Home & Life, Parenting

Best Organic Nap Mats

When it comes to must-have items that parents should have handy for their toddlers, one of the most important (outside the bare essentials, of course) is the nap mat.

They’re a great item for making a baby or toddler feel comfortable for play, as well as the perfect rest spot when they’ve tuckered.

However, Researchers have found that many toddler nap mats that use synthetic materials also have trace elements of potentially toxic chemicals, making a lot of the most notable products in this market potentially dangerous for your child.

That’s something that we want to avoid for them, so it’s time to look for some alternatives.

Fortunately, there are also several organic makes and products that you can find out there that are made from non-synthetic materials and are much safer for your children as a result.

And, with pediatrician expertise, and our testing with these items, we’re going to show you the best that you can find out there.

If you take nothing else away from this guide, make sure that you at least check out the Wildkin Original Nap Mat for your child.

Want to know why, or what its competitors have over it? For all this and more, make sure to keep reading!

Product List

Category

Product 

Star Rating 

Amazon Link

Best Overall Nap Mat

Wildkin Original Nap Ma

Best Value Nap Mat

ECR4Kids Nap Mat Companion

Best Premium Nap Mat

Urban Infant Bulkie Kids Nap Mat

Best Nap Mat for Daycare

Greenara Organic Panda Nap Mat

Wildkin Original Nap Mat

We might as well spill the beans on why we think Wildkin has the organic nap mat market on lockdown first.

As we mentioned briefly in the introduction, we feel that Wildkin’s original nap mat is one of the best overall mats that you can get for your baby and toddler right now, for some reasons that become pretty clear.

Wildkin is already a trusted brand, thanks to its wide range of other kid’s products that parents have been using for years.

So, when they brought out an organic cotton and polyester nap mat, it was going to be a reliable item for parents!

This mat is the perfect size for toddlers who are just starting preschool, making it both comfortable to snooze in for them, as well as making it a great nap mat that can be transported to and from home and wherever else easily.

Plus, with so many different designs that this mat comes in, it will be easy for you to combine these colorful patterns with your children’s other items, whether they love stars and rainbows or dinosaurs!

If you take nothing else away from this guide, make sure that you at least take a look at this item, if no others.

Sure, some of the other entries that we’re going to cover do one or two of these things better than this mat. Some might even do a lot better, for a much higher price tag.

However, if you’re looking for a nap mat that does everything pretty well, while also still being great value for money, we would recommend this item.

Pros

  • Comfortable for toddlers to sleep in.
  • Easy to transport around.
  • Made from safe materials that are non-harmful to your children.
  • Comes in a range of bright colors.
  • Durable enough to handle rough-and-tumble use by toddlers.
  • Great balance of all key qualities in a good nap mat.

Cons

  • Needs to be machine-washed, so it may not be ideal for bringing to nursery/preschool.

ECR4Kids Nap Mat Companion

While Wildkin is a very reliable company when it comes to many of their products, we’re also aware that not every parent can afford their somewhat higher price tags, the nap mat included.

So, it pays to have a good value option that can do everything you need a nap mat to do when going about your daily business with your toddler.

Luckily, we have a few great options in this category, starting with the nap mat companion by ECR4Kids.

At first glance, it can be easy to see what exactly this nap mat does to save on both bulk and money.

Some of the paddings that you would traditionally find in higher-end nap mats are distributed differently, with it mainly around the head and pillow.

But combine the soft fabric that is soft and surprisingly thick, as well as a great pillow design, and you’ll find that your toddler will still be able to fall asleep on this mat, with no problem. Ours certainly did, that’s for sure!

Plus, that bulk shaving has also made this mat even thinner and lightweight, making it very easy to roll up, pack and travel with.

Between their naps at home and preschool, that’s a luxury that we’ve certainly enjoyed and taken advantage of!

And with this mat being made almost entirely out of cotton, you know that it’s going to be safe for your little one to snooze and play in it!

