can buy... it comes right from the earth and provides excellent support. It is also very malleable, and can be stuffed into a casing to fill any space. It can also be packed very firmly into a case to provide a very flat surface. These are important attributes in the crib making business. The cases for our cribs are made with panels and boxed corners to ensure that the finished product will be exactly the size and shape it should be. Over the years, they calculated exactly what the measurements need to be so 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 snugly into place. This is extremely important; there cannot be any space between the crib frame and mattress for fear that the little one will get a hand or foot or stuffed animal friend stuck in there.

Our mattress is overstuffed with layers and layers of high quality 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 very many times in a complex pattern (regular chair futons, 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.

There is no exposure to chemicals and harmful off-gassing. Conventional mattresses (cribs and otherwise) are made with foams and metals and all sorts of questionable additives and chemicals. We also believe that the off gassing from chemicals can lead to SIDS. 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 in specific to the chemicals which have become commonplace in our synthetic world, is much weaker (we have also done other research on SIDS - please ask us for details and we would be happy to provide you with the research we’ve done). Be careful of mass manufacturers of futons who offer a crib size; whereas the cotton is still preferable to various man-made fibers and fillings, they may still be treated with arsenic’s and fungicides and dioxin bleaches. We would like to point out that our cotton is treated with borate powder for fire retardancy. (An Organic Cotton Crib Mattress is also available without the borate powder) For parents concerned about fire safety, this is an alternative to organic cotton which is not treated with borate powder.

Also, you will need to have either a worsted wool puddle pad or a rubber sheet covering the mattress.

The futons can later be used as a baby play mat and can also be used in a toddler bed for a pillow. If bed sharing, the futon can also be used next to mom.