If you’re looking for a non-toxic breathable crib mattress, chances are the Lullaby Earth Breeze and Wisp are on your list. We look at the pros and cons of these popular crib mattress to see if they’re worth your money and safe for your baby.
Lullaby Earth consistently comes up in best non-toxic baby mattress lists.
With quick glance at their website, it’s easy to see why.
The company has got certifications coming out of the wazoo!
The Lullaby Earth Breeze and Lullaby Earth Wisp both have the MADE SAFE® seal. That means they’re made with safe-for-your-family ingredients. They’re also GREENGUARD® Gold certified, which means you don’t have to worry about VOC emissions. And they meet the UL Environmental Certification Program’s formaldehyde-free standard.
Impressive, right? And super reassuring when you’re trying to decide on a toxin-free crib mattress.
Yet, a quick look at the Lullaby Earth website shows it to be thin on info. As a research-loving mom, I don’t only want to know a mattress meets federal and state flammability standards. I want to know how they meet those standards. Without flame retardant chemicals.
Unlike breathable crib mattress manufacturers, Lullaby Earth doesn’t offer that info.
Thankfully, my baby doesn’t sleep on information. And there’s still a lot to love about the Lullaby Earth breathable crib mattresses.
Keep reading for the skinny on these top rated breathable crib mattresses.
Introducing Lullaby Earth Breeze and Lullaby Earth Wisp: Non-Toxic and Breathable Crib Mattresses
What’s the Difference Between the Breeze Air and Wisp Air?
Lullaby Earth introduced the Wisp after receiving feedback the Breeze was too expensive.
The main difference? The Breeze is a 2-stage crib mattress, and the Wisp is a 1-stage crib mattress.
There’s also a minor difference in materials. Whereas the Breeze Air pad is made from polyester and polyethylene (for waterproofing), the Wisp Air pad is made only from polyester.
This means the Wisp Air pad is not waterproof. If you use it as intended with the waterproof Lullaby Earth mattress, this isn’t a big deal. However, if you buy the Wisp Air mattress pad separately, beware. Using it with a different brand of mattress might leave you cleaning up gross leakage or worse.
Finally, the color choices are different. The Breeze Air pad comes in multiple colors, whereas the Wisp Air pad only comes in white.
What Makes These Crib Mattresses Unique?
First and foremost, these crib mattresses are independently certified as safe and non-toxic for your baby.
Besides these certifications, the breathability is what makes these crib mattresses special.
Like the Newton Wovenaire® crib mattress, the Lullaby Earth breathable crib mattresses use a 3D structure.
According to Lullaby Earth:
“The breathable surface is actually a 3-dimensional fabric that allows air to flow through the fabric and under the baby for 360° air circulation. Since air is able to pass freely through the pad’s 3D structure, babies can breathe right through the sleep surface!”
With both the Lullaby Earth Breeze Air and the Lullaby Earth Wisp Air, it’s the cover that makes the unit breathable, rather than the mattress itself.
What About Safety?
One thing we like about Lullaby Earth is how frank they are about the limitations of breathable crib mattresses. Simply put (and in the words of the company):
“A breathable surface doesn’t mean much if you have a soft mattress or bedding in the crib, both of which pose a suffocation risk.”
We wholeheartedly agree with this. After all, a firm crib mattress is a must.
So do the child health and safety experts at the American Academy of Pediatrics:
“The use of “breathable” mattresses can be an acceptable alternative as long as the other manufacturing requirements are met, including being designed for a particular crib, having a firm surface, and maintaining its shape even when the fitted sheet designated for that model is used, such that there are no gaps between the mattress and the side of the crib…”
Lullaby Earth doesn’t go into detail about the materials they use in manufacturing their crib mattresses. This is probably for proprietary reasons.
However, they do touch on how they’ve thought about your baby’s safety in their designs.
Safety Features of Lullaby Earth Breeze and Wisp Crib Mattresses
Lullaby Earth includes the following safety considerations in their crib mattresses:
- Non-toxic materials, and built-in breathability in the Breeze Air and Wisp Air mattress models.
- Their patented WaveSupport™ design, which creates a firm, flat surface for your baby. This system meets Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and paediatrician firmness recommendations.
- Good edge support to reduce the chances of your baby’s arms and legs getting trapped between the mattress and crib edges.
- A snug fit in standard size cribs, and guide users to use the two-finger test.
- Easy to clean design to prevent accidents from turning into a mold or mildew breeding ground.
- Made without common allergens.
Are Breathable Crib Mattresses Really Safer?
In a nutshell: maybe. If you want a more complete answer, check out our Breathable Crib Mattress 101 article.
Lullaby Earth’s marketing seems to add to the question whether a breathable crib mattress is worth it. Simply put: they don’t offer convincing, detailed evidence.
