Another Newbie Help Thread

Hello, this is a fantastic site but I’m a bit overwhelmed. I’m searching for a new queen sized mattress with my wife, with a few simple (to us) requirements:

Me: 5’10, 190, back sleeper
Her: 5’3, 135, back sleeper

  1. The absolute most important element is motion separation. I typically wake up 1-2 times a night to go to the bathroom. The instant that I start getting out of bed, my wife will wake up and then have trouble falling back asleep, which leads to a lot of discord. On our honeymoon, I believe we slept on a king size Sealy Beautyrest Worldclass mattress, which was fantastic for the motion separation, but I’m not sure what made it that way.
  2. I have had herniated discs in the past, so I prefer firm/extra firm mattresses.
  3. Budget: We recently married and have ~500 in gift cards to Macys and Crate&Barrel. If possible we’d prefer to get a $1-2k mattress at one of those two stores, but it might make sense to go elsewhere if those are overpriced?

In short, what should I be looking for with a minimum of motion/vibration/etc but also being firm?

Hi trevorreznik,

The first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice and purchase a mattress that meets all your criteria … and more importantly learn how and why to avoid the worst ones (including all the major brands and both stores that you mentioned).

Once you have done some initial reading and reach step 3 … if you let me know your city or zip code I’d be happy to let you know about the better options or possibilities I’m aware of in your area.

Phoenix

Thanks. After stumbling upon this: https://mattressunderground.com/our-articles/major-mattress-manufacturers-top-15.html it seems that I shouldn’t be looking at Macys/C&B and specifically not at the Sealy lines. I’ll continue my research.

That being said, I’m in 60202 but able to shop anywhere in the north Chicago/near suburbs around there.

Hi trevorreznik,

One of the links in the tutorial post is this article which would give you even more reasons to avoid Macys, Crate & Barrel, or any of the major brands such as Sealy.

The better options and possibilities in and around the Chicago region (subject to the guidelines here) are listed in posts #2 and #4 here. I would make sure that you include Quality Sleep / My Green Mattress in your research.

Phoenix