Hi Phoenix,
My mom, who is 86, has disc problem, narrowing, and a healed pelvic break. She has a great deal of back pain, and shuffles when she walks caused from her back issues… She also has a 35 year old mattress that was “just fine” NOT!!
I came down to south Florida to take her for a new bed. After reading the forum, we went to Miami and visited Select Foam’s store. The two options she was shown were the 12 in Regalis and 10 in Conform Select. She hated the Conform and was really liked the Regalis in comparison, but the price was just too high. We were told they had no others to show us.
I came back online and read about some who hated the Regalis after sleeping on it for a while, so I took her to a local store that had a good selection of tempurpedic and the others just to get a sense of what was comfortable to her. I had pretty much made up my mind to order from Brooklyn bedding as soon as I could describe her pros and cons.
She hated the Rhapsody (Regalis alternative)
She felt the softest tempurpedics were too soft, and then disliked all the tempurpediics.
She felt good in the Serta Icomfort, but she was exhausted by then.
I came back to the forum to read again about BB Bamboo Bella and was going to order it, but she was uncomfortable ordering online. Then I found the thread on South Florida manufacturers. I decided to go to Comfort Custom Bedding in Plantation because it was close. She was back to her bed was “just fine.”
She tried their latex and found it too hard, they added a layer of 2-inch 4lb memory foam and it was too soft. Then she tried their memory foam and liked it a lot. He however was not very forthcoming about what it was exactly. She did not care, she was done. . All the info I could get is this:
10-inch memory foam
4" 2350 core
3" 2330 middle
3" of 4lb gel infused memory foam
A cover of bamboo or aloe, whichever he had enough of. Price $1200. I told him about bb 12". He said 12 inches would be too soft and hurt her back. He agreed to $1000 and is making it tomorrow. I told him I would email him with questions in the morning . I have no idea if this is a quality bed or not, and worth the price.
So, can anyone tell me what this bed is actually made of, and if we should buy it? Is the less bed than the Bamboo Bella? Would 12 inches really hurt her back? I am so confused. Please help!!!
EDIT. He is going to deliver it and set up included in the price.
4" 2350 core: This is 2.3 lb polyfoam and 50 IFD (very firm) and is good quality.
3" 2330 middle: This is 2.3 lb polyfoam and 30 IFD (medium firmness) and is good quality.
3" of 4lb gel infused memory foam: This is 4 lb gel memory foam. In the midrange of density/quality and a common density for gel memory foam which has a good "feel’ for many people.
Overall this is very similar to the Brooklyn Bedding Bella in terms of material quality but you can’t exchange the comfort layer for another type of foam if this turns out not to her liking (although she seemed to like it in the store) and the Bella has wool in the quilting which would make the memory foam a little firmer and provide better temperature regulation. It also has 2" more in the support layers but thickness is not that meaningful or as important as the firmness of the support layer.
Only you can decide this but it appears that the quality/value is good at least.
It’s roughly equivalent in terms of material quality but has a few less features.
The only way to know this would be with her personal experience. There is no “formula” that can predict how a mattress will feel and perform for someone in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) but if she tested it carefully and objectively for alignment and pressure relief and she “liked it a lot” you will likely be OK. 3" of memory foam is not an unreasonable or “risky” thickness for a comfort layer for most people although it would depend on her body type and sleeping style and positions. Total thickness has little to do with the suitability of a mattress because it depends on the design and the materials that are in the mattress and the firmness of the layers, not the total thickness (which means very little). Both mattresses have a similar comfort layer (3" of 4 lb gel memory foam) and both have a good quality polyfoam base layer.
Thank you so much Phoenix! I too am concerned about the heat of this bed, and think I read here that there should be something layered in for air. That the gel alone will heat up from body temperature. Is that correct? Can you suggest some type of layering I can ask him about that he is not including? For the same money as the Bella, it seems important to address. Thank you for being here and sharing what you do!
BTW, my mom is 5’3" and weighs 115 lbs, and it is her lower back that produces the pain. She sleeps and her side, and then rolls on her back during the night, but ends up back on her side.
I believe she liked the bed as much as she said because she did not want to try anymore. Getting her legs in and out of them was hurting her back, and she had difficulty remembering what she previously tried. It’s not easy! The bed is more than she can really afford to spend, worth it for the right bed, and way too much for something that will create other problems in a short while. I just have this nagging feeling that we are settling. He did say he will exchange it if it’s not comfortable, but for what I wonder, as these are the materials he has.
