I am 140 lbs, side sleeper, back and hip pain, and lots of problems with pressure points waking me up at night (especially my hips). I am really interested in trying the Nest Alexander. Is it best to go for the medium since that is supposed to work for the majority of sleepers? I’ve read a few comments that some people find even the medium to firm for side sleeping and it creates pressure points on their hips and shoulders. I tried a Tempur-Pedic Cloud Luxe and a Cloud Supreme. The Luxe is very comfortable but just not sure I could get used to that much overall body sink. It gives quite a hug. The Cloud Supreme was also comfortable although it could have used a touch more sink for my shoulder than I was getting. Any advice?
Hi Colleen,
Welcome to the Mattress Forum! 
While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress or combinations of materials or components or a specific comfort level, because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP or how a mattress will “feel” to you or compare to another mattress based on specs (either yours or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than your own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or your own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
When shopping online and you can’t test a mattress in person, then the most reliable source of guidance is always a more detailed phone conversation with a knowledgeable and experienced retailer or manufacturer that has your best interests at heart and who can help “talk you through” the specifics of their mattresses and the properties and “feel” of the materials they are using (fast or slow response, resilience, firmness etc.) and the options they have available that may be the best “match” for you based on the information you provide them, any local testing you have done (like the Tempurpedic models you tried) or mattresses you have slept on and liked or other mattresses you are considering that they are familiar with, and the “averages” of other customers that are similar to you. You can also learn about any exchange, return, or any options they have available to customize a mattress after a purchase can help lower the risk of an online purchase. A good online retailer or manufacturer will generally make suggestions that they honestly believe have the best chance of success based on the information you provide them when you talk to them.
I would imagine that Nest would recommend either their Soft or their Medium in the Alexander Signature based upon the brief information you presented here, but you’d definitely want to have a more detailed phone conversation with them. They also offer a 100 night trial should things unfortunately not turn out as well as you had hoped for. Nest Bedding is a member of this site which means that I think very highly of them and that I believe that they compete well with the best in the industry in terms of their quality, value, service, knowledge, and transparency. I certainly wouldn’t hesitate to purchase a mattress from them.
While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general 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. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).
I’ll look forward to your comments and any decisions you might make moving forward.
Phoenix
Hi, just want to offer my experience with the Nest Alexander. I’m a man, 150 pounds, normal BMI, and a mostly a side sleeper as well. I don’t have any aches or pains though. I’m fortunate enough to live near the Nest Bedding store in Los Angeles and tested all of their mattresses. The firm Alexander was really high on my list, and I ruled out the medium version completely. This after laying on both for 15-20 minutes. One of the salespeople is about my size w/ same sleeping habits, and he personally sleeps on a firm Alexander.
Sorry if this adds to the confusion, but just want to emphasize what Phoenix is saying about personal preference.
to piggy back agreeing with the everyone is different i really like the tempurpedic cloud supreme and owned and found the nest alexander medium too firm. :(. And am 125 side sleeper who gets pressure point pain, tried the the soft in the store and i was crooked as can be, threw off my alignment but i loved the feel… I feel the same about the TP Luxe as you do.
they were easy to return though, just donated the mattress and sent a photo of my receipt.
We ordered this mattress online in the Medium firmness and are near the end of our trial. We are both on the smaller side - me about 5"2", 100 lbs and my husband about 5’ 9" 140 lbs and we are side sleepers. We really sunk down quite a bit in this mattress. It did relieve my pressure points (hips, shoulders) however I was getting pain in my torso from the foam pressing up against me. It was too soft for us and we decided that we didn’t like the sinking “stuck in mud” feeling. It takes some effort to turn over even. It was a very well-made mattress and the company has good customer service but the mattress didn’t seem to fit the description. We did love the Tempur Cloud Supreme Breeze in the showroom but didn’t want to spend that much money. Still looking!
Hi otm_shank, paisley and lnov,
Thank you all for your feedback on your Alexander mattresses. The varied range of your comments perfectly reinforces the advice I provide about not using other people’s experiences on a mattress as a guide for the suitability of a product for a particular person.
As otm_shank emphasized, it really is about personal preference. We have one person not liking the medium and liking the firm version of this bed (otm_shank). Paisley has been looking for a very specific softness for quite some time and didn’t like the medium as being too firm, the plush too soft. Lnov finds the medium too soft and doesn’t like the inherent memory foam characteristics of not being able to reposition as easily.
There are no standardized terms (nor could there ever be) of plushness of a product, and all Nest or any other company can do is attempt to rank one item in relation to another, as in the Alexander line as Soft, Medium and Luxury Firm, and these terms certainly would be accurate comparisons to each other. Whether or not they met a specific person’s personal definition of “plush” or “medium” is of course entirely subjective, with one person’s “plush” being another person’s “firm”. This is just another reason for using the comments of others as a guide more for the service of a business, as opposed to a method of product selection.
Thank you everyone!
Phoenix