I don't get it, why is my foam cushion sofa more comfortable than my new Latex mattress? Help!

Hi gme109,

How far a mattress “feels like” you are sinking in can be very deceptive because this is so subjective and I would tend to go by the specific symptoms you feel on each combination (see post #22 here). In other words I would first focus on the “what” (your specific symptoms and how they change on each combination) before focusing on the “why” (the reason for that specific symptom).

The previous post I linked (post #2 here) has more about the different symptoms that people may experience on a mattress and some of the most likely reasons for them and Post #2 here and post #4 here also has more information about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to each other and to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress that may be helpful in clarifying the reasons for your symptoms as well.

If I understand you correctly on your first combination (S/M/F/XF) you experienced …

This could be an indication that the mattress was too firm but the shoulder pain could also be a pillow issue as well and the pain in your gluteus could be an alignment issue that comes from sinking down too far and stretching the muscles (it’s not common for someone to feel a pressure issue when they are lying on their back).

When you tried the second combination (S/M/M/XF) you experienced …

Based on your feedback this seems to be too soft.

Since your couch is probably firmer than your mattress it may be worth trying a medium layer on top with a soft layer underneath it (or even a medium layer under it) and then F/F or F/XF under that to see how this compares to the other two combinations you have tried. It’s possible that you are mistaking “symptoms” that come from alignment issues with “symptoms” that come from pressure points.

There are several combinations that would be in between the two combinations you have tried although some people may not feel much difference between them since the top two layers are the same in both and changes in deeper layers are less noticeable for most people than changes to the top two layers.

S/M/F/F and S/M/F/M would likely feel slightly softer than the first combination and firmer than the second for those that would notice a difference between them but given that your couch is probably firmer than your mattress I would be tempted to at least try the firmer top layer to see how your symptoms and experience change.

You could test this to some degree by unzipping the cover and rolling it back so you would be sleeping more directly on the latex with just your sheet and mattress protector on top of it.

I would be cautious though about making too many changes too quickly because your experience over just a night or two may be an “anomaly” more than a “pattern” and if you make changes that are too big or too quickly (rather than slow incremental changes) your body may not have a chance to “catch up” to the changes you are making so I would always only make one change at a time so you can “learn” from the effects of a single change and how it affects your experience compared to the previous combination.

Phoenix