Hi CarlBruh,
Thanks for providing information about your size and sleep preferences. It sounds like you’ve already done some good research and learned that side sleepers usually need a softer comfort layer in a mattress to provide pressure point relief for their shoulders and hips.If you haven’t done so already, I’d recommend reading through the Mattress Selection Process Guide on this site. It is a treasure trove of information that will help you zone in on what you want to be looking for in a mattress based on your sleep preferences and other factors. Understanding some key concepts like foam densities and how they relate to your size and preferred sleeping position will be particularly helpful, and this information can all be found in the guide.
It might be helpful if you could provide some information about the bed you are sleeping on now that is too firm. Do you know what brand/model it is, or its general construction? It would also be helpful to know what size of mattress you were looking to buy (twin?).
While I don’t know anything about the Arctic Dream mattress, I did a quick search through past forum posts (using “Search Forum” above), and found several threads about this specific mattress. Reading through these may answer some questions and give more insight into this mattress:
- Arctic Dreams vs Nest Love & Sleep
- Arctic Dreams Cooling Gel Foam Mattress
- Dreamfoam Arctic Dreams
- Inexpensive Options to Improve Arctic Dreams
Searching the forum for key words like “budget” might also help turn up some relevant posts. I’m aware that Ikea has some mattresses in your price range, and so does Trusted Member Flexus Comfort, but I don’t have any insight into whether these would be a good match for you.
To fit within your budget, another thought is to consider buying a good quality soft topper for your existing mattress that would give you more pressure point relief without having to purchase a whole new mattress. That would only be a reasonable option, however, if your mattress was still in good structural shape (not sagging or otherwise failing).
As an example, TMU member Sleep on Latex has twin, full, and queen 2 & 3" organic dunlop latex toppers within your budget.
Pure Green Natural Latex Mattress Topper | SleepOnLatex
Another benefit to that route is that if later down the road you decided to build a DIY mattress, you could potentially reuse the topper as your mattress’s comfort layer.
If you decide to look more into the topper route, be sure to read through the “comfort layer” section in the mattress selection guide I linked to above so that you can be sure to find a topper that matches your preferences and needs.
Good luck and keep us posted!
Emily