On the road to better sleep

[phoenix]

Hi Toddandleah,

The tricky thing will be figuring our softness/firmness. I can’t seem to find an all latex mattress to try out in the Plano area. I’ve found a few hybrids - would that be acceptable? At least to get an idea of what Latex feels like?

Some of the better options and possibilities in the Dallas / Ft Worth region are listed in post #4 here.

There are quite a number of latex mattresses available in the area and this would give you the options you need to get a sense of the general “feel” of different styles of latex mattresses (and just like with innerspring mattresses or any other mattress category there is a huge range of different mattresses available that are very different from each other). It’s unlikely though that you will find an exact match between specific mattress manufacturers or in many cases be able to find out “comfort specs” like ILD (which aren’t important in a local purchase) so a more detailed conversation with an online manufacturer may be necessary to “approximate” a mattress that you tested locally (see post #9 here about matching one mattress to another and mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here about making comfort choices.).

At what point is a child’s body ready for something a little more comfy?

This depends on the child themselves (and what they find “comfy”) but there are some general guidelines in post #2 here.

[quote]I was looking at Dreamfoam’s budget mattress. I emailed them to get more information on what exactly is in the comfort layers and to learn whether it can be customized, but I still haven’t heard anything back. I want something that is suitable to their changing needs, but also durable. My budget is much more limited when it comes to the twins, I don’t want to do much more than 200-250 apiece.

Can you make some suggestions?[/quote]

You are looking in a good quality/value direction for a limited budget range but I don’t make specific suggestions about “what” to buy because this would be based on my own preferences and circumstances which could be very different from someone else. My goal is always to help the members here with “how” to choose and to identify what’s most important to them.

Your budget if very limited for a twin mattress so you would be limited to lower cost/quality and probably less durable materials but a local foam shop that can sell you a 4" - 6" layer of good quality polyfoam and cover it with a reasonable quality material (such as cotton) or a futon would be lower budget options that may be worth considering besides what you are looking at.

I would also suggest a phone call when you are dealing with online manufacturers because you will generally get much more detailed and useful information much more quickly than using email.

Also, what’s the whole memory foam vs. latex? I get that the two foams do different things, but it seems not a very popular choice and that some mattress makers offer it simply because consumers don’t know any better. Is there something I’m missing?

Memory foam is one of the most popular choices in the mainstream market but it’s also the most heavily advertised material and in many cases consumers don’t research different materials or even know they exist so they can make more informed choices between them. They often buy a mattress on a “me too” basis and choose based on marketing instead of meaningful information. Once consumers realize that they have a wider choice of materials than they may realize and that the choice is a personal preference and not “better worse” and that no matter what material they prefer there are higher and lower quality versions … they are in a much better position to make meaningful comparisons. I would personally tend towards more resilient, faster recovery, and firmer materials with children because they are more “motion assisting” than “motion restricting” and the ability to easily change positions is an important part of healthy sleeping. I believe memory foam or other slow response materials are better used as an option when they are old enough to make their own informed choices and more fully understand the differences between them. Like food choices … they often won’t make the best choices until they have a more mature and informed outlook.

Finally, I understand how a mattress is supposed to relieve pressure points and maintain spine alignment. Correct my understanding, but ideally would that eliminate the need for pillows? Pillows under/between knees, neckrolls, etc.? If, in the end, I find that perfect conforming, pressure-relieving, spine-aligning mattress - what kind of pillow should I look for?

A suitable pillow is an essential part of good alignment for the head and neck and upper body because the gaps between the head and the mattress and the curve of the cervical spine needs to be supported just like all other parts of the spine. Like mattresses … there are certain “needs” that depend on body type and sleeping positions but with pillows, personal preferences play a more important role because the face is much more sensitive to textures, temperature, smells, and other more subjective “feel” based properties of a pillow. There is more about pillows in the pillow thread here. The only position that often doesn’t need a pillow (or a very thin pillow) is stomach sleepers where a pillow can lift up the head too much and put the cervical spine out of alignment.

Phoenix