Add to that a variety of colors and pattern combinations that you can pick from, and you have a great nap mat option on your hands and one that we can easily recommend if you’re looking for a balance between quality and budget.

Pros

  • The nap mat is made almost completely from cotton, making it an easy and safe buy for parents.
  • The lightweight design makes for easy transportation.
  • Still surprisingly comfortable for its light, thin design, thanks to the fleece blanket and quilted base.
  • Comes in a variety of colors

Cons

  • While comfortable, the pillow’s small size makes it easy to slip out from under your toddler’s head.

Urban Infant Bulkie Kids Nap Mat

Moving in the opposite fiscal direction for a moment, sometimes money is no object when it comes to getting a nap mat for your toddler.

In this case, you’re not just looking for the best product relative to your budget, but the best nap mat, period.

In this case, you’ll be looking at options like the Bulkie Kids nap mat by Urban Infant.

It has plenty of the features that any parent should be looking for in these items: A comfortable base to a soft blanket, to be able to roll up and transport.

Only here, they’re noticeably better in many ways.

For example, while many nap mats out there might roll up for easier transportation, few can be turned into a backpack that can be easily carried.

Well, here, Urban Infant’s product does!

You don’t quite realize just how much better having these products as a backpack means when it comes to foreign up your hands for lifting other kids’ toys, but that’s exactly what we discovered while testing it!

Not only that, but the base has tons of extra padding too, making it that much more comfortable for your little one to sleep on.

Normally, this would make a product like this bulkier. But with the backpack option, that’s not an issue, allowing Urban Infant to squeeze the most comfort into an item like this.

Plus, the pillow of this mat can be flipped to move further out from the mat too, allowing your toddler to get some extra use out of it as they grow up, giving you extra value for your money out of this product.

So, if you have the budget to buy it, this is a purchase that we wholeheartedly condone!

Pros

  • Extra padding in the blanket and base makes this mat very comfortable to rest and sleep on.
  • The roll-out pillow is comfortable and extends for toddlers as they get older.
  • This product comes in a variety of patterns and shapes.
  • Can be carried and worn as a backpack for easy transporting.

Cons

  • The material used in his mat isn’t great for quick cleaning.

Greenara Organic Panda Nap Mat

Of course, toddlers are fast-growing kids, so you want to make sure that their nap mats can keep up with their fast-paced steps from infancy to early childhood, especially as they enter preschool or kindergarten.

Fortunately, some products can do such a task, like the Greenara nap mat.

Made from comfortable cotton and polyester, and with plenty of padding in the base, this nap mat is perfect for rolling out for your little one at daycare, with it being nice and cozy, as well as easily washable.

And, as any parent that has a toddler knows, having a mat that isn’t a pain to keep washing goes a long way when it comes to long-term usability.

Plus, the mat includes a built-in blanket and pillow too, so it will be even harder for your toddler to try and stay awake with this item!

Plus, just look at these patterns! They’re some of the cutest patterns out there! These bright, bold colors and characters are sure to become favorites of your toddlers!

Pros

  • Comfortable padding means this item can be rolled out at preschool for your child.
  • An all-in-one design includes a base, blanket, and pillow.
  • Easily washable.
  • Some great nap mat patterns are on offer.

Cons

  • While the designs that are sold with these nap mats are great, there are limited when compared to their competitors.

Buyer’s Guide

So, as you can see, even when you cut out the products that use more toxic materials in their nap mats, you’ve still got plenty of options at your disposal.

And these are just the products that come from larger, more established companies that we’ve been discussing.

If you’re prepared to search for smaller independent shops and stores, you’ll also find an even bigger catalog of organic nap mat items that you can buy for your toddler.

However, this also means that you’re open to a lot more products that may not stand up to the same amount of quality control as these items that we have discussed here.

