[quote]What type of mattress do you have? Knowing more details about the mattress and the specific symptoms you are trying to correct with a topper along with your typical sleeping positions and body type would be very helpful and probably the best place to start.
It may be possible that a different topper can work better than you suspect and with your very light weight a softer ILD or even different thickness may also be worth considering (depending on your specific experience on the mattress and mattress / topper combination).
Without reference points that include your personal experience on the mattress and the mattress / topper combination it isn’t really possible for anyone to even make a meaningful guess about which mattress may work with the topper you have. The most effective approach is generally to first choose a mattress and then use the topper to fine tune it rather than the other way around so your circumstances are much more difficult to predict.[/quote]
I am a 120lb side sleeping female who has a $700 to improve her situation. I currently sleep on this, aka, hell mattress:
www1.macys.com/shop/product/macybecamp-mattress-sets-grand-extra-firm-tight-top?ID=808162, with a 3" 24ILD tallalay latex topper on top.
This mattress is about 5 years old.
I was here 5 months ago when I began a search. After testing dozens upon dozens of mattress 5 months ago with after reading about PPP, and having layered toppings also on different mattresses in stores with PPP in mind I have determined in every case that a topper over “very firm”/“extra firm” is not a comfortable solution. I did give the topper only solution a shot. I first ordered an 19ILD from Brooklyn Bedding, it relieved some pain (limbs no longer fell asleep) but it was not keeping me from having pain from the firmness pain and nor did it make sleeping a comfy feeling. The people at BB suggested I go 24ILD and explained the 19 was probably compressing too much because of how soft it was over such a hard mattress so I exchanged, this felt better, it was able to cradling me more and give me less pressure from hell mattress, but is still not a good sleeping experience, the bed with the topper on it feels firmer and less pleasant than when beds I have felt in any of the over 1/2 dozen stores i’ve been to. For example, when in a store i add their toppers to a firm but not ultra firm mattress, my experience is better, In all my searches there was no topper or even 2x2" toppers over extreme firm that was something I liked. Maybe some bodies like a 19 over ultra firm, but that doesn’t feel good to me.
I feel going as supportive as I can find while still feeling comfortable is the way to go. In my search both then (5 months ago) and now I found that a less than very firm mattress with a topper on top is more comfortable than what I have now. (I mean, ideally if i could get dream mattress a topper wouldn’t be involved, but that’s not where i’m at). So lately in my testing this past weeked the most comfortable of all the mattresses that made me safely feel I had support was normal-firm/mostly-firm mattress with a topper on top and I believe that will give me a good mix of support while hopefully that less than extra firm experience will be a more enjoyable sleep. And also I feel that I might have better luck finding a short term firmer mattress than a short term more medium mattress since the firmer ones tend to have less comfort materials and therefore less to break down if I can’t buy the perfect thing right now.
During my search in NYC in ikea, The Clean Bedroom, ABC Home, Scott Jordan and Longs I have determined that at this point I much prefer a base of coil under comfort layers as I did not really like so much an all latex or all mem foam. I found the only way for me to like all foam of whatever variety was to put more than one topper on top until it was super squishy soft (something that might be something like an ILD38/28/24/19), that is an expensive endeavor while it would last me even a dozen years of it is outside my current budget so I am okay with a temporary situation even though in the end it is not as good a price over time.
So I believe that leaves me 2 options:
Option 1. Buy another topper to put over my topper over my current hell mattress. While this will be less expensive (about $200-$300 vs $600/$700) there are 3 reasons is a 2nd choice to getting a coil bed that will keep it’s integrity for 2-3 years. 1, I really do want my bed much higher. Right now my mattress alone is 13.5 inches, plus the 3" topper I have now and another topper will make it another 3", and I already have my bed on risers so even with his little foldout doggy stairs my little doggy will have a hard time getting onto the bed; I also hate my mattress with a passion am hoping $700 will allow me to get rid of it and will be able to find me a less firm than “extra firm” coil mattress that will last 2-3 years if I have a topper on top. I could purchase a 3" 4lb gel topper from Brooklyn Bedding for $169 but I am running out of faith that this will allow me to get what I want, it would be a last case scenario. There’s something about flat memory foam under a sheet that doesn’t really do it for me. But for sure it would be better than nothing. That being said, having tried in other stores multiple toppers over extra firm mattresses I have found that I preferred the feeling of toppers over regular firm or a more medium mattress. I could purchase another latex topper for $300, I do think possibly a 19 on top of my 24 will give me complete pressure relief as well as a squishy comfy feeling but when I had both of the 19 and 24ILD in my house at the same time i remember it being so high. I barely tried them both together though, maybe 5 minutes but I was focused more on which one i would choose and since the 24 was better for me i left the idea alone. i could kick myself for not really trying that for at least a night or 2. But oh well.
Option 2. Find a coil mattress that will keep it’s surface integrity for 2-3 years and put my lovely topper on top of it.
Oh cool! Just looked that up. Oh man, that almost seems perfect. I’m a little concerned about that 19 only because i’m wary of putting a 24 over a 19, but I will communicate with the company and see what options they have. Thanks!