Hating new OMF hybrid

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Had a King Serta iComfort Savant Everfeel plush 11.5”on box springs for the last 9 years that we liked and held up great, wish I had kept it honestly. We just upgraded to Leggett & Platt Split King Adjustable Bases with Original Mattress Factory Regency Sapphire Hybrid Split King mattresses. It has only been a few weeks, but so far we hate the hybrid mattress.

I am waking up with low back pain several times a night, and sometimes hip pain, I had neither with the Serta. My husband is waking up with neck and shoulder pain that he never had with the Serta, even after different pillow attempts. He says he feels like he is rolling off the hybrid mattress and like he is sleeping on a crest. I am 5’10 135Ibs age 49, mostly back sleeper. Husband is 6’2, 230Ibs, age 51, mostly side sleeper.

It looks as if we will have to use the OMF Comfort Policy, which allows for a one-time exchange with a 25% fee plus the difference in price. Since it’s a one-time exchange, we are quite worried about choosing wrong again and be out of luck completely. In fact, we may even be better off going elsewhere and buying a completely different line that has a better return policy. To switch to the OMF Serenity Plush, we are looking at an additional $2300. So we are trying to learn from this site (wish I had found it before purchasing!) what exactly might be causing our issue with the OMF Regency Sapphire Hybrid.

We liked the OMF Regency Sapphire Hybrid in the store, make 3 trips before deciding and spent 20 mins each time laying on it, but it wasn’t until the first night we slept on it all night that the pain started, it still feels perfectly comfortable until I wake up many hours later with low back pain.

We also liked the OMF Serenity Plush, but since foam can be hot, and we thought we liked them equally, we went with the Hybrid, maybe mistakenly assuming we’d get better alignment from the spring support system.

Could it be the switch back to springs/coils that is bothering us, Maybe we got better alignment from the all-foam Savant? I know upper layers that are too thick/soft and/or support layers that are too soft can allow pelvis to sink down too far, would that make sense in this case?

My husband wondered if the adjustable bases could be playing a part? Or maybe the fact that we are now on 2 Twin-XL’s instead of a King? Which would mean we won’t like any mattress that goes on top. I have not found any complaints about adjustable bases though and I personally feel like the mattress is the problem.

Hoping for some expert advice from all of you. Does the OMF Serenity Plush sound like it would be closer to the Serta Savant that we know we liked? Any opinions on what about the Hybrid might be causing our pain? Or any suggestions of other brands in case we decide not to give OMF an additional $2300 to (hopefully) get out of this pain?

Note – I think OMF is a great company, nothing against them or Hybrids in general, just trying to figure out why this particular Hybrid is hurting us.

  1. Serta IComfort Savant Everfeel Plush 11.5” (what we had for last 9 years and liked, no pain): 2” EverCool® Memory Foam, 1” PillowSoft™ Foam, ¾” EverFeel™ Technology, 1 ½” Cool Action™ Dual Effects® Gel Memory Foam and ComfortLast® Foam Core with Ultimate Edge® Mattress Edge Support

  2. OMF Regency Sapphire Hybrid (what we have now that causes pain): COMFORT LAYERS: A stretch knit fabric over two inches of 3.5 lb/ft³ memory foam, 2-inch high-density super-soft foam, and a blended cotton pad give this mattress our softest feel. SUPPORT SYSTEM: Our premium-quality innerspring offers premium-quality support and durability for affordable luxury and features a 660-count (full), five-turn, 14.5-gauge offset coil and a 6-gauge border rod for edge-to-edge support.

  3. OMF Serenity Plush (what we are considering exchanging for): COMFORT LAYERS: A stretch-knit fabric over 2-inch 8 lb/ft³ density memory foam with SMT (surface modified technology), .5-inch air-flow layer, 3-inch 5 lb/ft³ density memory foam with SMT, and a 2-inch high-density foam gives this mattress a soft feel. SUPPORT LAYER: Our high-quality foam support comes from a 3-inch 2.25 lb/ft³ density foam core, offering superior spring-free support and durability for modern luxury.

2

Hi duck947 and new MUGster, welcome to the MattressUnderGround.

For reference, I am 63, 6’ tall, weighing 220 lbs (formerly 250), and my wife is 60, 5’4, and 135 lbs. Despite being close in size and not far off in age, we have completely different mattress firmness preferences. You use an OMF RSH, rated around 3 or 4 on the firmness scale, while we are on a 9.5 mattress on the firmness scale. We are both 80% side sleepers.

It goes to show that couples in the same weight class can be polar opposites.

Addressing your husband’s shoulder and neck pain on the new mattress, it’s usually a sign of a mismatched pillow for the new mattress firmness versus sleeping position and body sinking into the mattress. As a side sleeper, he needs to evaluate if the change in mattress firmness and the amount of sinking have caused the need for a new pillow. He may sinking into the mattress too much (as I suspect with the memory foam comfort layer):

  1. COMFORT LAYERS: A stretch knit fabric over two inches of 3.5 lb/ft³ memory foam, 2-inch high-density super-soft foam, and a blended cotton pad give this mattress our softest feel.

