First of all, I am glad their is a forum for everything and I have read over a lot of info and found it very helpful. What started into looking for a twin mattress for when we have more than 1 guest (baby coming and both moms will be up). Got me thinking about killing two birds with one stone. Swap our queen with my wife’s old twin at my in laws, so I don’t have to sleep on their couch. Then we get a new mattress for ourselves. I like our current mattress, though my wife is a very light sleeper that sleeps hot. When I tried a mattress with pocketed coils it made me think that, if my wife sleeps better, then I will be a happier man! We have different schedules so I don’t want to wake her getting in/out of bed. It seems like generally the foam mattress get better reviews, though as she sleeps hot, I am a little worried about that. I am looking at pocketed coil springs with a gel-ish not-so thick foam layer. I have a basic understanding of thermal dynamics and know the differences between an insulator and a conductor. Though at the same time wouldn’t mind a little layer of of foam.
I think she would be happier if she slept with less blankets. I usually sleep with a sheet, while she uses a down comforter, she wakes up sweating. She says she is very cold when she goes to bed and then warms up at night and throws the blanket off, I tend to be the complete opposite. I wonder if the gel foam would be better or worst as she might be feel colder when she gets in and puts on more covers on and then get really hot later as the gel equalizes. I honestly need to put a fan and heat sink under her.
While I think our current mattress is comfortable, it is ~7 years old and it is depressed in a couple of areas.
I was looking at some big name mattresses last night, though this site has told me to avoid the “S’'s”. I live in the Rochester, NY area and I see none of the stores listed on the site are here. Are there any smaller manufactures that would have something would fit my wife pretty well?
Welcome to the Mattress Forum! … and I’m glad you found us
While it’s not possible to quantify the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person with any real accuracy because there are so many variables involved including the type of mattress protector and the sheets and bedding that you use (which in many cases can have just as significant an effect on temperature as the type of foam in a mattress) and on where you are in the “oven to iceberg” range and because there is no standardized testing for temperature regulation with different combinations of materials … there is more about the many variables that can affect the sleeping temperature of a mattress or sleeping system in post #2 here that can help you choose the types of materials and components that are most likely to keep your wife in a comfortable temperature range.
Based on your comments about the temperature equalizing with gel materials over time it’s likely that you’ve read this already but there is also more information about gel foam materials in general in post #2 here. As you mentioned … the effect of gel tends to be temporary and generally doesn’t last over the course of the night.
There is also a little more about different materials and components relative to motion transfer in post #18 here.
I would also keep in mind that while other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would be very cautious about about using other people’s experiences or reviews on a mattress (either positive or negative) as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you and in many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because any mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on and reviews in general certainly won’t tell you much if anything about the quality, durability, “value”, or the sleeping temperature of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
The better options or possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Rochester area (subject to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines here) are listed in post #11 here.
That is a treasure trove of information. I have done some additional hours of reading and it looks like I should still go with a hybrid pocketed coil mattress with a latex comfort layer. It seems like I keep looking towards Jamestown, I see they sell a one that a lot of people have posted about on this forum: http://jamestownmattress.com/majestic-dream/
From what I read and understand that in theory seems like it might be the best direction in way of less movement transfer, less insulting compared to memory foam, and I bet the prices are cheaper. Though the question is will it be comfortable and supportive, which can only be found out by testing. I am continuing to read more on this forum as there is a lot of information. My time is limited as we are having a baby in a month and for stress reasons I haven’t even mentioned to my wife I am looking. All she knows is I am looking for a twin bed for my mom. She tends to get overwhelmed in those stores and looks at salesmen as circling sharks. Once I find a couple of possibilities, I will bring it up to her and let her try it out.
Thanks will do, as she is a minimalist, I might not even get one sentence in.
A separate question, what is your opinion on King vs Queen? We currently have a queen, started dating when I had a full. I am about 5’10 @ ~180lbs and she is about 5’5 and Xlbs. She does weigh less than I do. She has woken me up as I was to close to her (she got warm) and a cat can get kicked on occasion. My parents use to have a queen, but upgraded as all the kids would pile on in the morning or to watch a movie. We don’t have a TV in the room on purpose, That is another question I have to answer…
The size of a mattress is really a matter of preference and comfort but a good (but very general) guideline is that it should be about 8" or more longer than your height to allow room for a pillow and to keep your feet from hanging off the end and about 16" or more wider than your shoulder width to give you the room you need to sleep comfortably without sleeping too close to the edge of the mattress or to a partner and to keep limbs from hanging off the mattress.
Having said that … general guidelines certainly don’t apply to any particular couple and it will mostly depend on how close you and your partner like to sleep and your sleeping styles (whether one or both of you tend to sprawl or sleep in a more compact position), the space in your bedroom, motion separation issues (sleeping further apart can reduce motion separation), temperature issues (a partner that sleeps “hot” may need more space), on your individual needs for “space” when you are sleeping, any other “inhabitants” that sleep on the mattress either regularly or occasionally (pets or children etc), and on budget concerns (king size mattresses are generally about 15% - 25% more than queen size mattresses). For example some couples like to sleep in a spooning position or very close together and don’t really need as much space as a couple that prefers to sleep with more space around them.
An Eastern king size mattress has the same amount of room for each half of a couple as a twin XL mattress.
This reply also talks about the priorities that were important to us when we chose our mattress but of course our personal preferences or priorities (or in this case her preferences or priorities since she is “the boss” in these types of choices :)) may be completely different from another couple.
I spoke with her about it last night and as I worried, she doesn’t want to even think about the idea of getting a new bed for a while. She is a bit stressed with the baby and worrying about a million things. This morning she was upset from the lack of sleep she got, the baby is keeping her up. Only if a bed could help with a pregnant women’s need to get up multiple times to pee. I will try to mitigate other things that can wake her up. I will sleep in the guest room for now and keep the animals out.
From what we talked about, she has an interest, though she would like to hold off until the future, maybe 6 months to a year. Though at least I got the next bed picked out. I guess it is back to looking for a twin for my mom to sleep on. At least I have a better knowledge of what to look for.
