1. Introduction
China double mattress in singapore are an important sleeping facility, playing an important role in protecting humans from musculoskeletal system disease and accelerating the recovery process. Children go through a significant growth spurt in the pre-puberty period, and this requires sufficient amounts of rest. Also, improvement in height is closely linked with growth in bone density, muscle mass, and the proper functioning of bone joints. This promotes the development of the skeletal system in a healthy drainage process. Furthermore, in this crucial growth process, good support encourages proper spine curvature and reduces unnecessary orthopedic stress caused by the body’s weight. However, there are few specific research studies on mattresses that are related to children or young adolescents. Currently, there are no international or local standards that regulate the performance or labeling of children mattress in singapore.
1.1. Background and Significance
With the improvement and enhancement of parents’ purchasing power and ever-increasing awareness of the importance of china king mattress in the growth and development of children’s health, the infant and children’s mattress market in China has also shown a good development momentum in recent years, and new synchronization technologies with traditional adult mattress products have emerged, which are also widely used in the surface materials of various high-end or well-known brand mattresses in the market. A variety of new, unique or functional mattresses for children have emerged. In contrast, mattresses for infants and children in Singapore not only pay attention to the selection of materials and the comfort level but also at the same time design products for the greatest guarantee of sleep safety and development. At present, the full range of children’s mattresses mainly focuses on full-size and full range, including portable folding mattresses. At present, there are limited baby strollers, linens, soft decorations, baby gyms with mattress accessories, and so on. The patterns of the two sets of children’s mattresses and related products in the two places are different. There are differences in child care concepts, emphasis on child care products from Asian and European and American cultures, resource balance, leader, and so on.
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) estimates that people spend about a third of their life, or about 230,000 hours, on their sleep, giving rise to a huge consumer market for sleep-related products. Effective sleep quality and quantity are directly related to daily work and energy levels, as well as mental and physical health. Children, as a special group, spend more time sleeping. Good sleep is particularly important for children’s normal growth and healthy physical development. The reverberations of children’s sleep also affect the physical and mental health and learning abilities of the second generation of parents. For babies and children, mattresses are the primary sleep accessory. At the same time, the spine of a baby or child is in the stage of growth and development. A low-quality mattress may lead to spine deformity, asymmetric development of the leg muscles, and difficulty in correcting the sprain or kyphosis, and other diseases or problems, particularly serious to affect normal growth.
1.2. Research Objectives
The aims of the study are to identify how the awareness of Singaporean parents who have children at a suitable age to select a good quality children’s mattress compares with their counterparts in China, and to establish the points to be noted before purchasing a children’s mattress and criteria for selection. The research methodology is used primarily questionnaire surveying. A conclusion is drawn from the survey result in the paper, with some useful suggestions given for parents who have a need to purchase mattresses.
Singapore and China are two different cities in different areas, with totally different economic and social conditions and different lifestyles. However, bilateral economic and social developments have provided a wealth of content and deliverables for comparative research. Due to Singapore and China citizens’ relatively modern, affluent, and comprehensive lifestyle having significantly improved, the interior home decoration is obviously being overall raised to a scientific, technical, and intellectual standard. The mattress, which is widely used, has a great bearing on consumers’ sleep quality and health. Healthy children mean healthy families and social stability to a country. It is important that children select a safe and comfortable mattress which is not too soft or too hard, in order to guarantee a safe and healthy sleeping environment for children.
2. Methodology
The feedback information was recorded manually, evaluated, and categorized for comparison analysis. This involves analyzing the relationships between the sales of the firm demographic variables compared to their children’s mattress specialty knowledge, which is appropriate for categorizing children’s mattress store hierarchy and fast informing the subsequent clustering and individual firm cases. The Chinese study took place in the first half of 2018, while the Singapore survey started in mid-2018 and took more than a year to complete. Both survey competitions were together conducted by two product ergonomic teams to facilitate collaboration and to enhance uniformity in the data collection at various children’s product store branches. The brand study was in May 2018 in two Chinese first-tier cities and Singapore during the summer school holidays of 2019, preparing to understand and conceptualize these markets.
This article primarily uses the survey of the children’s mattress retail industry in Singapore and China to compare the differences between the two nations in a specific bedding product. The industry study research technique adopted can be defined as descriptive research. A set of questionnaire surveys were carried out on the child mattress replacement characteristics, salesperson and display services of furniture and bedding stores in Singapore, and the popular children’s mattress brand in China’s first-tier cities. The survey is to collect the necessary data and information on the attributes most firms present and products display, supporting information on retail store employees for child mattress-selling staff composition, qualification, category knowledge related to the consumer demographic analysis framework that are employed in the children’s mattress retailing sector, display, and decision making evaluated in the present study observed cases.
2.1. Research Design
Having children’s accurate body size allowed for children’s body shape, human dimensions, and anthropometric information to be considered, and limits for chemical emissions varied according to their health, safety, and performance requirements. These hard data were useful for sorting out the role of children’s age and children’s body size, their standing pressure, comfort performance measurement in accordance with children’s international standards or test methods that restrict the range of acceptable body sizes.
