One of the challenges of being a parent is sleep.
I remember back to the survival mode of the first year of each of my baby’s lives. Getting through the day. Getting through the night. Without major incident.
Looking back I realize how sleep deprivation significantly changes my ability to do anything. I am a person that needs her sleep. When that doesn’t happen, my body shuts down my creative & fun side completely to compensate!
This article is inspired and sponsored by my relationship with intelliBED. Look below for an exclusive intelliBED discount for Kids Activities Blog readers.
It is a shifting of priorities that is necessary, but makes the days and nights very long.
Sleep has come easier to me now that my kids are older, but this year I had another helping of insomnia due to pain. I had a frozen shoulder. It was my right shoulder and I am right handed.
I sleep on my side which was nearly impossible to do on my right side because of the pressure on my right shoulder. I would turn to my left and realize that wasn’t comfortable either because it left my right arm unsupported.
I would spend time constructing the perfect pillow cradle for my right arm, fall asleep only to wake quickly when I naturally moved positions and then not be able to fall back asleep.
Netflix became my nighttime companion.
We had a relatively new bed so it hadn’t even occurred to me that the mattress I was sleeping on could be contributing to my discomfort!
I met IntelliBED at a conference in the spring. They were handing out samples of the blue gel material that the mattresses are made of and they were mesmerizing to play with – kinda like a stress ball or a handful of non-mess putty.
I went back to their booth and laid down on the mattress. It is firm when your entire body weight is placed across it, but soft in individual places – like my shoulder.
I don’t know how they did that, but it is pretty awesome.
I might have spent more than my share of time at the IntelliBED booth! I even considered sneaking in at night in exchange for my hotel room bed.
So, working with IntelliBED was a perfect fit for me. We received our IntelliBED 8 weeks ago and I was a little nervous to talk my husband into switching to yet another mattress, but once he tested it, he agreed.
The shocking thing was that I could get comfortable laying on my side. I could fall asleep and not be immediately awoken by pain. I could even lay on my right side.
Sweet sleep!!
Life is good. The birds were singing. I could consider things outside of survival mode!
I dug a little deeper into what is different about this mattress and what I found was surprising…
Mattress Toxicity
Did you know that most mattresses on the market today (and the one that we replaced) contain polyurethane foam?
Studies have shown that foam mattresses can off-gas more toxins than a freshly painted room? These toxins are in the foam itself and in the fire retardants that are used.
While plain polyurethane foam is non-toxic, the concern comes in when manufacturers add compounds to their foam to alter the performance like creating a memory foam and then make it fire resistant.
The fire barrier systems used in US mattresses account for some of the “new mattress” smell. PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers or boric acid) is the main ingredient used in mattresses and have a toxicity level such that they are being phased out in Europe completely for safety reasons.
In a time where I am trying to eliminate harmful chemicals from my home, I hadn’t even considered that they were hiding in my mattress. IntelliBED doesn’t use those materials. The intelli-GEL was invented to replace them! Intelli-GEL is made with completely non-toxic materials that are also hypoallergenic, antimicrobial and non off-gas putting.
The raw material of intelli-GEL is so safe that is has been thoroughly tested and found acceptable to be used in baby-bottle nipples.
Mattress Life
How long is your mattress going to last?
Most mattress manufacturers offer only a 10-year warranty, but they recommend you replace the mattress after only 8 years. That is because the materials they are using are breaking down over time. In fact, foam can break down as much as 40% in the first two years!
intelliBED has a 30 year warranty.
30 years!
Free In-home Trial
I was initially concerned about how both my husband and I would like intelliBED because I prefer a soft surface and he sleeps on a firm surface. intelliBED offers a 60-night in-home trial and will refund the entire cost of the mattress if you don’t sleep better.
We kept the mattress!
Special Offer for Kids Activities Blog Readers
This is where this gets exciting. Because of our relationship with intelliBED, we are able to give YOU a 10% discount on your entire intelliBED purchase when you…
Use the coupon code: KAB
Click here for more information about this offer and intelliBED!
A big thanks to intelliBED for helping me sleep and supporting Kids Activities Blog through sponsorship. All opinions expressed are my own.
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