That being said, there are still some real gems that you can find out there, so it pays to know what exactly you should be looking for in your child’s nap mat, and what pediatricians and other experts consider to be core or important features.

Mat Type

There are quite a few different nap mat types that you’ll find on the market out there, and it can be tricky to distinguish them if you don’t have the correct information

With that in mind, these are the most common types that you can purchase for your baby as they enter their terrible toddler years:

  • Sleeping Pads: These nap mats will provide your child with plenty of cushioning in a comfortable base, but do not have the other features that you’ll often see these sold with. You’ll need to find your blanket, pillow, and sheet to put on top of the pad.
  • Bedding Mats: Bedding mats tend to include blankets and pillows that are attached to or sold with a sheet but do not have the cushioning or lift of a base, so need to be combined with sleeping pads more often than not. Some of the products that we have discussed today fall under this category
  • All-In-One Mats: These items will include, as the name suggests, everything a child needs to nap, from the pillow, blanket, and sheet, to even a little cushioning from the base to keep them off the ground. Items like the Urban Infant Bulkie nap mat would often fall under this category. They do tend to be more costly, however.

Material

This is a critical feature of most organic nap mats that you’ll find out there, especially if you’re trying to avoid potentially toxic materials.

Most organic nap mats will use some combination of cotton, polyester, foam, or vinyl, with cotton probably being the dominant material used.

Make sure that, when searching for your child’s nap mat, these are the materials that are being used in your product of choice.

They are almost always non-toxic, and can often be easily washed in some way (another key factor that you’ll need to note for your nap mat).

Portability

Pretty much everyone and their grandma knows just how sleepy toddlers are, and how important a nap is to their development.

Pediatricians recommend that older babies and toddlers have one or two naps per day depending on age), with the frequency and length decreasing with age.

As a result, you never quite know where or when your toddler will need to nap. So, you need to have a nap mat that can be packed up, moved, and unfurled with them!

While many mats can be rolled up and transported this way, some can even be rolled up into backpacks, making carrying even easier, and freeing up your hands!

Alternatively, having a mat that can be rolled up with other toddler items will also make transporting all of your toddler’s items much easier.

Ease Of Cleaning

Let’s not beat around the bush: toddlers are messy. So their nap mat is also going to get messy. In some cases, that happens the moment that you give it to them the first time!

So, having a nap mat that can be easily cleaned and quickly is essential to keeping it tidy, similar to how we clean car seats straps.

This is another area where material plays an important part, as items made of polyester or cotton are machine washable, and can be dried relatively quickly.

Nap mats with foam elements can be a hassle, as they can be a pain to clean and dry when left uncovered, despite how comfy they are. Make sure that any nap mat with foam has a removable cover that they come with before purchasing.

Tools/Assembly

If a nap mat requires any tools that aren’t easy to carry to build, you should probably avoid purchasing it. Nap mats are supposed to be easy and require little to no extras to roll out and set up.

If your item needs tools, you don’t have a nap mat. You have a miniature bed.

Patterns

It is a small detail, sure, but one that can help your nap mat become something that your little one is more comfortable sleeping in. It is supposed to be a comfortable space for them, after all!

Frequently Asked Questions

What Ages Can Toddlers Use Nap Mats For?

It’s a pretty common worry to be anxious about your child, and whether or not they are developing properly.

Many parents don’t want to hover over their children, but don’t want to rush them out of younger habits that are essential for a good childhood. Nap mats, and when your child should stop using them, are one such example.

Pediatricians generally agree that nap mats are good for children from their toddler years (around 2 years old), up until they are young children, between 4 and 5.

How Do You Wash A Nap Mat?

Remove the pillow from your child’s nap mat, and place it on a gentle wash for between 30 and 60 minutes.

Make sure that the mat is made from washable cotton and polyester, of course!

Final Notes

So, what are you waiting for?

Grab one of these nap mats for your young one today! If you are looking for nap mats you may be looking or a preschool workbook, check out our free printable!

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