Problems With New Mattress from a Stomach Sleeper

I recently bought a new Silver Lake - Plush mattress from Urban Mattress and have been having some problems with it. While the mattress seems like a great mattress, I’ve been having trouble sleeping comfortably through the night and have had some mild back pain when waking up. I generally sleep on my stomach and I’m starting to think that the mattress is too soft for me and is causing my spine to curve in too deep. Im almost at the 30 day mark when I can return or exchange the mattress and was considering exchanging it for either their Silver Lake - Firm or Highland mattress. Would either of these be good for a stomach sleeper?

Hi Dekabal,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum! :slight_smile:

Your initial impression is probably accurate, and a mattress that is softer on top is generally not the preferred comfort for most who sleep upon their stomach. There’s more in mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here that speaks to mattress selection for different sleeping positions.

The Silver Lake Firm uses a different pocketed spring unit from the Silver Lake Plush that is listed to be firm (most likely less contouring than the spring unit in the Silver Lake Plush version), but they don’t list if there is any difference in the softness of the polyfoam in the quilt as compared to the Silver Lake Plush. The Highland is listed as a “medium” feel, and looks to use the same innerspring unit as the Silver Lake Plush, without the 2" latex layer.

Overall, the Highland should feel a bit firmer than the Silver Lake Plush, and the Silver Lake Firm should feel the firmest of this group. I would be sure to go visit your local showroom again and test out these items and see if there was enough difference in comfort between the Silver Lake Plush and the Highland to justify the change, or if you should switch to the Silver Lake Firm for prone (stomach) sleeping.

Phoenix

Thank you for the advice. I got a chance to go back to the store and try the mattresses. The Highland felt a little firmer than the Silver Lake Plush but not by much. The problem is when I’m sleeping on my side on these mattresses, it feels like I’m curving into the mattress too much. I also tried the Silver Lake Firm and it felt a bit more like the type of mattress I’m used to. I am a little bit worried about it causing back problems with how firm it is (won’t know until actually spending a night on it), but I figure I could always just get a mattress topper to soften it up bit. I also imagine it would soften up a little bit after some use

On my old mattress, I would switch between my stomach and my side before falling asleep. I thought this was because the mattress was so divetted that I was doing it to get comfortable, but I’m starting to think that may just be how I sleep. When I’m on my stomach, I also generally don’t have my hands above my head, but have one to my side and the other sticking out with my hand under my chest or head. On my current mattress, I really want to switch to my stomach at times but am reluctant to do so because of how my back curves into it. I’m mainly trying to find some compromise between how I’m comfortable sleeping and sleeping in a way that won’t destroy my back.

My current plan is to try this mattress for another week or two and if its still not working out, exchange for the Silver Lake Firm and, if need be, a mattress topper.

Hi Dekabal,

Nothing can replace your own personal testing, and if you feel that you’re sinking in a bit too much (not adequate deep support) on a new mattress when sleeping prone, you’d most likely want to choose something with either less comfort material on top, firmer comfort material, or stronger deep support.

Using a firmer spring unit shoulder be a cause for alignment issues, but the combination in that mattress might create more pressure points for you when side sleeping. Overall, you’d want to defer to the sleeping position you most often use (stomach) and your “weakest” (alignment-wise) sleeping posture (also stomach), so the firmer deep support can be a good choice. And you are correct that all foams soften up a bit over time and all new mattresses lose a bit of their initial “false firmness”.

It could be a combination of both, and if you were sleeping on your stomach quite a bit in a mattress that had a deep sag, it would be normal for your body to reposition itself frequently. You really wouldn’t know until you switch to a new mattress and see if you reposition less, which is common when people replace an older worn out mattress with a newer item.

That sounds like a logical plan, and I’ll be interested in learning what you decide to do.

Phoenix

Back for a quick update. I went back to try the other mattresses after about two months of having the Silver Lake - Plush and found that they just didn’t feel as comfortable as the plush. As of now, I’m sleeping through the night completely without any back pain and I am no longer sleep on my stomach. I figure it was just a matter of taking some time to get used to the new mattress.

I also wanted to say thanks for the advice, it really helped me find a great mattress.

Hi Dekabal,

Thank you for taking the time to post an update, and I’m happy you are sleeping better now on your new mattress. You are correct that part of this was probably a result of you needing to “adjust” to your new mattress (losing some of your old “learned alignment”), as well as you changing your sleeping posture and avoiding sleeping prone (on your stomach).

That’s great news, and I’ll look forward to your future updates.

Phoenix