Any suggestions?

[aaintx]

I’ve read on here for much of the past few days. If I had a larger budget and lived in a larger city, I’m pretty sure I could do well with what I have learned and make a good choice. HOWEVER, I have a very tiny budget and am limited on mattress places locally.

I’m not asking for a link to a specific product as I know you can’t pick one for me, but maybe some general guidance like you can’t get that style of mattress that is any good for the price you have to spend, so don’t even bother looking.

A few details:
Looking for a queen size. Only reason for the new bed is that we are moving and my king will take up way too much room in the smaller bedroom.

I am a larger woman, around 225lbs.

I tend to mostly sleep on my side and stomach with pillows tucked around me that I “hug”. I have always had sleep problems and wake up numerous times during the night. I have had sleep studies done and Dr. thinks that pain causes my spontaneous arousals. I have a medicine I can take and get better sleep (more like a nerve blocker, not a sleeping pill), but I build up a tolerance quickly, so I try to save them for when I really need them or need to get a good nights sleep.

I am currently sleeping on a bed that I know little about. I’ve had it for about 6 years. It was a freebie from a hotel that was remodeling all of their rooms. Seems supportive. Innerspring. Good around the edges. I have a memory foam topper above it. Not sure what it was originally sold as, but it is around 1" - 1.5" tall now. It is uniformly that size all around, so I am guessing it hasn’t compressed that much over the years.

I find when we travel that my pillows affect my sleep much more than the mattress does. If I bring my own pillows, my sleep will be normal. If I do not, I will most likely not get a good nights sleep, no matter the quality of the mattress.

I really need to stay under $500.

I have a very hard time psychologically with the thought of going to a mattress store for myself. I don’t want to lay where someone else has. Laying on my back will do little as I do not sleep that way (and do not want to as it causes me to snore). I can’t really get into position correctly without my body pillows to the side, and I am very self conscious about laying on my stomach with my rear in the air.

So, I would appreciate any guidance, like, you cannot afford latex. The memory foam you can afford will not support your weight and will break down too soon. You should stick with an innerspring and add a memory foam topper.

I may be asking for something that can’t be done, but thanks in advance if anyone has anything to offer.

Zip 76401

[phoenix]

Hi aaintx,

I am a larger woman, around 225lbs.

I tend to mostly sleep on my side and stomach with pillows tucked around me that I “hug”. I have always had sleep problems and wake up numerous times during the night. I have had sleep studies done and Dr. thinks that pain causes my spontaneous arousals. I have a medicine I can take and get better sleep (more like a nerve blocker, not a sleeping pill), but I build up a tolerance quickly, so I try to save them for when I really need them or need to get a good nights sleep.

I really need to stay under $500.

Higher weights tend to need firmer foams both in the comfort layers and the support layers because you will compress them more easily than someone that is lighter. I would also make sure that the materials in your mattress are high quality so that the upper layers especially don’t soften or break down too quickly. I would particularly make sure that you do some careful and objective testing for PPP so that you don’t buy a mattress that is too soft for you because a mattress that is too thick or soft in the comfort layers especially can be very risky for stomach sleeping. The goal is “just barely enough” softness and thickness in the comfort layers to relieve pressure points on your side so there is less risk of alignment issues when you sleep on your stomach. You can always soften a mattress that is too firm but it’s not really possible to make a mattress that is too soft any firmer.

Your budget as you know is quite low (and it will also depend if you need a foundation in your budget as well which would reduce the amount available for the mattress) so you will probably be looking at either an all polyfoam mattress or a traditional innerspring mattress with polyfoam comfort layers rather than memory foam or latex which would normally be in higher budget ranges.

One of the most important parts of your research will be the initial research you do on the phone before you go anywhere to test mattresses. The list of better options and possibilities in the Dallas / Fort Worth region I’m aware of are in post #4 here.

I would first call the ones that interest you or are withing the range you are willing to travel (or all of them) on the phone and let them know your criteria including price (like you have here). I would also ask them if there is a time that they are likely to be less busy so that you can do your testing with the least number of people around. I would then visit the ones that you believe would be the best options or that “connect” with you and your criteria the best and appear to have mattresses that you want to test and that they believe would be worthwhile options.

The more you can do on the phone before you visit any of them the more effective you will be when you go to test mattresses.

Phoenix

[aaintx]

Thank you for your reply, Phoenix.

DFW is too far for me to travel and I would be out of their delivery range. I did check out all of those sites and noticed that sleepcraftmattress carries many of the same lines as one mattrress store here advertises on its website. It is not their own line, of course, but being that they sell it and are a reputable dealer, I think I may look into those same lines here. (Even though the thought of even going into this store is making me have an anxiety attack.) The other stores here just deal with the S’s.

When I sleep on my stomach, I’m still a bit on my side and I keep a pillow tucked in underneath me. My hips are the area that gives me the most pain and I do spend the majority of time sleeping on my side. I do agree with you about it being better to need to make a firm bed softer than to try to figure out how to make a soft bed firmer.

I will focus on an innerspring mattress set at this time. The rails on my current frame will adjust down to queen size, so that will save some money versus needing a platform bed/foundation for a memory foam mattress.

[phoenix]

Hi aaintx,

DFW is too far for me to travel and I would be out of their delivery range. I did check out all of those sites and noticed that sleepcraftmattress carries many of the same lines as one mattrress store here advertises on its website. It is not their own line, of course, but being that they sell it and are a reputable dealer, I think I may look into those same lines here. (Even though the thought of even going into this store is making me have an anxiety attack.) The other stores here just deal with the S’s.

Outside of testing a mattress for your individual needs and preferences in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, pressure relief, and Personal preferences) … the most important part of a successful mattress purchase is to deal with a knowledgeable and experienced manufacturer of retailer that is able to tell you the specifics of what is inside their mattress so in addition to making sure the mattress is suitable for you that you can identify any weak links in the mattress and make meaningful comparisons between them. If they are carrying some of the SleepCraft mattresses then they should be able to tell you the specifics of all the layers and components in the mattress and be able to tell you the difference between better and worse quality materials. the knowledge, experience, and transparency of who you deal with can be one of the most important parts of a successful mattress purchase.

The type of materials or components in the comfort and support layers or the type of mattress is an individual preference but the quality of the materials will have a big effect on the useful life of the mattress no matter how it may feel in a showroom or when you first sleep on it.

If I have the chance over the next few days I’ll take a look in the Stephenville area to see if I can see any reasonable possibilities or options in the area (other than what you’ve found) that are closer to you.

Phoenix

I looked in and around around the Stephenville area and out of about 20 retailers within about 50 miles or so these are the options or possibilities I would tend to focus on in the area on a mattress by mattress basis. I’ve included the manufacturers they carry that would have higher odds of transparency but I would make sure they will provide you with the information you need about the materials in your mattress so you can make informed choices and make sure your mattress doesn’t have any weak links.

http://www.markspasandfurniture.com/ Granbury, TX. Sleeptronic (King Koil).

https://greattimesrusticfurniture.com/ Eastland, TX. Golden.

http://www.sleepshopdfw.com/ Mineral wells, TX. Sleeptronic (King Koil), Golden, mLily, Royal

http://www.mattressdepotweatherford.com/ Weatherford, TX. Sleeptronic, Golden, mLily, Royal

http://www.homezonefurniture.com/ Weatherford, TX. Restonic, Bree-O-Pedic