Baby Bedding Exposed

More and more news reports come out stressing the importance of organically grown foods and the ingredients used in cosmetics. But what about organic baby sheets, organic mattress pads and other organic baby bedding? Is it really possible to go organic when it comes to baby bedding or is the label “organic” just slapped onto products to fool consumers into buying them?

What Makes Something Organic

Organic is a word everyone heard but few people actually realize what it means. Organic baby bedding, for example, doesn’t mean that a farmer planted baby bedding seeds and harvested the flowering fruit of baby bedding. Now – it means the baby bedding is made out of cotton or even soft hemp fibers. Cotton and hemp can be grown from seeds. It’s these raw materials and they are grown is what makes the bedding organic or not.

Organic crops must not use man-made pesticides, fertilizers or growth hormones. After it is harvested, the thread and finished bedding itself is not treated with chemicals. And if the organic baby bedding uses wool as the raw material, then the sheep have to be raised without growth hormones and cannot be raised in small crates.

Organic Advantage

Although you have probably heard about the environment until you are green about the ears, there are other reasons why many parents prefer organic baby bedding to something far cheaper in department stores. Babies have notoriously sensitive skin and just the slightest amount of chemicals used in the processing and manufacturing of synthetic baby bedding can give some babies allergic reactions.

Babies spend an average of 75% of their time sleeping. (It only seems as if they spend 99% times awake, but they do sleep a lot because they’re growing so fast. Growing takes up a lot of energy). If a baby was spending that much time in the crib, then you want to be absolutely sure that the bedding won’t promote rashes or hives.

There are also those that claim that organic baby bedding promotes better circulation in the fabric itself. This not only helps in drying out any wet fabric, but also helps keep the baby at a steady body temperature. Why is that important? Changes in body temperature can often wake up a baby. Babies get very cranky when they don’t get their beauty sleep.

Is It Really Organic?

Don’t be fooled by labels that say “natural”. Natural does not mean organic. There are no regulations for manufacturers to use the word “natural” on their products – but there is for the word organic. Manufacturers must meet certain standards in growing the raw material and making the final product before they earn the “organic” word. In America, you can even check a product with the Organic Consumers Association just to be sure that when something claims it’s organic that it really is organic.