One of the many Americans living in mattress decision hell...

Hi Phoenix,

I almost purchased my son a Sealy icomfort Savant 3 today but as I was sitting in the Sleepy’s showroom I came across your site and walked out to do even MORE research…honestly I’m pretty much beaten down. I’m looking for a mattress for my son who is currently sleeping on a pillow top mattress and having back pain at the ripe old age of 15. I’m a busy single parent and don’t have time for hours and hours of research and I’m hoping to benefit from your knowledge. We have never owned a memory foam or latex mattress and I’m not sure if these will be a good fit. My son is pretty large a around 175 lbs. We live in Virginia but in the rural part of Fauquier Co. so I’m not sure if we have any local vendors around. Any help would be really appreciated even some recommended models that are better quality. My son is a side sleeper and my budget is around 1,500.00 for a queen…
What are your thoughts on the Helix mattress?

Hi CherylB,

Welcome … and I’m glad you found us before you ended up purchasing a major brand mattress mattress from Sleepy’s.

The major brands such as Sealy/Stearns & Foster, Simmons, and Serta all tend to use lower quality materials in their mattresses than most of their smaller competitors that will tend to soften or break down prematurely relative to the price you pay which is why I would generally suggest avoiding all of them completely (and the major retailers that focus on them as well) regardless of how they may feel in a showroom along with any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the type and quality/durability of the materials inside it (see the guidelines here along with post #3 here and post #12 here and post #404 here).

I’m not sure what you’ve read since you found the site but just in case you haven’t read it yet … the first place to start your research is the mattress shopping tutorial here which includes all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choice … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones.

Two of the most important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to choose a suitable mattress (either locally or online) that is the best “match” for you in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful quality/value comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability (how well he will sleep), durability (how long he will sleep well), and the overall value of a mattress compared to your other finalists based on all the parts of your personal value equation that are most important to you.

The most common cause of lower back pain is a mattress that is too soft and I would tend to avoid a pillowtop or any soft mattress and look for something firmer. He needs a mattress that is firm enough to prevent the heavier parts of his body from sagging to much into the mattress and putting his lumbar spine out of alignment … and causing back pain.

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for his body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to his weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).

Each category can include hundreds of different mattresses with different designs, different “feels”, different characteristics, and different firmness levels. Every individual layer and component in a mattress (including the cover and any quilting material) will affect the feel and response of every other layer and component both above and below it and the mattress “as a whole” so each mattress category will generally include some mattresses that will be a good “match” for him in terms of “comfort”, firmness, and PPP and others that use the same type of materials and components and are in the same category may but have a different design or firmness level that may be completely unsuitable for you to sleep on … even if it uses the same general type of materials and components that would be just as durable. In other words different types of materials are a preference choice and he may like some types of materials or mattresses better than others but the design and firmness of the mattress (regardless of the type of materials) is the most important part of making sure his spine is in good alignment when he sleeps on the mattress.

Once you reach step 3 in the tutorial and you are ready to go and test mattresses with him then subject to confirming that any retailer or manufacturer on the list that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and to making sure that any mattress you are considering meets the quality/value guidelines I linked earlier in this reply … the better options or possibilities I’m aware of that are closest to Fauquier Co. would be in the list for the Washington DC area in post #2 here and the list for Fredericksburg, VA in post #9 here.

While I can certainly help with “how” to choose … It’s not possible to make specific suggestions or recommendations for either a mattress, manufacturers/retailers, or combinations of materials or components because the first “rule” of mattress shopping is to always remember that you (or in this case your son) are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved that are unique to each person to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components or which type of mattress would be the best “match” for him in terms of “comfort”, firmness, or PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and your own Personal preferences) or how a mattress will “feel” for him or compare to another mattress based on specs (either his or a mattress), sleeping positions, health conditions, or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more reliable than his own careful testing (hopefully using the testing guidelines in step 4 of the tutorial) or his own personal sleeping experience (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).

You can see my thoughts about the type and quality of the materials in the Helix mattress along with many of the other simplified choice mattresses in post #2 here in the simplified choice topic and post #1 in the same topic would be worth reading as well.

Phoenix

i was in a similar boat with lower back pain, im 155 pounds. I ended up getting the Brooklyn bedding medium, its got a firm but very supportive feel. its not super comfy when you first lay down, like I don’t feel like im enveloped in a cloud lying in heaven or anything, but I sleep great and wake up pain free. it was only $712 shipped and you can return it up to 4 months later if you hate it. it is so supportive that if ive been at my computer all day with bad posture, the mattress actually makes my back hurt for the first 5 minutes while it realigns me like a chiropractor lol. Not sure if the mattress is ‘‘perfect’’ as I didn’t go around testing hundreds or anything, but for $712 im extremely satisfied. I laid on a $4000 sleepnumber for 10 minutes in the mall and my back hurt for 3 hours afterwards lol.

