The Emily Natural Crib Mattress is made of natural materials such as coconut coir, latex, and wool. It doesn’t have any off-gassing or chemical odors, and it’s a safe, green option for your baby or toddler.
However, it’s not my top choice for an organic crib mattress – that honor goes to Naturepedic.
Continue reading to learn more about the pros and cons of the Emily Natural Crib Mattress from My Green Mattress, and to find out why I prefer the Naturepedic over the Emily.
The Emily Natural Crib Mattress Has Sweet Beginnings
Before you trust a company to manufacture a product that your baby will spend a large part of his/her life on, you undoubtedly want to know a little bit about them.
My Green Mattress was founded by Tim Masters when his newborn, Emily, was suffering from eczema and allergies. He created an all natural mattress to help ease Emily’s symptoms, hence the name the Emily Natural Crib Mattress.
These mattresses are handcrafted in Illinois, and we love that Tim created a mattress good enough for his own daughter and then decided to share it with the world.
With a story like that, it’s easy to get excited about the Emily crib mattress!
Here are some key pros and cons of the Emily crib mattress
- Super firm, making it a safe choice from infancy and beyond (PRO)
- Made of high quality organic materials and free from potentially harmful chemicals (PRO)
- Certified by independent 3rd parties to confirm safety (PRO)
- Natural materials can smell a bit at the beginning (CON)
- Rounded corners can leave gaps with some crib styles (CON)
- Not waterproof like the Naturepedic is.
The Emily Natural Crib Mattress: Say Hello to an Almost All Natural Crib Mattress
When you’re looking for an all natural crib mattress for your child, you want to know exactly what’s inside. This crib mattress is double sided so you can use both sides, but they are both the same; there are not designated toddler vs. baby sides.
So what exactly will your sweet baby be sleeping on every night with this mattress?
Coconut … In a Mattress?
You read that correctly–the Emily Natural Crib Mattress is made of breathable, all-natural GOTS certified organic coconut coir. Coconut coir (pronounced core) is the outer husk of a coconut, and it’s a naturally durable fiber. GOLS certified organic latex is then used to bind and contain the coconut coir.
My Green Mattress sources their latex from a rubber tree plantation in Sri Lanka. We could not find any information regarding where My Green Mattress sources their coconut coir.
The Benefits of Coconut Coir in Mattresses
The combination of coconut coir and natural organic latex is inherently antibacterial. It also provides even weight distribution so your baby comfortably floats on top of the mattress without sinking in, which can be dangerous for babies.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), infants should be placed on a firm sleep surface to reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): “A firm surface maintains its shape and will not indent or conform to the shape of the infant’s head when the infant is placed on the surface.”
When infants sink into soft mattresses or bedding, it’s easier for them to suffocate.
Coconut coir has many other benefits in mattresses including:
- It’s moisture resistant and breathable. This helps prevent mold and bacteria from growing in the mattress.
- It helps with temperature regulation. Overheating is also a potential SIDS risk factor.
- It’s a durable and resilient material, which is what helps make a firm mattress.
- It’s a natural material and its use limits waste so that coconuts aren’t used just for their meat.
In fact, coconut coir is such a great choice of material for crib mattresses, that a number of companies use it, including the Nook Pebble Pure, Naturalmat Coco Mat and the Brentwood Home Wildfern.
150 Coil Innerspring
The inside of this mattress contains a 150 coil innerspring with a supportive edge. The gauge of the springs is 13.5.
(The gauge of innerspring wires in mattresses ranges from 12.5 to 16. The lower the gauge, the firmer the mattress, so the 13.5 gauge provides a nice, firm surface for a baby).
By using an innerspring design, the Emily is able to avoid materials like flexible polyurethane foam, which can be problematic from an environmental and human health perspective.
Quilted Cover with Cotton and Wool
While babies do need a nice, firm mattress for safety, nobody wants their baby sleeping on a rock. The quilted cover with cotton and wool provides a comfortable and safe sleeping surface for your baby.
According to My Green Mattress, “Our 100% natural wool is sourced from a company in California. The wool batting is 100% natural, is not treated with any flame retardants, and contains no polyester fibers. Our wool is cleaned with an alcohol based cleaner that is GOTS compliant.” They also link to their GOTS certified organic cotton certificate on their website.