I’m not sure what you mean by this and I rarely talk in terms of “should or shouldn’t” because how each person interacts with a mattress is unique.
There are some people who find that some types of memory foam or gel memory foam sleeps warm and they will tend to pay more attention to the many factors that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress (see post #2 here and post #6 here). Gel memory foam is one of the technologies that can have some effect on the temperature of your mattress for a while when you go to sleep until temperatures between the body and gel memory foam equalize and the gel memory foam foam … like all foam to different degrees … becomes an insulator beyond that point. There is more about different types of gel foam materials in post #8 here.
So in general terms and to different degrees depending on the type and amount of gel in the memory foam (which most foam manufacturers don’t disclose so the mattress manufacturers can’t disclose this either) the mattress you are looking at already has a “cooling technology” included in it and there are also other things that you can do (such as using different types of mattress protectors or sheets) that may also help to cool down a mattress that sleeps too warm.
I cancelled this mattress and am going to call Brooklyn bedding tomorrow. I like the idea of the the foam layer and quilting in the cover and the addition of wool for wicking and air circulation. What I’m not sure about is what number would best represent the “comfort level” of this mattress. Are you able to identify it based on the specs I posted? Thank you for helping in an area that I just cannot absorb all the info I need!
Their memory foam mattresses (like the Brooklyn Bedding Bella) have a single standard comfort choice although you can exchange it for a different foam during the exchange period. It’s their latex mattresses where you can choose a range of firmness levels. I doubt they would be familiar enough with how the mattress you tested feels to make specific comparisons (and I’ve never tried either of them so I have little idea of how they would compare) but since the top comfort layer of the Bella is 3" of gel memory foam which is similar in density and thickness to the comfort layer of the mattress you tested, then the odds are higher that it would be the closest comparison although the wool and quilting over the memory foam and any differences in the firmness levels of the base polyfoam may also make a difference in how they compare. It’s always best to talk with the manufacturer directly about any comparisons you may want to make because they are more familiar with all the details of their own mattresses than anyone
Update! I spoke with Jacob at Brooklyn Bedding and was a bit confused because he described the mattress choices differently than they were described on the site, and kept correcting himself. I just went with what I had in mind and ordered the Memory foam Bamboo Bella.
I went back to reading the reviews on their site and although everyone seemed to love the memory foam Bella, they talked about comfort more than back pain issues. On the other hand, reviewers of the latex Bamboo Bliss all mentioned pain relief.
Soooo, I called back and spoke with Mario. Based on my Mom’s back pain, height and weight, 5’3" and 115 lbs side sleeper, he strongly recommended the latex Bamboo Bliss in a comfort level of 8. Since it allows a change of the top layer to a firmer latex or softer memory foam should that be needed, I felt much more comfortable with this option. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this and if you think there is anything I have overlooked in choosing this option. Again I thank you for your invaluable insight!
I would personally pay absolutely no attention to other people’s experience with pain relief or comfort on a mattress because each of them may be very different from your mom and this can create an expectation that is completely unrealistic. A mattress that works perfectly for one person may be completely unsuitable for someone else.
I think the advice that Mario gave you was good … especially because it has options to choose the comfort level before and after your purchase so you can initially choose the comfort level that has the best odds of success and then use your mom’s actual experience to make any changes if “best odds” don’t work as well for her instead of using the experiences of other people which have little relevance to your mom.
Congratulations on your new mattress
I hope you have a chance to let us know how your mom likes it.
Thanks! For a flat mattress, I feel like I’m on a roller coaster ride tho. 20 minutes after I spoke with Mario and he confirmed he changed the order to latex because the foam mattress order had not processed yet, I received a shipping notice with tracking. I know everyone says they’re great, but I doubt even they can custom make a mattress in 20 minutes. Unless it’s just the bedframe, 175 lbs of something is en-route to us as I type this and I can’t imagine it’s the latex. No response to my email yet, I sure hope they are open tomorrow!.
The shipping notice I received 20 minutes after speaking to Mario turned out to be the label for the cancelled Bella. The Bliss has yet to ship. I was shocked to see a post today about a bed ordered from BB a day before mine, being delivered today!
Mario said it would ship today, but I haven’t received a new notice. Can you tell I’m anxious to receive it?