There are tons of options out there, but you were looking for a quick recommendation, so here it is :slight_smile:

Phoenix will not give a specific recommendation because as the site owner he needs to be impartial. but I know he thinks very highly of this mattress, and Brooklyn bedding is also part of Phoenix’s pretty exclusive members club.

Hi stevejarek,

While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

The reason I don’t give specific recommendations isn’t because I need to stay impartial or because I am the site owner (although both of these are true) … but because it’s just isn’t possible. If there was an algorithm that could input all the complex information about each person’s weight and weight distribution and body measurements and sleeping positions and all their many other individual and unique needs and preferences and then somehow “match” these with all the many variables and specs that are part of the design of the many thousands of mattresses that are available in the industry that would result in their “perfect” mattress (regardless of whether it would be a “perfect” mattress for anyone else) I would certainly do so but it just doesn’t exist in the industry.

In other words … I wouldn’t be doing a service to anyone or the industry itself or helping to educate people about “how” to choose in ways that can take all the many variables into account if I was to somehow suggest that making specific recommendations was even possible for me or anyone no matter how much anyone (including me) may wish it was.

Having said that … I would certainly agree with you that the BME would make a great quality/value choice that would certainly be worth serious consideration for those that like the feel and response of latex.

@jbrill,

The same comments would apply to the Novosbed for those that prefer the feel and response of memory foam (or the materials and design of the other mattresses you mentioned).

If 100 people each made different recommendations for different mattresses based only on their own personal experience … then even if all of them used high quality and durable materials a person reading them would be more confused than ever because they would have no idea which of the suggestions or recommendations would apply to their own unique needs and preferences…

Phoenix

Pull the trigger with any of the quality makers mentioned. Helix and Broklyn Bedding all rate well. I recently purchased a Novosbed Queen Medium ($1100 Canadian… so that’s like $770 USD) and couldn’t be happier (6’1", 220lbs). This is shipped to your door by FedEx.

Good luck!

Hi stevejarek,

While other people’s comments about the knowledge and service of a particular business can certainly be very helpful … I would always keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and I would be cautious about about using anyone else’s suggestions, experiences or reviews on a specific mattress (either positive or negative) or review sites in general as a reliable source of information or guidance about how you will feel on the same mattress or how suitable or how durable a mattress may be for you. In many if not most cases they can be more misleading than helpful because a mattress that would be a perfect choice for one person or even a larger group of people in terms of comfort, firmness, and PPP may be completely unsuitable for someone else to sleep on (even if they are in a similar weight range). In other words … reviews or other people’s experiences in general won’t tell you much if anything about the suitability, quality, durability, or “value” of a mattress for any particular person (see post #13 here).

The reason I don’t give specific recommendations isn’t because I need to stay impartial or because I am the site owner (although both of these are true) … but because it’s just isn’t possible. If there was an algorithm that could input all the complex information about each person’s weight and weight distribution and body measurements and sleeping positions and all their many other individual and unique needs and preferences and then somehow “match” these with all the many variables and specs that are part of the design of the many thousands of mattresses that are available in the industry that would result in their “perfect” mattress (regardless of whether it would be a “perfect” mattress for anyone else) I would certainly do so but it just doesn’t exist in the industry.

In other words … I wouldn’t be doing a service to anyone or the industry itself or helping to educate people about “how” to choose in ways that can take all the many variables into account if I was to somehow suggest that making specific recommendations was even possible for me or anyone no matter how much anyone (including me) may wish it was.

Having said that … I would certainly agree with you that the BME would make a great quality/value choice that would certainly be worth serious consideration for those that like the feel and response of latex comfort layers.

@jbrill,

The same comments would apply to the Novosbed for those that prefer the feel and response of memory foam (or the materials and design of the other mattresses you mentioned).

In the replies so far there are suggestions for 3 different mattresses (BestMattressEver, Helix, and Novosbed) and if there were a dozen replies with different people that had each done good research each making one or two different recommendations for different mattresses based only on their own personal experience and criteria … then even if all of them used high quality and durable materials that were suitable for someone’s weight range a person reading them would be more confused than ever because they would have no idea which of the suggestions or recommendations would apply to their own unique needs and preferences.

Phoenix