One of the largest surfaces in the nursery, next to the walls, is the floor. Flooring selection in a nursery is one of the most important decisions you can make that affects your baby's future health.
If you are remodeling the room you intend to use as a nursery, you will be selecting new flooring. You should try to maintain a consistent flooring design throughout the home, and you should keep this in mind so your home doesn't end up looking like a checker board of different surfaces and styles.
Traditionally, we believed that a nursery floor should be soft and cozy. We now know that some synthetic carpeting may emit formaldehyde, benzene and other chemicals that can affect your baby's lungs and health. If you wish to install carpeting consider wool carpeting. Wool carpeting generally has a low toxicity (check the dyeing process), is long-lasting, naturally flame-resistant (not treated with flame retardant chemicals) and is biodegradable.
You may also wish to consider wood flooring with low toxicity finishes (no added urea formaldehyde) and use a wool area rug to soften the surface. If you are considering a laminate floor instead of solid or engineered wood, check the formaldehyde levels as laminates may have higher levels than other flooring.
If you have existing carpet and are not able to switch out for new flooring, you should have the carpets cleaned using eco-friendly methods such as those used by Eco Safe. Take off your shoes when entering the nursery so you don't track in any outside debris or toxins. Vacuum the carpet often with a Hepa filter vacuum that does not blow the dust back out into the room. Have your carpets cleaned at least once a year to reduce dust mites, pet dander, and remove outdoor pesticides that may be deposited on it.
If your existing carpeting is fairly old you may wish to place some area rugs over the carpet surface when your baby starts crawling.
Flooring is one of the most costly items in your home and you should consider durability, toxicity and maintenance when choosing flooring for your home and particularly for the nursery.
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