Their website references an independent lab test that can test crib mattresses for breathability.
“[Lullaby Earth’s] breathable layer achieves the lowest risk category on the suffocation test, allowing a simulated baby to breathe directly through the sleep surface indefinitely!”
Lullaby Earth Website
However, they don’t actually link to the test or offer any info beyond a short introduction.
Given the controversy surrounding breathable crib mattresses, this lack of info does a disservice to parents looking to make a well-informed decision.
What About Chemicals in Lullaby Earth Crib Mattresses?
The Lullaby Earth Breeze and Wisp crib mattresses are participants in the MADE SAFE® certification program. MADE SAFE® is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that screens products for known harmful ingredients and components. These include:
- Behavioural toxins
- Carcinogens
- Developmental toxins
- Endocrine disruptors
- Fire retardants
- Heavy metals
- Neurotoxins
- High risk pesticides
- Reproductive toxins
- Toxic solvents
- Harmful VOCs
According to the MADE SAFE® website:
“The MADE SAFE® (Made With Safe Ingredients™) seal literally means that a product is made with safe ingredients.”
MADE SAFE® seal courtesy of MADE SAFE®, used with permission
Other Certifications
In addition to MADE SAFE®, the Lullaby Earth Breeze crib mattress is GREENGUARD® Gold certified.
Greenguard Gold is Greenguard’s most stringent level of certification. To get the certification, this crib mattress had to be independently tested and certified for the lowest level of chemical emissions Greenguard tests for. Greenguard’s certification process tests for volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde, ozone, and phthalates.
Finally, the UL Environmental Certification Program has verified the crib mattress meets the UL formaldehyde-free standard.
What About Fire Retardants in Lullaby Earth Crib Mattresses?
All crib mattresses sold in the US have to meet fire safety standards set by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Most conventional crib mattress manufacturers meet this requirement with … a butt load of chemicals. Organic, non-toxic crib mattress manufacturers don’t have that option. They have to get creative by making their mattresses with materials that are naturally fire retardant. Wool, hydrated silica, and coconut coir are examples of materials that help non-toxic mattress manufacturers meet federal flammability standards.
According to the Lullaby Earth website:
“At Lullaby Earth, we take chemicals seriously. Not only do we completely eliminate vinyl/PVC, polyurethane foam, antimicrobials, perfluorinated compounds, phthalates and more, we’ve designed our mattresses to pass flammability standards without ANY flame retardants or flame barriers whatsoever. After all, the best flame retardants are NONE AT ALL.”
That’s great news for your baby, since commonly used fire retardants are endocrine disruptors. It’s also great news for the environment given the harm fire retardants can cause.
However, we wish they provided a bit more info on the website about how they do so. Someone from Naturepedic (who makes Lullaby Earth) did get in touch with us about this point, and here’s what they had to say:
“How does the mattress meet flammability standards without flame retardant chemicals? Because we don’t use any highly flammable materials, like polyurethane foam, in the mattress. If you make the mattress from highly flammable materials, then you can’t meet the government flammability requirement without flame retardants. If you make the mattress from (very) low flammable materials, then it’s easy to comply without needing flame retardant chemicals.”
What’s to Love and Change about the Lullaby Earth Breeze and Wisp?
What’s to Love
There really is a lot to love about Lullaby Earth’s 2 breathable crib mattresses:
- Made in the USA.
- Lifetime limited warranty and 30-day money back guarantee.
- Choice of 1-stage or 2-stage mattress.
- Breathable mattress pad can go in the washing machine.
- No fire retardants or other harmful chemicals. In fact, the company offers impressive certifications to back this up.
- Plastics used are food grade and generally considered safe.
- You can purchase the mattress pads separately. If you go this route, they should fit any standard size crib mattress.
- The company recommends you use sheets made from any natural breathable fabric. Naturepedic makes certified organic cotton sheets.
What We’d Change
- Past customers report the mattresses develop indentations after use. Further, some people report the mattresses sag quite quickly. If this happens, you can get in touch with the company at 1-855-458-5522, and they should replace it.
- To the average consumer (aka: us) the company seems opaque about how they meet federal and state flammability standards. While we understand the need to keep proprietary info safe, we’d love to see more transparency.
- UPDATE: Someone from Naturepedic got in touch, and responded to this point as follows: “How does the mattress meet flammability standards without flame retardant chemicals?Because we don’t use any highly flammable materials, like polyurethane foam, in the mattress. If you make the mattress from highly flammable materials, then you can’t meet the government flammability requirement without flame retardants. If you make the mattress from (very) low flammable materials, then it’s easy to comply without needing flame retardant chemicals.”
- There’s no indication of what kind of sheets to use to maintain mattress breathability. With the Newton crib mattress, the company is really clear that you need to use a natural, breathable fabric like muslin to maintain breathability of the mattress.
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