scarlettsmum
Member
- Joined
- Oct 5, 2015
- Messages
- 523
is there any truth in this?
Am considering using a shower curtain as a mattress protector for a 4 year old to save money. A comment I received on this subject on a mother and kids group:
Waterproof mattress liners are breathable. Shower curtains aren't made of breathable material and neither is vinyl. And our skin needs air to circulate around our entire body at night in order to ensure good sleeping properties.
As for babies and children, they often have higher head and foot boards, beds standing against the wall with one side. So you only have one open side where the air can kind of circulate - and the mattress. Now given that CO2 (which we exhale) is heavier than O2 (oxygen), it lingers above the mattress around the child. If said mattress doesn't let air pass because you "seal" it, the CO2 accumulates (which they say is the main reason for the sudden infant death syndrome - babies laying in their own CO2 and not having enough air exchange > oxygen in their sleeping space).
Now even if it won't kill your son (naturally, I think he's sleeping in a regular bed), oxygen and air flow during sleep is very important. If not least because of cognitive development.
Might sound very "index-finger-raised", not meant to be. I'd just not want to take any risks on this. We all know how we sleep better when a window is open or even in nature. We sleep deeper. And that's where the magic happens in our brains. Deep sleep.
My ex-husband has sleep apnea and my older son has pretty bad allergies against almost anything. So I spent quite some time researching about sleep environments. It's scary how little things can have such a huge impact.
Am considering using a shower curtain as a mattress protector for a 4 year old to save money. A comment I received on this subject on a mother and kids group:
Waterproof mattress liners are breathable. Shower curtains aren't made of breathable material and neither is vinyl. And our skin needs air to circulate around our entire body at night in order to ensure good sleeping properties.
As for babies and children, they often have higher head and foot boards, beds standing against the wall with one side. So you only have one open side where the air can kind of circulate - and the mattress. Now given that CO2 (which we exhale) is heavier than O2 (oxygen), it lingers above the mattress around the child. If said mattress doesn't let air pass because you "seal" it, the CO2 accumulates (which they say is the main reason for the sudden infant death syndrome - babies laying in their own CO2 and not having enough air exchange > oxygen in their sleeping space).
Now even if it won't kill your son (naturally, I think he's sleeping in a regular bed), oxygen and air flow during sleep is very important. If not least because of cognitive development.
Might sound very "index-finger-raised", not meant to be. I'd just not want to take any risks on this. We all know how we sleep better when a window is open or even in nature. We sleep deeper. And that's where the magic happens in our brains. Deep sleep.
My ex-husband has sleep apnea and my older son has pretty bad allergies against almost anything. So I spent quite some time researching about sleep environments. It's scary how little things can have such a huge impact.