The Benefits of a Wool Crib Mattress
Wool is an excellent natural material to include in a mattress. For starters, the wool acts as a natural flame barrier. Did you know that wool even used to be used in fireman’s coats? Because of the wool in the cover, the Emily Natural Crib Mattress passes mandated flame testing without the need for flame retardant chemicals.
Many people instinctively think of wool as a very warm material, but it’s actually great for temperature regulation, ensuring your baby will be comfortable during every season. Wool is also a great material because it is naturally resistant to mold, mildew, and dust mites.
If you’re looking for natural materials, it’s hard to go wrong with a wool crib mattress.
Is the Emily Mattress Waterproof?
In response to a customer question on their site, My Green Mattress noted that this mattress is not waterproof. They do, however, offer an organic cotton waterproof mattress protector.
To me, this is a pretty big con of this mattress, which is why we decided to buy a Naturepedic instead.
It’s hard (if not impossible) to get a natural crib mattress that’s also natural – this way, the company leaves it up to you to choose.
Other Features of the Emily Crib Mattress
Because it’s made of all natural materials, there are no chemical odors or VOC off-gassing. Some customers do complain of a bad odor. According to My Green Mattress, this odor is due to the wool in the cover and if it occurs, it will pass.
Off-gassing is the releasing of a chemical into the air in the form of a gas, and often occurs when you bring new products into your home. Off-gassing can cause harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to be released into the air of your home. According to a study out of Hong Kong for the journal Building and Environment, “off-gassing of building materials, household products, painted wood products, room freshener, mothballs and consumer products were the major sources of VOCs in Hong Kong homes.” Because the Emily Natural Crib Mattress is made out of natural materials, you won’t get the release of those VOCs into your home, and we love that!
One of the features we really like is that the Emily Natural Crib Mattress has a 100 night sleep trial and a 7 year warranty. This allows you to return or exchange your mattress within 100 nights, and it protects against defects for 7 years.
Buying a mattress for your baby is a big and important investment and it’s a hard one to make without seeing and feeling the mattress in person. The 100 night sleep trial gives you peace of mind when making your purchase.
What’s to Love and What We’d Change About the Emily Natural Crib Mattress
What’s to Love
- The creator of the Emily Natural Crib Mattress made it specifically to help his daughter, so you know he cares deeply about the quality of the product.
- Coconut coir and a firm coil innerspring provide a firm and safe sleeping surface for your baby. We also love that the latex used to bind the coconut coir is natural, not synthetic.
- The cotton and wool blend cover adds safe comfort for your baby.
- Because of the wool in the cover, there are no chemical flame retardants in the Emily Natural Crib Mattress.
- There are no chemical odors or off-gassing, so you don’t have to worry about VOCs.
- The waterproof mattress protector is also made of organic cotton and includes no chemical flame retardants.
- Handmade in the USA.
- The mattress is naturally antibacterial as well as mold, mildew, and dust mite resistant.
What We’d Change
- Some customers complain of the odor from natural materials, but we much prefer this to chemical odors and VOCs.
- My Green Mattress does not offer a firmness rating, they just ensure that it meets all CPSC requirements. Especially since there are not different firmnesses for each side, this makes it hard to tell whether it will be firm enough for your newborn and/or too firm for your toddler.
- While My Green Mattress is upfront about the sourcing of their materials and provides links to their certifications, we could not find any information on the sourcing of their coconuts.
My Green Mattress Vs Naturepedic
The Emily mattress is one of the top mattress choices for parents looking for an all natural crib mattress (other that the coils, of course). The other top choice is Naturepedic, which may have you wondering the differences between the Emily Crib Mattress vs. Naturepedic crib mattresses.
For me, the main difference between the Emily Crib Mattress and the Naturepedic is the issue of waterproofing.
Whereas all Naturepedic crib mattresses are safely waterproofed using non toxic materials, the Emily crib mattress is not waterproof, which is an issue when accidents come up.
For this reason (as well as the exceptional brand recognition Naturepedic has), my family chose to buy the Naturepedic. Our daughter sleeps on the Breathable Lightweight Crib Mattress, and we love it!
The Emily Crib Mattress is A Good Organic Crib Mattress, But….
There’s no doubt the Emily is a high quality inner-spring mattress with all natural and organic materials. We also love that it’s made in the USA.
However, in my opinion the waterproofing issue is a problem, which is why I recommend a Naturepedic crib mattress over an Emily.
