First-time parenthood is riddled with uncertainties. With late-night feeding and the perpetual nappies, sleep seems to be among the top worries for new parents.
Not only can new parents be sleep-deprived (one survey canvassing 1000 US and UK parents suggests parents lose up to 109 minutes of sleep per night in the first year), they have more than a few concerns with when, where, and how their newborn sleeps.
What's best regarding baby sleep seems always to spark debate but one thing's for certain: a night of peaceful rest for the whole family is easier said than done.
Frank Qu and Chris Wang, the founders of Fullair mattress material and the company of the same name, know this all too well.
Qu's younger daughter was just a newborn when they first started testing mattress materials in an attempt to find the right pillow to manage Wang's eczema (read the full story here).
They weren't exactly thrilled with the materials used for adult mattresses and were even more shocked to find out that even baby mattress materials weren't exactly what they were claimed to be – non-toxic and safe.
Qu says: "During times of massive change in your life, the goal is to minimise what I fondly call my 'list of worries", which seemed to double once we brought my daughter home from the hospital. Knowing I was putting my daughter to sleep in a crib that didn't guarantee her safety at night didn't ease the anxieties I had as a parent".
That's why their little project grew even bigger in size and in importance.
Fullair represents a significant change when it comes to sleep solutions both for babies and adults, say Qu and Wang. Conceptualised and designed in New Zealand, Fullair says the unique technology is ideal for babies.
Fullair's baby mattresses provide many benefits, according to Wang. The breathable, non-toxic nature of the mattress material is designed to take much of the worry out of baby sleep habits.
"Parents worry about what will happen if their babies sleep on their tummies. We worried about that too with our own children, so we understand it's a serious risk," he says. "Fullair mattresses are 100 per cent breathable, so if babies happen to turn on their tummies, we believe there is less chance of suffocation."
The Fullair material comes with another massive perk: it's washable.
The baby mattresses are available in two forms – the premium version which is made solely of Fullair material and is fully washable, Wang says. The hybrid version is made of foam plus Fullair material - with only the Fullair material washable.
Parents will know how often baby "accidents" can occur on mattresses; keeping them clean can be a trial. Fullair's unique properties enable it to be easily cleaned and dried, allowing for wonderfully hygienic sleep surfaces. The Fullair component of the mattress can be unzipped from the hypoallergenic cover and easily cleaned in the shower, or by hose, and dried flat on a clothes rack.
"Both the hybrid and the premium can be unzipped from their cover, with the Fullair component fully washable. This doesn't only help with spills but also keeps mould and bacteria out of the baby mattress" adds Qu.
As parents, both Wang and Qu have made it their mission to leave behind a better world for children. That's why the Fullair layer is recyclable, with the company's mission hoping to reduce the number of 300,000 mattresses that end up in landfills each year.
He says services like those provided by Rebound (a mattress recycling company currently based in Timaru) could eventually mean mattresses could be recycled through kerb-side pick-up services. They have an even bolder plan – hoping that, once enough people buy the mattresses, they will have the means by which to recycle them themselves.
"It's part of our company commitment to sustainability and part of our long-term plan of using the material from old mattresses to create new ones," says Wang. "We are talking to Rebound Org for Fullair Hybrid Mattress recycle options – and once the Fullair range products have a wider coverage around New Zealand families, we will consider the most feasible option to recycle our own Fullair material as a win-win."
To find out more about the Fullair baby mattress: fullair.co.nz and see what it takes to get your 100-nights home trial started.