My husband and I have been on a pretty extensive bed journey and wanted to share our experience in the hope that it helps other people on the same journey.
We were sleeping on an eight year old queen-sized Simmons Beauty Rest pillow top. When we first got it, it was pretty comfortable, but over time the pillow top developed significant body impressions, of course. We bought a three inch memory foam as a band-aid to try to make it comfortable for a little longer. Eventually that didn’t work anymore, so we started bed shopping.
We had friends who raved about the Sleep Number bed, so that’s where we started. We were impressed with the snazzy sales pitch and thought the M9 (the one with the memory foam) was the most comfortable, so we bought it.
Within two nights, I knew I couldn’t sleep on it. My husband liked it, but he had his number so soft that when he moved around, it would bounce my side around. And no matter what number I put my side on, it felt too hard. The memory foam was probably of a low enough quality that it compressed too much and didn’t offer any pressure point relief. Not to mention the fact that it had almost a hammock effect. My back was terribly unhappy. So, we sent that back and the search was on the for the next option.
We went to local furniture and mattress stores, laying on everything we could find. We liked the feel of the Tempur-pedic Cloud but we didn’t like the smell, price, or the possibility that it wouldn’t last very long.
We decided to look at latex. I had read many positive reviews and liked the fact that we could by an organic mattress with longevity. We settled on a Flo-Bed because we could customize each side of the bed. Dave, at Flo-Beds, was extremely helpful assisting to configure our mattress. We ordered a firmer side for my husband who is about 220 pounds, and something a little softer for me at 135.
When it arrived, it was clear that it was a high quality product. It was easy to put together and it seemed to feel great right away. Absolutely no smell. Then, I slept on it. It was clear that my side was much to firm. I was having terrible pressure point issues. Of course my husband was again sleeping like a baby. I was starting to feel like the Princess and the Pea. One thing I noticed was that my muscles didn’t hurt, at all. My alignment was much improved from our old bed and the sleep number bed. But the pressure points were waking me up several times a night.
Dave and Dewey were very helpful sending out various layers to try to get my side soft enough. I must have tried 20 different combinations. When my husband was out of town one week, I finally found a combination that was perfect! But then my husband came home and when he laid on his side, my side was so soft, it made a depression deep enough that made me feel like I was going to roll into him. My lower back was so sore from trying to stay in my spot. I learned that if my side was firmer, it would stay level but it hurt my pressure points, and if it was soft enough to be comfortable, I was going to roll.
Another thing that was disturbing my sleep was the incredible bounciness that latex had. Every time my husband would roll over, I would bounce around and wake up. I was hoping if I could get my side comfortable enough, I could get used the the extreme motion transfer. But I never did. And I never could get my side to feel stable enough either. Much to my poor husband’s dismay, the Flo-Bed had to go back. And let me tell you, boxing that thing up was torture. Latex is the most wiggly, rubbery stuff to try to fold up. It took hours to get the boxes packed back up.
By this time, I was feeling very discouraged, and my husband, while trying to be patient, was getting a little annoyed.
I started looking at some of the mail order foam bed options on the internet: Tuft and Needle, Leesa, Casper, etc. I was impressed by the prices and by the trial periods. We figured we didn’t have anything to lose at this point and the reviews were mostly favorable. We went with the Tuft and Needle 10 primarily because of price, but also because of its participation on the Mattress Underground.
It arrived in a timely manner in a box that I was able to move myself by flipping it end to end into the bedroom. The mattress itself was light enough to unpack and put on out adjustable base by myself, as well. It expanded rapidly. I was concerned it might smell, but unless I put my nose right up to it, it didn’t smell like much. That night, we crawled in. It is quite a firm mattress. Had I laid on it in a store, I would have thought it was too firm, but amazingly, I slept like a baby that night. My body was perfectly aligned. And even better, because of the firmness, my husband did not create a dip I felt I was going to roll into. As for motion transfer, it’s like being in bed alone, which is to say I feel absolutely nothing when my husband moves around. It’s heaven!
We’ve had it for several months now, and occasionally I will have a random pressure point issue, but a slight adjustment in how I am laying fixes it immediately. And it’s never enough to wake me up. I found that I had to experiment with pillows, as the latex one I had been using was a little too flat and soft to support my head and neck well. I think because of the firmness of the mattress, I float a little higher on it. So far, a Biosense contoured memory foam neck pillow is working well because it’s taller under my neck.
As far as bedroom activities, it’s perfect. It’s so easy to move around on, has great stability, and a complete lack of bounce, which we prefer. As an aside, changing positions before falling asleep is very easy, too. I didn’t like the wet-sand feel of moving around on the memory foam topper at all.
Besides the lack of motion transfer, the thing I love the most is not sleeping hot. At our lake home, we have an older mattress with a memory foam topper that I think is relatively comfortable, but now I notice how hot it sleeps. Something about the Tuft and Needle bed is magical in the way it dissipates heat without feeling creepy-cool like those Tempur-Breeze mattresses. And for a gal in her early 40s, this is important!
Perhaps not surprisingly, we have just placed an order for a Tuft and Needle 10 mattress for our lake home, too. My husband insisted, and I didn’t argue!
I’m happy to answer any questions current bed-seekers have about any of the beds I mentioned. Good luck!
