BB #BME too firm for me

[phoenix]

Hi Siggy,

I started trying out mattresses and thought we both liked the soft level foam mattresses (like TP Cloud Luxe). I spoke with Novosbed and Brooklyn Bedding on the phone and both quickly recommended medium firmness…quite quickly. We bought the BB med and the first few days were good. Then I had some neck pain in the morning and could feel it getting worse. A couple days later my neck was in full spasm and pretty painful. I believe the reason is my shoulder has way too much pressure when sleeping on my side and its literally pushing collarbone into my neck sideways. I went back to my spring mattress for a few days and noticed it was getting better.

I would have suggested a medium mattress in your weight range as well. While the only way to know whether a mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP is based on careful testing or your own personal experience when you sleep on it … when you are in a higher weight range a soft mattress has a greater risk of sleeping with your spine out of alignment which can lead to lower back pain and discomfort.

While it’s not possible to “diagnose” mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or any “symptoms” they experience … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.

Head and neck issues can also be the result of a pillow that doesn’t keep your head and neck in good alignment over the course of the night and it’s very common that when you buy a new mattress you will also need a new pillow as well because the distance between your head and neck and the mattress surface may be different from what it was on your old mattress.

[quote]So I am looking for help with my next step. Here are my options as I see it.

1. Stick with mattress and try out the memory foam topper than BB will provide. I still have to wait a couple weeks which is ok, but I know the topper is 2" memory foam. Is this a good quality product they provide.?.Obviously not latex developed by them internally. That would be like 6" of comfort layer which seems excessive. Also seems odd to throw a 2" topper over high end talalay latex. This option is free.[/quote]

Again … the only way to know whether a mattress (or a mattress/topper combination) will work well for you for certain will be based on your own experience and since the option to add a topper is free it certainly wouldn’t involve any risk to try it. I don’t know the quality/density of the topper but you can certainly ask them.

2) Exchange mattress for the soft one. I think this is probably the right mattress for us but the return policy means we can’t exchange or return it. If it doesn’t work out I am stuck and out $900. Seems like way too much risk. They didn’t seem too willing to make an exception on the return policy…understandably.

Exchange/return policies are a hidden cost that is part of the price you pay for a mattress and the majority of customers that don’t exchange or return a mattress are the ones that pay for the minority of customers that do. There are very few companies that allow for more than one return or exchange because it would add too much to the cost of the mattress for everyone else. Having said that … you are the only one that can decide on the level of risk that you are comfortable with. I would personally try the topper first.

3) Different mattress brand. Not sure I trust other latex brands so will likely go memory foam…maybe Novosbed. But that is another $400. Also not sure of the soft there will be too soft. I don’t think so… BB only gives you one risk free return. Is it the same with Novosbed and can you exchange more than once? I don’t see it on their website.

I don’t know how many returns Novosbed allows (but of course they do allow at least one which is the most important) but they would be happy to let you know when you talk with them.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article). The best way to know which type of materials or which type of mattresses you tend to prefer in general terms will be based on your own testing and personal experience because different people can have very different preferences.

Latex and memory foam are very different materials with very different properties but each person may have their own preference between them. There are certainly some people that strongly prefer memory foam and there are some people that strongly prefer latex. There is more about the pros and cons of latex vs memory foam in post #2 here.

If the BB mattress and topper (and/or a different pillow) doesn’t work well for you then you have many other good options available for you to try (including Novosbed) regardless of the type or combination of materials or components that you tend to prefer.

If you are considering online options then the mattress shopping tutorial includes several links to lists of many of the better online options I’m aware of (in the optional online step) that include many different types and categories of mattresses in a wide range of designs, budgets, firmness levels, and with different return/exchange policies that may be worth considering.

Phoenix