I'm sure those of you who are already a parent will have spent a small fortune preparing for your new arrival, only for the majority of the ‘must-have’ items to lay gathering dust for the next few years. We believe that you should invest in quality products that will stay with your little one for as long as possible, we think that the most important piece of nursery furniture that you can buy is a cot mattress.
A lot of cots come with a free mattress, but you shouldn't feel obliged to use it. New-born babies require an average of 17 hours of sleep each day, and it is during these early months that your little one will develop the most rapidly. Therefore, you need to make sure the cot mattress you choose will provide them with the best possible support.
However, with so many different types of the cot mattresses on the market, it can be quite overwhelming to know which mattress is right for your baby. Do you choose a foam mattress or a natural mattress? And what is a pocket sprung cot mattress?
Foam cot mattresses are typically at the cheaper end of the market, as they lose their support quite quickly and do not last as long as other types of cot mattresses. Foam mattress are most suitable for moses baskets or travel cots that will be used occasionally. Another budget option would be an open coil mattresses, which contains springs that are wired together and all move as one unit. This means that the springs cannot respond to your baby’s unique shape as they grow and change shape in their early years.
However, a pocket sprung cot mattress is where each spring is contained within its own pocket. These springs move independently from one another, meaning that they gently respond and adapt to your child’s changing shape, weight and sleeping position. Pocket sprung cot mattresses give your little one the best postural support as they grow – and because they are more comfortable, your baby (and you!) will have a better night’s sleep.
Luxury bed makers Harrison Spinks have used 175 years of experience making quality, pocket sprung adult mattresses, to create NaturalStart – a collection of 100% natural pocket sprung cot mattresses designed to give your little one the best start in life.
NaturalStart cot mattresses not only feature the world’s smallest baby pocket springs, but also contain luxury, natural fillings such as Herdwick wool, cashmere and mohair, as well as hemp which is grown on our very own farm in Yorkshire.
As well as being much better for your baby, natural fillings have a number of unique properties. For example, wool regulates body temperature and is naturally fire retardant meaning no chemicals are used to treat the material. Their home-grown hemp is naturally resistant to mildew, so your NaturalStart mattress will remain clean and fresh throughout its lifetime.
What’s more, a NaturalStart cot mattress is dual sided, meaning it has been designed to grow with your little one from new-born up until the age of 5 years old. There is a firmer side for new-borns when they need a little more support and there is a more responsive side from 18 months onwards which helps to respond to your child’s changing sleeping positions.