My wife and I have slept on a king-size soft-sided waterbed for the past 31 years, and hard-sided for a few years before that. For the past 3 - 4 years, I’ve been unhappy with it. With 3 - 4 inches of foam at both the head and the feet, it seemed like it was too short for me (I’m only 5’9", 160 lbs) and, with my feet on top of the foam edging, I felt sway-backed. My wife (5’4", 150 lbs) loved the waterbed but said that, if I’d do the selection, we could replace it. Of course, I didn’t want to be solely responsible, so I just went along with the waterbed.
Well, it sprang a small leak so that was my excuse to finally get rid of it. We’ve been sleeping in a spare room on a pretty firm 9" queen-sized futon. We’ve both been sleeping ok (nothing sore that isn’t age-related), but it’s time to do something.
I’m primarily a stomach sleeper, though I also like turning onto my right side. I have a right shoulder problem (pre-dates the futon, so I don’t think it’s sleep related). My wife is primarily a side-sleeper, and turns onto her back. No particular sleep-related aches that she’s admitting to.
I went into one of the chain mattress stores. The salesperson was pretty useless. I laid down on several of the mattresses but can’t really tell much difference. Maybe I didn’t spend long enough on them (a few minutes each). Other than some quirky ones (particularly stiff-feeling, or thick pillow tops), I really couldn’t tell any difference. But I know with long-term usage I probably would.
I’ve polled all my friends. No one likes their pillow-tops. One likes his Sleep Number, another does not. Other than the Sleep Number lover, no one has any recommendations. Do you? How do I test mattresses? After reading most of your website, a layered latex mattress is intriguing, but I don’t know where I can try one (I’m in Nashville, TN, but am traveling to SF Bay Area for Thanksgiving).
I know, I ask a lot of questions. But I don’t really know where to start.