If he is sinking and the loft of his pillow/s is too high, his head is angling up and may be causing a strain on the neck, which, in turn, will cause shoulder and eventually mid to lower back pain. Changing pillows is not the key here; knowing why you need to change and what you need to change to is of most importance.

I would tend not to believe it is the support spring layer that is the issue, although it is true that an all-foam mattress is more adaptable and adjustable than a hybrid. The 14.5g 5-turn spring layer seems like it should be sturdy, with a bit of bounce but not terribly firm. The rolling off is a little peculiar as the edge support with the border rod should be fairly good on the OMF. But then again, the springs, as I mentioned above, are a bit softer.

So the question needs to be asked, when he is lying on his side and you are sitting in a chair looking at him on the bed, at his back level, what does his posture and alignment look like to you?

I need two pillows at 6’, he is 6’2, how many does he use, and what are they comprised of, and their loft. This will help evaluate what is going on. Your previous mattress, the iComfort, you liked it, what did you like about it, and how does the firmness compare to the OMF RSH?

Remember that a memory foam mattress needs a little time to break in and for those cells to open up and get a little softer. If you find it firm (even if it is listed as their softest feel), you may need to crawl around on your hands and knees on the mattress to open up those memory foam cells and soften it up a bit. If it is too soft you could be hammocking a bit, causing strain on the lower back muscles.

The fact that you are suffering from lower back and hip pain tends to say it’s too firm for you, as I doubt you are bottoming out the 4" of soft memory foam comfort layers and running into the coils at 135 lbs.

I would also venture to say the OMF mattress is a bit more supportive than your iComfort was. This may take some getting used to as well, not just a week or two, but a month or two.

The firmness of a mattress is generally determined by its construction and materials rather than its size. In other words, a Twin XL mattress and a King mattress with the same firmness rating from the same brand and model are likely to feel similar in terms of firmness. So I am not so sure that the fact that the king is split is the issue.

I would have your husband do the same observing you on the mattress. One thing that is curious is you are a back sleeper with hip pain. We would expect lower back pain when the body is NOT being supported properly with the mattress. Usually, a medium to medium-firm mattress is what matches with a back sleeper. So, again for you, how did the firmness of the iComfort compare to the soft OMF? If your hips are sinking too much as you talked about, then that will cause lower back pain fairly quickly, and will only get more intense as the mattress softens, and the memory foam will.

It would be great if you could compare each other’s posture and alignment to determine if you both are sinking more than you should. If your adjustable base has a lumbar adjustment, you should consider using it to raise your hips up and reduce the sinking in that area.

I know the next thing I am about to say is rough, but sometimes “subjective certainty” will cause us to believe something is true, even if the reality is not as accurate, leading to believing things are true. In other words, could it be that you are second-guessing the hybrid choice and allowing it to convince you that you don’t like it, allowing the pain to manifest itself, where the prospect of adjusting to the new mattress just does not seem realistic, so the pain exists. This is not to say the pain is not real, it is. But your mind is not allowing the body to adjust because you believe you should not have gotten the hybrid.

I know it sounds crazy, but it happens.

By the way, do you have a topper from a previous mattress still around, and if so, have you tried it?

Let’s take another day or two to evaluate spinal alignment, pillow selection/fill material, and firmness of this mattress as compared to what you can remember your old one to be and regroup in a day or two.

I am so sorry you are going through this. Like my day job, folks just want to put their new Rx eyeglasses on when we write a new Rx and see perfectly, but sometimes their old eyeglass Rx was so different, it takes a while to adjust. You both may be experiencing a similar phenomenon with your mattress; it is a different support and comfort system that your body is simply not adjusting to fast enough.

Good luck in the next couple of days and report back.

Norm (aka maverick)

3

Hi Norm/Maverick,
I really appreciate your response and help, thank you so much!

Comparing our old Serta Savant All-Foam to the new OMF RSH, the Serta gave us that “sinking in” feeling and seemed softer, and had zero bounce of course. The new OMF RSH is very bouncy, and it feels like we don’t sink in at all, like we are sleeping on the very top of it (I think this is why my husband feels he is going to roll off, he is just used to being sunk in to the mattress). It is hard for us to believe the RSH has any foam in it at all, when we compare it to how the Serta felt. We were also both shocked when we learned that the RSH is OMF’s softest mattress, because it just does not feel “that” soft to us, at least compared to our old Serta.

As far as support, the RSH feels like a bouncy-air kind of support, whereas the Serta felt like actual support, if that makes sense. With the Serta we would sink in a little, then stop and it felt like there was something substantial under us. Maybe because we feel like we are just resting on the very top of the RSH with no sink-in at all, the support feels less - almost like the support of an air mattress.

With the Serta, I could sleep in the exact same position on my back all night, with no pain and pretty much never move. With the RSH, I wake with the low back pain several times each night, and feel like I need to twist or change position to alleviate the pain - this might be where the hip pain is coming from, as I am probably twisting in a way that my hips don’t appreciate. I have only noticed the hip pain once or twice, but the low back pain is a nightly issue that started as soon as we got the new RSH.

