Newbie Q Looking for Low Budget Friendly Mattress

[phoenix]

Hi CheapSk8,

Congratulations on your “baby on the way”

With the Malouf, they offer various combos of height and plushness. I am mostly a back sleeper but have found myself sleeping some on my side with the new mattress. What combo of height and firm should I be looking at? I think I would consider myself broad shouldered so I was considering the thicker, but thought that might be back for back sleeping, so I defer to your opinions.

The pillow needs to be thick enough to keep your head and neck in alignment in both sleeping positions. If you were broad shouldered and slept only on your side then you would likely need thicker and firmer. If you also sleep on your back then you may want softer rather than firmer so that your head isn’t forced forward when you are sleeping on your back. The fact that it is zoned can also help with this (the middle can sink in deeper for back sleeping). This may be the best compromise and is the one I chose (I’m a side/back sleeper) although only your own experience can know for sure when it comes to pillows (or mattresses for that matter).

I have no experience with the Malouf memory foam pillows so I really can’t provide any meaningful comments about them except to suggest using the guidelines and reference links in post #3 in the pillow thread to estimate which may be best. Preferences play a much larger role in pillows than they do even in mattresses because they are so close to our face which is such a sensitive part of our body and where “feel” can be just as important as performance and alignment. Most good and knowledgeable merchants that sell pillows will have a good sense of which of their pillows may be better for particular needs and body types and may be able to provide enough of their experiences with that particular pillow to help with your preferences as well. If you buy from one that doesn’t, then you would need to go by the description of the pillow, other people’s experiences with them (which may be more helpful than with mattresses because you can see patterns of how they “feel” which plays a larger role in pillows), your knowledge of your own needs and preferences, and some “pillow trial and error”.

I also looked at the protectors you mentioned, the Luna seems to have better prices than Protect-A-Bed, and I also saw one by Malouf. Do you have any experience with either? My wife wants to look at the waterproof ones, as the change we are going through is our first child on the way. She wants to make sure that the mattress is safe. I was considering:
Luna: www.amazon.com/Luna-Hypoallergenic-Water...n+mattress+protector
Malouf: www.amazon.com/Sleep-Tite-Malouf-Mattres...n+mattress+protector

I have no experience with either but if I was buying one of the membrane style protectors I would personally lean towards the protect-a-bed only because I like the material options they provide, they are Oeko-Tex certified, have a 4 way stretch knit, and I haven’t heard about any issues with heat (and I have heard a few with the Luna).

Phoenix