Serta Prodigy - side sleeper - fine tuning

Discussions General Mattresses Questions
1

Hi all,

I would like to ask you for an fine tuning mattress advice. First few facts.

Fact 1: I got Serta Prodigy mattress quite few weeks ago. Mattress contruction is roughly: 4cm gell foam + 4cm latex + 5 cm support foam + spring. Photo of actuall mattress is here:

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Fact 2: The mattres feels ok for back sleeping. However I have a problem with side sleeping and when I sleep on side I wake up with soar shoulder.

Fact 3: I did a comparision in a shop between Serta Prodigy and Tempur Cloud 22cm, which is constructed as: 6cm Tempur Soft + 5 cm Tempur + 11 cm base foam. In comparision this particular Tempur felt much better when sleeping on side. I could observed my shoulder was bent less and so muscles less stretched, keeping more natural, straight position in comparision to Serta. Somehow I felt my shoulder could sink deeper into mattres whereas my rib cage was still supported.

Fact 4: I tried top Serta matters from the line, which I believe has extra gel foam thickness and not spings, but foam base layer. It felt a bit better then Prodigy, but not as good as Tempur after laying on it for a quite a few minutes on my side.

Fact 5. Possibly partly cause of the issue might be worn out visco pillow that is too shallow now. To test that possibility I bought Temput Symphony Medium (12.5cm deep) pillow. The verdict on that is still to come, nonenless I like it for general comfort.

Fact 6. I cannot exchage Prodigy for Tempur or any other brand. I could exchange Prodigy for higher model, but somehow I dont feel it will fully help me with side sleeping. I intend to keep Prodigy and perhaps add topper as a fine tunning layer.

Fact 7: I am medium size, 90kg/180 pounds guy.

QUESTION: will extra topper on my current Prodigy will help me with side sleeping? If yes, what would be your suggestion? Could possibly Tempur Topper Supreme 3" Mattress Pad from BROOKSTONE help me here? Or should I look for other type of topper? And if yes what kind of topper, visco, gel? And how thick, 1, 2 or 3 inches? Generally I dont like latex, but visco, memory foam, gell is my preference.

When I comes to a topper I can buy in US and ship here overseas, so any good American products are welcome.

Thanks, k_bed

2

Hi k_bed,

The odds are good that it will help yes. There are too many variables in body type and sleeping positions and different perceptions of softness and firmness though to use a formula for which topper may work best for you but there are some guidelines, suggestions, and sources in post #2 here and the posts it links to that may help so you can use your own experience to decide which topper may work best for you. I personally would avoid a Tempurpedic topper because there are many other high quality toppers that are less.

It’s difficult to know how your mattress compares to the other mattresses you tested because the materials and layering is quite different but it seems to me that you need some additional thickness and softness to allow your shoulders to sink in more but I would also be cautious so that you don’t add too much more thickness or softness which could risk alignment in your other sleeping positions. In general … “just enough” in terms of thickness and softness is the best and least risky approach. Your experiences on mattresses that appear to have softer/thicker comfort layers (such as the Tempurpedic Cloud which has 4 lb memory foam in the top layer) appears to confirm this. The Tempurpedic also uses “regular” 4 lb memory foam not gel memory foam.

It may be helpful to know which mattress this was (and they may be quite different where you are) because some of their upper end mattresses are firmer than some of the others but the top end model here (the iComfort Wellbeing Refined) has significantly more memory foam and thicker comfort layers on top than yours does. The top 2" is their regular memory foam (in this case 5 lb) and the gel memory foam is deeper in the mattress.

Regardless though … a fairly safe or “average” choice for a topper would be in the range of 2".

The choice of materials is a personal preference but some of the particulate gel memory foams are firmer than “regular” memory foam (which is why Serta often uses them in deeper layers and not on top) so I would take this into consideration. There are so many different types of memory foam in all densities that can feel and perform quite differently from each other that the most effective way to know the specific qualities of a memory foam you are considering is to deal with knowledgeable people who will tell you how theirs compares to others on the market.

Hope this helps.

Phoenix

3

Thanks Phoenix.

My pillow works well and seems to partly fix the problem as my neck is slightly higher.

Also I agree the gel comfort layer in my mattres is somehow harder and less moulding around body in comparition to Temopur extra soft layer used in Cloud series. Plus its also thiner.

The name on Serta higher model was Revolution I think, but that has to be Australian market orientated model and it has very similar construction as to shown above - gel layer on top, but in this case perhaps extra inch thicker. I checked that personaly by opening the cover.

I think in my case I need a plush layer that will fill gaps on body curves. 2 inch soft memory foam in my opinion fits the bill the best. The only question is to find quality, nice, soft memory foam, not fake one :wink:

I read post you indicated.

Thanks a lot, k_bed

4

Hi k_bed,

[quote]I think in my case I need a plush layer that will fill gaps on body curves. 2 inch soft memory foam in my opinion fits the bill the best. The only question is to find quality, nice, soft memory foam, not fake one :wink:

I read post you indicated.

Thanks a lot, k_bed [/quote]

You’re very welcome. I think in many cases getting “good quality” memory foam that has all the characteristics you are looking for will depend on the knowledge, experience, and integrity of who you buy from.

Phoenix

5

It looks like I solve my problem.

I got Aerus 4lb 12ILD 2.5 inches memory foam topper. This allows me to have my pointy parts of the body, like shoulder when sleeping on side, to sinks more, yet other parts have enough support. I took a photo on my back spine when sleeping on side and it looks more or less straight. Also when sleeping on the back there is less gap in my lower back area. Which has to mean topper works as a filler in those areas.

On comparison to mattress alone I can see that most likely I was bottoming out and thats why it did not feel well for side sleeping. Particularly after few weeks since buying, most likely because the original top layer softened enough. It felt better when new.

The topper does not feel hot, at least now when is a bit cooler. Beside that the mattress feels much more plushy, which I like. Perhaps in my case even 3 inches could be fine, however 4 inches could be a bit too much.

So far better sleep.

So summaries, now I have, counting from bottom: springs + 2 inch support foam + 1.5 inch latex + 1.4 inch gel foam + 2.5 inch Aurus. When looking at those numbers it becomes clear in original matters 3 inches of support+comfort layer is not much. So I must come back to you Phoenix on that point and say Serta is not much value for money. But then I live in Australia, where everything is not value for money and there is not as much choice as in US :wink:

Probably the route I would go now, if starting from scratch, could be buying decent OMF latex mattress as a base and finish it with a topper of my choice. I would make it in 60-70% cost of my current solution.

Thanks, k_bed

6

Hi k_bed,

It’s great to see that you solved your issues … I think everyone deserves to sleep well :slight_smile:

Thanks for the feedback and for letting us know what worked for you.

Phoenix