My wife and I have had our queen-sized Tempurpedic mattress for 15-16 years. The mattress is getting lumpy (high down the center) and soft where we sleep. And while not ideal, we often eat dinner in bed and watch tv, as well as sleep - the bed is multi-functional. I’m mostly a back and occasional side sleeper. I’m 6’ and 155 lbs. I have spinal degeneration and stenosis - a sore lower back; however, I race road bikes and try to keep my back in shape with yoga and core work. My wife is 5’8" and about 200 lbs (not exactly sure; she won’t tell me her weight). She’s a side sleeper. I’m 53 years old and my wife is 65 years old.
My wife likes a soft mattress and wants the Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe Breeze. I feel the mattress is way too soft and doesn’t support my back. The Rhapsody and Contour lines are more to my liking, but evening those models seem to lack adequate lower back support. All-in-all, in really don’t want to buy another Tempurpedic mattress. I don’t fell they provide the lower back support I need.
And so, through online research I’ve learned about latex mattresses, and latex toppers. I’m heading to Denver tomorrow to try them. My biggest concern is trying to convince to wife to consider latex (mattress and/or topper). She’s pretty much sold on Tempurpedic. She’s against mail order (she wants to try what she buys, and even with an exchange policy, she’s unlikely to exchange a mattress unless the mattress is absolutely horrible). I’m also concerned that she wants soft and I want a much more firm mattress.
The Mattress Expert suggested I buy a 3" soft latex topper, flip our current Tempurpedic over and try it that way. Worse case scenario is the we could use the topper on top of an old “firm” spring mattress in the spare bedroom. But that’s a $500 expense if I buy the topper from him with no return or exchange policy. Is this a good suggestion? And the suggestion was 3", not 2" (soft - though not sure if that’s N1 or N2.
And, I am going on the assumption that latex will provide the lower back support I need, that latex is not like Tempurpedic foam and will actually support my back.
So, if I like the feel of latex when I try out beds and toppers tomorrow, where I go from there? Should I go for the topper suggestion by The Mattress Expert (and if so, which topper - and should the topper be covered?), or consider buying a latex mattress? The Mattress Expert didn’t see any added benefit of a latex mattress over using a latex topper over an inverted Tempurpedic and/or on a firm spring mattress.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be most appreciated.
Michael