SIDS Prevention: Consider Crib Mattress Toxicity

Is there a link between toxic crib mattresses and SIDS?

As a parent, you want to do everything you can to prevent SIDS. Typical SIDS prevention advice is to put your baby to sleep on his back on a firm mattress, avoid thick, fluffy padding, pillows, or stuffed animals, and prevent your baby from overheating. This is good advice; however, there is an additional factor in the prevention of SIDS that you may not be aware of. An ongoing SIDS prevention campaign in New Zealand is publicizing a link between SIDS and mattresses. This campaign advises parents to wrap their babies’ crib mattresses in a gas-tight cover to prevent exposing babies to toxic gases from the mattresses.

The theory linking SIDS and mattresses suggests that the deadly toxic gases generated by crib mattresses can poison babies while they sleep. The toxic gases are created from the interaction of fire retardant chemicals with a fungus that commonly grows on mattresses and bedding. The gases are breathed in and absorbed by a baby, shutting down the central nervous system and stopping breathing and heart function. Toxic gases are denser (heavier) than air, so gases released by mattresses float directly on top of the mattresses and diffuse to the floor. This explains why sleeping on your back protects against SIDS. Babies who sleep on their backs are less likely to breathe in a lethal dose of toxic fumes. But the gases can still be absorbed through the skin.

How has the mattress wrap campaign affected SIDS prevention in New Zealand? To date it has been 100% successful. It began in 1995 and during this time no deaths from SIDS have been reported among the more than 196,000 New Zealand babies who have slept on a mattress wrapped in a polyethylene cover. The number of SIDS deaths in New Zealand that occurred between 1995 and 2010 is approximately 920. However, there were no deaths in New Zealand on a properly wrapped mattress.

Although the findings have not been scientifically proven, they have not been disproved either. There definitely needs to be more research. But the current evidence, as well as the common sense around this issue, is too strong to deny. The fact that this information is not being widely disseminated is puzzling, but may have to do with politics, stakeholder interests, and liability.

I have been following this campaign for over 10 years and am appalled that there is not more research being done on SIDS prevention and mattresses. This is due to a faulty report published in the UK in 1998 which claims that there is not enough evidence to support this theory. Most SIDS organizations have closed the book on this. There isn’t likely to be more research any time soon, so parents must decide for themselves whether or not to take action.

Regardless of the validity of the relationship between poison gas and SIDS, the following is true about cribs and crib mattresses. Typical crib mattresses contain polyurethane foam, made from petroleum, covered in vinyl, and loaded with toxic fire retardants, chemical plasticizers, and biocides. Chemical plasticizers and fire retardants can leach from vinyl mattress covers into the air babies breathe while they sleep. Cribs can release formaldehyde and other VOCs. Young babies should not breathe these toxins which are known to cause neurological, respiratory, reproductive or immune problems.

If you are concerned about fumes in crib mattresses and SIDS prevention, or simply that your baby is being exposed to toxins, the best thing to do is purchase a firm, organic crib mattress that does not contain toxic materials. Why not proceed with caution and common sense and make sure your baby’s sleeping environment is free of harmful chemicals during the most vulnerable period of brain and immune system development? There is too much at stake to wait for all the research to be done. Safe and non-toxic organic mattresses are readily available.