New Mattress, take 2 - help me fine tune (wool topper?)

Hi elke,

I’m sorry to hear that your Alexander mattress didn’t work out as well as you hoped for but of course the good news is that they have a great return policy so you were able to try the mattress without any risk.

Congratulations on your new mattress :slight_smile:

As you know you certainly made a great quality/value choice and I hope that you are able to find a layering combination that works well for you.

I don’t know how long you’ve been sleeping on your mattress but I would keep in mind that there will be a break in and adjustment period for any new mattress or sleeping system as the mattress loses any of it’s “false firmness” and the cover stretches and loosens a little and the materials settle and your body gets used to a sleeping surface that is different from what it is used to (see post #3 here). This would typically be a few weeks but it can be shorter or longer depending on the specifics of the person and the mattress (higher density materials like latex can take longer) and it can be surprising to many people how much their sleeping experience can change over the course of the first month or so. If your mattress is too firm then some of the suggestions in post #2 here may be helpful as well.

While it’s not possible to “diagnose” more complex mattress comfort issues on a forum with any certainty because there are too many unique unknowns, variables, and complexities involved that can affect how each person sleeps on a mattress in terms of “comfort” and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your Personal preferences) or any “symptoms” they experience … there is more about the most common symptoms that people may experience when they sleep on a mattress and the most likely (although not the only) reasons for them in post #2 here.

There is also more about primary or “deep” support and secondary or “surface” support and their relationship to firmness and pressure relief and the “roles” of different layers in a mattress in post #2 here and in post #4 here that may also be helpful in clarifying the difference between “support” and “pressure relief” and “feel”.

These posts are the “tools” that can help with the analysis, detective work, or trial and error that may be necessary to help you learn your body’s language and “translate” what your body is trying to tell you so you can identify the types of changes that have the best chance of reducing or eliminating any “symptoms” you are experiencing … at least to the degree that any symptoms are from your mattress rather than the result of any other circumstances or pre-existing issues you may have that may not be connected to a mattress.

I’m not sure that the resiliency (springiness) would be the issue since resiliency isn’t related to firmness and pressure relief and it’s possible that you may need a little bit of additional pressure relief under your shoulders. This could be the result of having a firm layer on top or it could be a pillow issue as well (possibly a thicker pillow to keep your head and neck in better alignment and to reduce pressure on your shoulders) although your own personal experience would be the only way to know for certain whether a specific layering combination will work for you or how and how much your “symptoms” change when you sleep on the new configuration.

Again though … I would wait for a couple of weeks at a minimum before making changes to your mattress. If after a few weeks you decide that you need to make changes I would also sleep on each new configuration for “long enough” that you are confident that your experience or any “symptoms” are a pattern rather than just an anomaly over the course of a day or two or is just the result of adjusting to the change itself.

Before exchanging layers I would probably try moving the firm layer down so that you have a softer layer on top of it which would “allow” your shoulders to sink in and could relieve pressure on your shoulders a little more.

If rearranging your current layers doesn’t work as well as you hope for then the next (or even the first) step I would take is a more detailed conversation with Bay Bed. They will have more experience than anyone else about the type of changes that would have the best chance of success based on your conversation and on the “averages” of their many customers over the years that have similar circumstances or “symptoms” to yours. Phone conversations are a much more effective source of guidance for more complex or nuanced issues than written communications that are much more “linear” (see post #4 here).

While wool would be less resilient than latex … I’m not so sure that resiliency is the issue.

There is more information about wool toppers and how they compare to various foam or latex toppers (at least in very general terms) in post #8 here and in posts #3 and #6 here and there are some additional comments about wool toppers and a list of some of the better sources I’m aware of in post #3 here.

There is also more information about choosing a topper in post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to which along with a conversation with a reliable and knowledgeable supplier (that can provide you with good information about how their toppers compare to each other or to other toppers they are familiar with that are available on the market) 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.

Since the only way to know for certain whether any specific topper will be a good match for you on top of a specific mattress will be based on your own personal experience … if you can’t test a mattress/topper combination in person and/or you aren’t confident that the mattress/topper combination will be a good “match” for you in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP then a good exchange/return policy can also reduce the risk of an online topper purchase so I would make sure you are comfortable with the options you have available after a purchase just in case the topper you choose doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for.

Phoenix