First off, I was incredibly pleased to find a forum about mattresses. It’s not a community I’ve ever been apart of but I’m glad it exists.
Now to my problem…
I recently bought a new mattress, a Serta iComfort Hybrid. So it’s a mix of innerspring and memory foam. In the store I seemed to enjoy it, but what do you know after a week of sleeping on it feels a little too firm and I wake up with a bit of shoulder pain (side sleeper). I know I’ve read that sometimes it takes awhile to get used to a mattress but I am not sure if my body will adjust. So my question is,
Do I return this mattress, pay the fees and try something else?
or
Buy a mattress topper? If I go this route, whats recommended, memory foam or down? Also, if I buy a topper does that ruin the point of getting a new mattress? As in does it remove the benefits of the support that the new mattress offers?
Any advice in this time would greatly be appreciated. I just don’t want the feeling that I wasted money on something I do not enjoy.
You are correct that it takes a bit of time for you to adjust to a new mattress, and the mattress to adjust to you. One week usually doesn’t give you enough time to make this transition. Adding a topper is very common, and I’ll have many of my clients buy a brand new mattress that’s a bit firmer, and then place a latex topper over it. There’s certainly nothing wrong with that.
With all that being said, I’d tell you to select a different mattress if you have the option. Not necessarily because of the comfort issues that you mentioned, but because it’s an item that doesn’t use some of the better componentry available. I’d take a few days and read the mattress buying tutorial on this site and then see if your retailer has some higher quality offerings available for you to choose and select instead of the Serta.
As Jeff mentioned … it can take a few weeks for a new mattress to break in and for you to adjust to the feel of a sleeping surface that is different from what you are used to (see post #3 here).
As Jeff also mentioned a topper can be very useful to add some additional softness and pressure relief to a mattress that is otherwise in good condition but is just too firm.
Which type of topper or the type of material in the topper would be a preference choice rather than a “better/worse” choice and different people can have very different preferences. The most reliable way to know which type of topper material you tend to prefer in general will be based on your own local testing either on different toppers or on mattresses that use similar materials in their top layers. There is also more information about choosing a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to that can help you use your sleeping experience as a reference point and guideline to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that has the least possible risk and the best chance for success. It also includes a link to a list of some of the better online sources for toppers I’m aware of as well.
Having said that … I would also agree with Jeff that if you can exchange your mattress for another mattress that uses higher quality and more durable materials that would probably be a better option yet.