Years ago, not long after I first began selling my breathable mattresses, I realized that at some point in time there was going to be a need for regulations on breathability. As time went on more and more so called “breathable crib mattresses” and mattress toppers emerged in the baby mattress market. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that many of these so-called breathable products were breathable in name only. They were providing consumers with a false sense of safety when in fact they posed a potential health risk. In 2016 I petitioned the ASTM to consider the establishment of breathability guidelines for crib mattresses. If a baby sleep product was advertised as breathable in any way, then in the name of consumer protection there should be the appropriate breathability guidelines. For whatever reasons my initial efforts went pretty much nowhere. Years went by and in 2022 I petitioned the ASTM a second time to consider the establishment of baby mattress breathability guidelines. On this occasion there was a much more receptive atmosphere, and the matter was soon after taken up for consideration by the F15 Juvenile Products Committee, specifically the F15.66 Subcommittee on Crib Mattresses. Since then, there has been considerable progress made to determine the scope and direction regarding breathability standards. In fact, they are now considering whether breathability standards should be applied for all sleep related infant products, including those where the possibility of sleep exists.
To my way of thinking there are now two different kinds of baby mattresses, breathable and non-breathable. In an effort to make non breathable mattresses as safe as possible, the CPSC in conjunction with the ASTM, introduced a new firmness standard in the Fall of 2022, establishing for the first time ever a firmness standard that all crib mattress manufacturers must now adhere to. This firmness standard was created so that in the event a baby was sleeping face downward, there faces would not depress deep enough into the mattress to cut off their airway. This new standard will undoubtedly save the lives of untold numbers of babies.
The next step will be to make breathable mattresses as safe as possible by establishing breathability guidelines.
I’ll be attending this week’s upcoming ASTM F15 Committee’s Conference at their headquarters in Philadelphia. There is now a dedicated subcommittee on Firmness and Breathability of Juvenile Products. I remain hopeful that a brighter future of safe sleep for babies may now be at hand.
