Sealy Optimum Inspiration - Mistake? Any side-sleepers switching from Select Comfort to...?

[phoenix]

Hi Jeff5295,

Any new mattress that you buy will feel firmer than a mattress in a store because the materials in the mattress will go through an initial softening period over the first 30 - 90 days before it feels like the one in the store which has probably already been broken in. You will go through an adjustment period to a new sleeping surface as well. In addition there are also other factors that can affect your mattress and change the way it feels compared to the store. You can read more about this in post #2 here and in post #2 here. Of course none of this is to rule out the possibility that you received the wrong mattress but you can check this on the law tag on your mattress and it’s not as likely.

I’m starting to look for alternatives, in case the next mattress is no better, and I’m a little overwhelmed by the amount of info on this site. I’m hoping someone can point me in a general direction, should we need to buy a different one. Here is where we’re at right now:

The “best” place to start is post #1 here which is the most important post on the forum and has the information, steps, and guidelines you will need to make the best possible choices if your current mattress doesn’t work out.

Switching from a Select Comfort (which we both inflate to a very low or “soft” setting), is memory foam possibly not the best choice for us? If not, what might be better? Latex? My wife does not want to consider a traditional spring mattress.

All materials … whether they are used in comfort layers (like the foam above your air bladder) or are used in support layers (like your air bladder) … come in softer and firmer versions. The goal is always to make sure a mattress provides you with your basic needs and preferences or what I call PPP (Pressure relief, Posture and alignment, and Personal preferences) which comes from a combination of the firmness of the support layers and the softness/thickness of the comfort layers. The materials or type of mattress is only the means to an end and in general any type of material can be soft or firm enough in the comfort layers and/or soft or firm enough in the support layers to make a suitable mattress (with a few exceptions such as memory foam which is for comfort layers only and air bladders which are generally only used as support layers). The materials you choose in which layers are more of a matter of personal preference, “feel” and performance. Of course no matter what type of materials or components you prefer it’s always important to make sure that they are the best possible quality of that material available in your budget range. You can’t “feel” the quality of a material but it will determine how long the comfort and support of your mattress lasts for you.

I seemed to feel a lot of pressure points on our Sealy (not apparent on the display model), mostly hip and arm. I don’t know how to interpret this to point me in the direction we need to be going. Is that telling me the top layer is too thin, allowing me to sink too far into the next, more dense, layer? If so, I assume I may need to be looking for a thicker top layer? Or do I need a more conforming foam under the top layer? Bed is on a solid foundation.

Yes … outside of the regular breaking in period … this could indicate that the material is too thin for your needs and preferences and not allowing your “bony prominences” like your shoulders hips and arm to sink in far enough before reaching the firmer support layers.

I realize no one can make the decision for us, and there are no short cuts to finding the mattress we need. Just hoping to get pointed in the general direction as we look for possible next choices, should this one not work out. Maybe foam is not really for us, and we need to be looking at alternatives, such as latex. My big problem with the air bed is the lack of motion isolation, the change in comfort on my side when my wife gets in or out of bed while I’m in it, and the narrow comfort zone, because of the narrow air chambers. I considered adding a foam topper for increased comfort, but I don’t think that will help any of these other issues.

You can read some of my thoughts about airbeds in this article. They are not the best choice IMO with perhaps a few unique or unusual exceptions.

Are there any side sleepers on here that switched from a softly inflated air bed to a foam/latex? If so, can you let me know what you ended up with?

Yes … there would be many successful examples of people who switch from any type of mattress to another. The key is not the materials though (although there are certainly many valid preferences) but to make sure the design is right to provide you with the PPP you need and prefer regardless of materials.

I’m a little “soured” by the big-bed-store experience (especially after reading some of the forum posts), and would like to try some local/semi-local shops. We have a Lebeda, a Verlo, and one called Dubuque Mattress, that we plan to check out. Any insight on these companies? Are there any others we should consider within an hour or 2 of zip 52002?

As you will read in the first post I linked … step 2 is knowing what to avoid and what to focus on. Chain stores and other mass market outlets and major brands would both generally be included in the “avoid” list. You can see what I would consider to be the better options and possibilities in the Dubuque area in post #4 here and you already seem to have found all of them that are close to you which means IMO you are definitely on the right track

Phoenix