The company websites and commercial catalogues, as well as relevant product standards or specifications, were useful for ascertaining why children want different features on mattresses in Singapore and China, comparing the sizes of children’s mattresses in the two markets, and understanding the different support and comfort layer quality appropriate for children. Furthermore, data from the children experts and from the parents and retailers’ feedback also provided valuable insights to explain an apparent gap in children’s mattress quality in the two markets.
This is a descriptive and exploratory study that encompasses both content analysis and a comparative study. The content analysis involves coding information from the children’s mattresses in Singapore and China, which are drawn from a number of sources. This information is compared based on a predefined set of categories that can assist in understanding why these bedding products fare better in the existing markets.
2.2. Data Collection Methods
The field survey in Singapore focused on relevant products in IKEA, Sea Horse and Simmons, and the field survey in China only focused on those in Four Season Mattress (FSM) and Desleep. This method was selected due to the high market share of these shops in the children’s mattress market in the two different countries. Different items such as size grades, designs, materials, and mattress costs were considered. The most popular children’s mattresses in these countries were selected for the survey.
The comparative study of children’s mattresses in Singapore and China was conducted from December 2016 to April 2017. To conduct the survey, middle-income households that had children aged 3 to 6 in both cities were selected using the neighborhood system. According to the geographic division of neighborhoods, 1 to 3 neighborhoods were selected in each city, with selection principles employed that included the distribution of the city population and convenience of investigation. Interviews were performed using structured questionnaires, and the type of children’s mattress, selection of desired features, preference for materials, and mattress experiences were explored in interviews with the children’s mothers. Additionally, suppliers and models of the children’s mattresses were identified.
3. Key Features of Children’s Mattresses
Second, the cover material of children’s mattresses is required to be carefully selected as it is exposed to contact with children more than the mattress filling material. The cover fabric for children’s mattresses should be made of safe and healthy materials, and the patterns can attract children’s interest. In Singapore, apart from natural fabrics such as cotton, cotton blends, and wool, environmentally friendly fire-resistant chemical fiber fabrics are often used. These fabrics have a soft and warm texture, a strong sense of drape, and a natural pastoral style. In China, however, the current market material is soft short plush, which is harmless, soft, warm, close-fitting, and strong in three-dimensional sense. It generally gives people a sense of intimacy, comfort, and warmth, and has good performance in cold prevention. At present, no harmful textile dyes have been reported, and it is recognized as the most solvent-free, dust-free and environmentally friendly fabric. It is widely used in the mattress fabrics of children’s products. With the improvement of life quality, the cover material for children’s mattresses in China is mainly required to be anti-mite, insect proof, moisture resisting, breathable, non-toxic, and tasteless for the reason to cope with the hot and humid climate, the physical and psychological characteristics of babies. The more mature the design styles of the surface patterns and drawings, the more popular they are.
First, the filling material for children’s mattresses is an important factor that brings about differences in comfort. In China, the mainstream filling materials for children’s mattresses in the current market are soft cotton and sponge, in which sponge filling materials account for 90%. Soft cotton is a raw material that is directly obtained after separating cotton from cottonseed, while sponge is a soft, expandable substance created by a particular group of sponges. The sponge with high-quality raw material is more environmentally friendly, cleaner, and lighter. It is soft and elastic enough, not easy to deform, and has the functions of antistatic, intrinsic flame retardant, insect prevention, mold proof, and environmental protection, which are suitable for babies to sleep and play on.
3.1. Material and Construction
The children’s bed mattress has the ability to accommodate the growth spurt of a fast-growing child and provide a comfortable, healthy sleep time. It is important to buy a mattress that fits well and can be used for years. The majority of children’s mattresses are designed to accommodate growth spurts and provide comfort, health, safety, and length of use. However, a few factors are found that might affect parents’ preferences when purchasing children’s mattresses. First, the price of a mattress. Although Singapore has different price ranges for mattresses, the high price of J and K-Swiss causes a little bit of demand for the product. Second, all of the suggested products are made of high-performance polyurethane foams, coil springs, and cotton ticking. If other ingredient components are cheaper compared to cotton, that should be an alert because a low-price product can affect the health of our children. However, the selection of children’s mattresses is usually made at the retail store, including functional properties, affordable prices, and other preferences that create uneven sales. On the other hand, parents have a great role in influencing a child’s health promotion.
The materials used in children’s bed mattresses in Singapore are generally high-performance polyurethane foam pads, fiber batting, and fabric covers. Meanwhile, the materials used in children’s bed mattresses in Suzhou, China are generally the Vs Mattress Bag, Tyvek reinforcement sheets, cotton batting, and cotton ticking. In terms of mattress and stitching construction, among the six products, four of the children’s mattresses are bordered quilted with the use of a 3/4″ WF840 foam encasement, one is plain. The other one is Euro-top quilt simplified by flame lamination and assembled by a bag-style construction with no tape edge. For stitching construction, a tape edge (25 mm width) is used on the right side of the mattress. The number of feeders is normally 6 when 22% coils are used. There are 3.8 cross wires and also 3.8 top wires. They are evenly placed at a distance of 150 mm. Finally, the bond type is also different, where Ultrabond was used among the products.