You are spot on with my husband’s neck and shoulder pain being from a mismatched pillow. He says he sunk in so much more with the old Serta that he did not need a lofty pillow and his My Pillow Premium Firm worked perfectly to support his neck. Now, he feels he is not sinking in at all on the new RSH, so he is having to use a thicker pillow, a Bedgear Balance Performance pillow size 3.0 Firm worked much better for him last night.

Interestingly, the Bedgear (I believe) is a foam pillow, that did not work for him with the all-foam Serta because it would angle his head up and hurt his neck. And the My Pillow is no-foam which worked perfectly with the all-foam Serta, but not at all with the new Hybrid. Maybe that is a clue that neither of us is getting much sink-in on the RSH?

We did some observing last night, and neither of us could see where the other was sinking in too much or had any gaps in recessed areas. Spinal alignment looked okay from what we could tell.

I wish our adjustable base had lumbar support, but it does not. We did test one that did in a Tempur-Pedic Store, and that feature was nice, but very costly. And we don’t have a topper to try, we never needed one with the Serta.

I had not considered it, but subjective certainty is always a possibility. Would be interesting if both the husband and I were suffering from that, but you never know.

Later today, I will be crawling around on my hands and knees to see if I can soften this thing up! And sounds like we need to give it some more time, unfortunately.

From the description of the Serenity Plush that I included in my original message, does it sound to you like it would be more comparable to our old Serta? I guess we are a little concerned that if the RSH is their softest bed, and it does end up being too firm for us, that gives the impression that they don’t make a bed soft enough for us…and the Serenity Plush is not going to work either? From what we remember of it in the store though, it felt a bit softer to us than the RSH did, and maybe the adaptability and adjustability of the all-foam would make the difference to us?

Thank you so very much for all your help. This site is just amazing and you all are so helpful.

Angie (Duck947)

1 Like
4

I am very surprised. I would have thought that the OMF was going to be too soft. Go figure, but then again you are comparing it to your old serta. I have tried a few of those Icomfort serta’s when I prance across a showroom in my travels. I always found them to be “memory foam swallowing,” but I like a super firm bed, so the driveway would probably seem soft to me. LOL

I know this is going to sound crazy, but, if you belong to costco, or can just order one of these, (I just gave ours to a friend who was suffering from too firm a mattress after she lost 60lbs. and is just in heaven with this thing) Serenity Tempur Topper

I bought it several years back, when our previous mattress was failing. I figured, I like TP pillows so I would try the topper. My wife absolutely hated it! She does not like to sink into the mattress, we both like sleeping on top of the mattress.

I think it would actually return you to the Icomfort feel, for a lot less than anything else. I feel fairly confident, knowing how OMF mattresses are made, that they are built to last, and built reasonably firm, despite the moniker of “their softest mattress.” Kind of like frank’s hot sauce, it is our mildest sauce as you mouth is shooting flames." :hot_face: I dont think spending another 2300 there is going to solve it. You can get a lot of mattresses from 1500-2500 that will have a chance to work better for you, and keep this one as a guest bedroom mattress. Considering their 'average at best, return and exchange policy" I can not suggest chancing and chasing that rabbit again.

So you know the pillow thing. Keep that in mind whenever you modify, change or upgrade layers (when available) in any mattress you select.

You can return anything to costco, but it would be worth the under $300 experiment. If it works, you will have a mattress with a good support system and a mattress/topper situation that solves the problem. It may be a bit frustrating to come to terms with a mattress that needed a topper to fix the problem, but at the end of the day, it is all about a consistent good night’s sleep.

I would like to hear your thoughts.

Norm

5

I do belong to Costco, I will definitely check out the topper. Seems like it is worth the experiment to see if it fixes our problem. I think if it does, that will be total confirmation that this RSH is in fact too firm for us. We can then decide if we want to live with the RSH with the topper, or purchase something else that has a chance at working better and put the RSH in the guest room. I am with you and thinking we won’t do any better at OMF. We did not realize OMF was known to be pretty firm. I guess a safer bet next time would be back to the Serta iComfort. Any other brands we should consider that tend to be really soft and swallow you in?

Thanks again so much Norm. I will let you know how the topper works out.

1 Like
6

LOL, when you read it, sounds funny, like a super bowl commercial. I would say stick with what you know. I have to admit, OMF does make quality mattresses. But the best is only the best if it works for you, otherwise is it … well, you know.

Any other brands we should consider that tend to be really soft and swallow you in?

But if the topper combination works, you will have that baby for a long time, and you will just be replacing $200 toppers every few years, if they give out.

Look, is it ideal? Perhaps, not. If it works, it gives you plenty of time to think about your next option. That is my take on it. You can argue with comfortable.

All the best,

Norm

7

Lol, it does sound like a super bowl commercial. :rofl:

Very good point, can’t argue with comfortable. Can’t wait to give the topper a try.

Thanks again for all the help!

1 Like