Please enjoy this delightful guest blog. Our team agreed it was certainly worth being published on the MGW blog site. Quite a powerful testimonial.
Until a couple years ago, I had never given much thought to what was inside the pillow I slept on for too few hours a night. I was young(er) and all I was worried about was comfort. I never thought to question if it was healthy…or safe!
Now that I have a mini-me resting her head on a pillow each night, health and safety are my first concerns. When my daughter graduated from a folded blanket as a pillow to a “big girl” pillow, the homework started. However, I wasn’t really pleased with what I found. Memory foam, down and polyester were all readily available at any mainstream store I walked into. Deciding to go with memory foam, I spent what seemed like an incredibly stupid amount of money on a pillow for a kid that age. Later, I would realize that a safe pillow is worth every penny.
As we walked out of the store, pillow in hand, I couldn’t help but notice a nagging feeling of uncertainty. Was this man made product the best choice? Was it really safe? What does “safe” mean when you are talking about a pillow anyway? I felt more confused than before but decided to go with this decision and stop the self-doubt.
Then it started. After a couple weeks, my healthy, allergy-free daughter started waking up every morning coughing up brown mucus. Yuck. Yeah, we thought so too. After several months of this she got so used to it she named it “The Garbage”; I had enough. I started the second leg of our “Safe Pillow Journey”. The research changed this time- it wasn’t focused on size and safety from a spinal alignment perspective (still important, yes) but now I was a mother on a mission. It was time to take out The Garbage. What caused this allergy or respiratory issue she was experiencing? Clearly memory foam isn’t a natural material, so I started there. What was a natural material? I narrowed my search to down, shredded latex and wool. Then I started asking questions of those materials: Hypo-allergenic? Dust-mite resistant? Down was out. Yuck. Mold, fungus, dust-mites? Eeeew, gross. I immediately went into my room and threw out my down pillow.
I decided on wool. Hypoallergenic, dust-mite resistant, anti-fungal and anti-microbial, washable, organic. Ordered it and started manifesting an amazing result for my little girl.
After 2 weeks of sleeping on her new organic wool pillow, The Garbage stopped. The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. How can we ask our bodies to ignore the off-gassing, chemicals, allergens, mold, fungus and dust-mites that we rest on 30% of our lives? The struggle is real.
Mom: 1. Allergens: 0.
About Lacy Lueck
Lacy Lueck is the proud Co-Founder of The Right Pillow and the happy Director of Marketing at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, FL.
Lacy finds her real passion in environmental sustainability, biking, fitness and animal rights. Her biggest loves are her beautiful family, the beach and helping others find their inner joy. Find Lacy on Twitter or for some awesome sleep tips and other amazing things, connect with The Right Pillow on Twitter, Facebook or at TheRightPillow.com.