3.2. Size and Firmness
A study by Montgomery et al. found that the physical dimensions of furniture can be potential sources of postural discomfort, and previous studies have used anthropometric data to design and analyze mattress and bed designs for adults. Custer and Mark designed a child’s bed system with dimensions determined by the anthropometric data of children. However, this area was not mentioned in relation to the size of beds and mattresses for children. Such information is useful for product information and designing mattresses for children that meet the safety, health, and physical needs of the user. There is no requirement for bed and crib mattresses to be tested based on size and dimension requirements in Europe and the US voluntary standards. It is recommended to use a firm mattress for both babies, as firm mattresses are designed to minimize the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Generally, Chinese companies that specialize in mattresses for babies or infants should ensure that the mattress is not smaller than 115 cm in length, 60 cm in width, and 12 cm in thickness. For example, An Jia Le, which means “peace at home,” has specified the sizes for their baby mattresses for ages 1-5. In Singapore, companies are generally vague about the sizes of baby or junior bed mattresses. On the websites of major department stores in Singapore, the stated sizes of mattresses are in adult sizes. Many companies simply state the suitability of the size for the cot or junior bed. Only two companies, The Children’s Furniture Co. and Serta, have specified the mattress size for their Lydia Sleigh, which is 140 cm x 70 cm. The Children’s Furniture Co. has also specified the Tanya Cot mattress size. The dimensions of the Tanya cot are 1298 mm x 695 mm, and the recommended mattress size is 1220 mm x 610 mm. The Tanya cot dimensions are similar to the dimensions of the mattress of 140 cm x 70 cm, which is a standard size for baby cot mattresses. This information is useful for parents when buying such mattresses.
4. Availability and Pricing in Singapore and China
This study would consider pricing of children’s mattresses in Singapore and Nanjing, Jiangsu Province in China. Lower, mid, and higher levels of pricing were compared. In discussing this section, the children’s mattresses in the different categories would be compared. Preliminary observations have indicated that Singapore carries a higher version of functionalized children’s mattresses with more rigorous test reports provided than in Nanjing. Manufacturers in Nanjing, on the other hand, pride themselves on having the country’s highest concentration of coil springs within the mattresses, which rendered them unable to fulfill the requisite heating or motion activation requirement.
In addition to the critical factors mentioned above, external factors such as the availability of products on the market and the cost of these products are also important considerations for parents. Both Singapore and China are consumer economies with access to a wide array of consumer goods. However, the specifications and functionalities in the products available for sale in these two countries may vary significantly. While Singapore imports a large portion of its consumer goods, China may possibly export various goods to other countries. At the same time, the cost of the goods may vary quite substantially. Particularly for mattresses, it is observed that although the products on the market may be branded under the same label, there are large differences in pricing for the same type of product.
5. Conclusion and Implications
With the increasing awareness of the importance of sleep health, the softness or hardness of mattresses will be the first consideration for most people when they plan to buy mattresses. Parents pay more attention to children’s sleep factors when selecting mattresses for children. Most of the current children’s mattresses in the Singapore market are suitable for children of different ages, indicating that the children’s mattresses have a relatively competitive diversity. Singapore’s children’s mattresses pay more attention to the designation and enjoyable design than protection against turning over, while protection against turning over appears in most children’s mattresses in the Chinese market. The embedded coil structure, the combination of a comfortable upper layer surrounded by steel enclosures and a strong base resistance system design must make the child pay more attention to the influence of the mattress cover. Due to the importance of height, why are children’s mattresses for overnight sleep using such complex structural design at this stage? Does the suspension structure of the entire mattress when pressing on the mattress have an apparent height increase effect? The excellent design presents different factors in different environments. As the human skeleton gradually grows and matures over time, the sagittal and coronal sections of the spine will change. Based on different bony characteristics, from a biomechanical point of view, children are different major groups from the elderly. In order to best protect the healthy growth of children’s bones, parents should pay more attention to the force of the mattress on the skeletal muscles when children sleep. The design of mattress type is certainly more likely to affect children’s body support performance than the activeness reflected. Only such a form can reduce parents’ and children’s back pain and understand the relationship between back protection and children’s health. The specific steps to help parents make decisions in the mattress market are still centered around the second important parent preference.
In conclusion, the general awareness of back health in kindergarten children is insufficient. Current mattresses on the market have differences in mattress thickness, number of mattress zones, and structural design of the surface and core layer. Factors like climate, sleep behavior habits, and posture affect children’s sleep and mattresses used by children, but selection factors would be the most important factor when parents decide on purchasing mattresses for their children. Whether the selected mattress measures up to their expectations is entirely dependent on product quality, relevant age, function, and price. The fact that relevant age and function are the primary reasons does not affect parents in this study; the current mattress is simple with a low price. Although they also consider product quality, the relevant age and function as the primary consumer preference do not get much feedback. Selecting a better back support force or a soft and hard proper mattress combines the back pressure relief design to promote back health and independently achieve the indirect education of back health awareness for children.
