Hi,
I’m back in the mattress market, this time looking for a mattress form my daughter, who has some specific issues that need to be accommodated.
She’s 5’ 4" and 105 pounds and a side sleeper who uses a configuration of pillows to get her body into alignment. She has wide shoulders and pelvis, and no visible body fat, so there’s no fleshy cushioning of points of hips, shoulders, etc. She has chronic pain issues in lower back, neck, and shoulders. She also doesn’t tolerate heat at all, and is prone to episodes of drenching night sweats. She’s also prone to waking with swollen knee and finger joints, but I don’t know if mattress choice has anything to do with that.
Her current mattress is a typical big brand pillow top, to which she has added a shredded latex topper. This mattress is not horrible for her. When she sleeps on her mother’s new mattress (again, a new big brand mattress) she thinks it’s too firm, and she wakes up stiff and sore.
We went to a local high end mattress store for testing. She does not like the feel of memory foam (they were pushing Tempurpedic, no surprise). They also carry OrganicPedic and Pure Latex Bliss. She liked the softest OrganicPedic Duo (wasn’t clear exactly what the particular layer configuration was, just that it was the “softest mattress we carry”) and the Pure Latex Bliss Nature (the “plushest” of that brand they had on the floor for testing). They had two Natures on the floor, and the older one was noticeably (and desirably) softer.
Price is a definite consideration for her in her situation, so we immediately went to the usual high value suspects. Candidates are now (in ascending price) the Ultimate Dreams Eurotop Latex, the Brooklyn Bedding Aloe Alexis, or the SleepEZ 9" Natural Latex.
My thinking is that durability, given her weight, is a lesser concern than getting the right combination of support qualities. Customizability is important. I’m assuming that more latex layers is better for her purposes (hence, the Aloe Alexis has an advantage over the Ultimate Dreams) but I don’t know if I should care about polyfoam versus latex in the base layer in her situation. I suspect not, in this situation. I also assume that the cover on the Aloe Alexis would be more breathable than on the Ultimate Dreams.
I’m leaning toward the Aloe Alexis in the “ultra plush” (8) configuration, figuring that we could reverse the top layers if it needs to be just a bit more firm. An alternative would be the Ultimate Dreams plus a topper for fine tuning.
Your thoughts?