Anyone have a natural pillow recommendation? Material in question.

[chauncycay]

Hi all,
I'm not sure if this goes in sleep, but I figure it's sleep related.  I'm looking for a natural pillow for my 13 mo and I want something that's chemical free and natural materials.
Anyone have a recommendation?

I want to either be able to wash it or have enough layers of pillow protection/cases to be able to wash whenever she gets sick.
Sunlight can only do so much

We're a cloth diaper/chemical free home since LO and I'm looking to replace our pillows too.  (Research can sometimes be expensive!)

[Mashi]

I've asked for a water pillow for Christmas (not sure if I will get it though because my DH doesn't "do" that type of a gift at Christmas, he thinks that is just something we buy because we need it....but they are rather expensive here so I will never buy myself one!!!)

The one I have picked is made by MediFlow. it is 100% cotton outer (not organic cotton) with a thin layer of 100% polyester, so not sure if that meets your requirements.  Basically it is just that layer, and then you fill it yourself with water, and thus can make it as hard or soft as you like.

[chauncycay]

That does sound cool! :-)
I was looking for no poly, and something for my lo. I'm sure she'd figure out a way to pop a water pillow and have it be a hazard!
I'm looking at wool filled because it's anti microbial and natural but dang they are pricey! And you can't really wash then so I'm afraid if she gets sick we'd have to throw it out.
Like the Velveteen Rabbit

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

I have hand washed wool diaper covers, would a wool pillow be similar? Pain to dry though!

Speaking from experience 2 of my 3 kids always, always vomit on their pillows, so I would want something washable or easily replaceable.

[nwmm]

I did the research a million years ago. Sadly we don't have them.

My only thought is have you asked the companies (or rep that sells them)  how you wash them or how you deal with pillows and you children or babies?  It's a very valid question. I know a lot of representatives have young children. They are switching over once they realize the benefits.

[chauncycay]

We have wool diaper cover for nighttime (AMAZING!) even in Texas where it's hot it's the perfect solution for my extreme heavy wetter
so that's why I started researching the pillow material when I started looking for one.
tbh I'm not in a rush to get her a pillow, but she's got her first cold and we needed to elevate the mattress a bit to help with drainage and she's rolling all around like it's a rollercoaster.  I thought if we can get her a pillow maybe she'd stay on it?  I know it may take a couple of weeks to get her used to it.

I've done way too much research about materials in the cot and babies and diapers. We're all cloth and chem free disposables when we're out and about/vacation. and now the he,p/organic cotton fitted diapers at night with wool soaker covers.

I figure the thing she keeps her precious head on should be natural as well

Wool would be my choice, aside from the washing.  And with this horrible sold she coughed so hard last night in the middle of the night she threw up all over me (when I went in to comfort/pd) and her sheet/cot/sleep sack.  Total disaster - poor dear.
That took almost an hour of cleanup and calm down to get her back to sleep.  I was thinking about what a disaster a non washable pillow would have been!

If I had a thick cover made for it that was washable, would that work? or , would that just defeat the purpose seeing as how the material in the pillow would then be so far away from her it's anti-microbial and wicking properties irrelevant. Meh?
Thoughts?
I'm tired of sleep problems, so I thought I'd shift to pillow research for a bit. 
dh and I have decided to get a new bed for ourselves for Christmas so I'm going to surprise him with new pillows for us too - double duty research! tee hee

[MasynSpencerElliotte]

Personally I think putting a thick cover over the wool kind of defeats the purpose of spending the $$ on it! Have you found any natural options that are washable?

[nwmm]

Forgive me, but I still have the same question.... What do the companies or representatives that sell the products say about babies or kids who use these products or pillows and need to wash them. Babies spit up, can't blow their noses, throw up, germ up pillows, and soil pillows more than an adult. What do they expect you to do to sanitize them?

[nwmm]

Can you or have someone make a pillow?  Use organic cotton etc.?

[chauncycay]

ok I think I found an answer.
Yes, agreed - washable is critical.  I can see with her first cold where the snot + vomit factor will come into play

So on Etsy (handmade goods) there are a few people that make and sell wool or kapur or other organic material (cotton) pillows that have zippers. And they give you bags to hold the material for two purposes.

1) adjust your filling, too much / too little you decide and store the rest.
2) washing! you can pull the material out and wash the casing

plus you then have another case on top of that if you like.  So in theory it's washable, unless something goes unattended and soaks through, but then they sell extra fibers for extra loft or replacement.

Pretty cool! Anyway thought I'd post back in case anyone else is doing weird pillow gift research
I'm dreaming of sleep... some day!