Stick with Brooklyn, or try something else?

[anotherscott]

I’ve had my Brooklyn mattress for 18 nights.

Preface: There was definitely a smell at the beginning, made worse by the fact that I had put bedding on it from the first night, and the bedding (including a quilt) picked up the smell as well. It took a few days for the smell to mostly dissipate from the mattress, but the quilt still has a noticeable amount, I guess it’s going to have to get laundered. Had I known, I would have slept in the guest room and let the mattress air out for a couple of days before putting bedding on and sleeping on it. Suggestion to others: At least keep the difficult-to-wash quilts off of it for a while!

Anyway, my initial reaction to the feel was, it’s okay. I didn’t have the “wow” feeling I’ve had when first laying on some of the mattresses at the local big mattress stores, but it certainly wasn’t bad. Also, the top was a little more memory-foam-ish than I’d expected (I’m not a memory foam fan), but its “recover time” was actually quite quick, and it soon didn’t bother me at all. Within a couple of days, I really was enjoying the feel of the mattress quite a lot, and sleeping better than I had in some time. Success… except for one thing. I’d say at least 2/3 of the mornings, I wake up with numbness somewhere. Usually in an arm/hand, as I’m usually a “3/4” sleeper (halfway between stomach and side), with arms under the pillow. I’m occasionally a side sleeper, and then if I have discomfort in the morning, it’s in shoulder/hip. (BTW, why is it no one ever talks about 3/4 sleepers? Is it that unusual?)

Questions: Does the numbness tend to go away if given more time for me to adjust to the mattress? If not, is there any health “danger” to all the numbness? I ask because it’s not terrible, and a minute after I wake up, it’s gone… and at the moment, I’m actually enjoying a good night’s sleep with a morning minute of numbness more than I was enjoying my older mattress without the numbness. So maybe it’s not a terrible trade-off, as I’m sleeping well. Or maybe it’s really important to not wake with that discomfort, and I should definitely look to address it?

I’m 5’9", 175 lb. The mattress is medium. I suppose I could try soft, but my partner (who has back issues) prefers firm, despite her small frame (5’3", 110). In fact, she hasn’t yet made up her mind about the mattress, albeit for different reasons… she finds the top a little too plush for her tastes, she’d rather not be sinking in so far before she hits the firmness, she thinks the soft top should be half the thickness. The point is, anything I do to make my side better would almost certainly make her side worse, so we indeed might have the best compromise out of the 3 Brooklyn firmness options. (She’s also here only part time, so she hasn’t slept on it as much as I have.)

If I do go with something else, I’m intrigued by the things that specifically address the needs of couples with different preferences. Helix has you enter specs for each side (though I don’t think their configuration questionnaire really always offered the right answers for my situation). Luxe allows you to have different feels for the different sides, and even adjust the sides after-the-fact by re-ordering the layers, that seems to at least offer the benefit of letting me try out “multiple beds” with a single delivery. (Purple sounded kind of interesting with its own approach, I’m not sure what I think about that yet, and I’ve seen some pretty divided opinions… though as you point out, it’s hard to extrapolate too much from reviews when people’s needs are so different.) This whole decision process is complicated by the fact that I’ve come to really like the Brooklyn mattress except for the brief uncomfortable wake up, and I expect all of these will feel pretty different from the Brooklyn (as well as each other), and I kind of don’t want to lose what I have! (BTW, complicating any alternate selection is that my partner prefers to avoid latex, at least as a top layer.) With everyone having such good return policies, I’m half-tempted to order multiple to compare! But it seems a bit wasteful and unfair to the companies, so it seems it would be better to at least start with what I think might provide the greatest chance of working at least “well enough.”

So that’s my story. Any thoughts/suggestions?

ETA: When I talk about my arm being numb, it’s more like “half numb”-- it’s not a full pins-and-needles painful-to-touch numbness.

[phoenix]

Hi anotherscott,

There was definitely a smell at the beginning, made worse by the fact that I had put bedding on it from the first night, and the bedding (including a quilt) picked up the smell as well. It took a few days for the smell to mostly dissipate from the mattress, but the quilt still has a noticeable amount, I guess it’s going to have to get laundered. Had I known, I would have slept in the guest room and let the mattress air out for a couple of days before putting bedding on and sleeping on it.

All new mattresses will have some sort of an odor to them, and some people are more sensitive than others to this. Most manufacturers cover this, if even briefly, on their FAQ pages on their web site (Brooklyn Bedding mentions that their smell dissipates in a well-ventilated room within a few hours, but if you are more sensitive it definitely may take a few days or slightly longer). Of course items placed on top of the mattress will absorb this odor to an extent, so your advice of leaving the mattress uncovered if you are sensitive to these odors is well-taken.

the top was a little more memory-foam-ish than I’d expected (I’m not a memory foam fan), but its “recover time” was actually quite quick, and it soon didn’t bother me at all.

The TitanFlex foam used in the upper layers of this mattress is a high-performance polyfoam, so while it has a high point elasticity like memory foam, it doesn’t have the slow recovery characteristics or the temperature-sensitive changes in viscosity, and it more resilient (has more “push-back”).

BTW, why is it no one ever talks about 3/4 sleepers? Is it that unusual?)

No, it’s not that unusual, but the more common positions of side/back/stomach are more easily analyzed by sleep ergonomic researchers, and then combinations thereof (1/3, 2/3, ¾…) can logically be referenced.

Does the numbness tend to go away if given more time for me to adjust to the mattress? If not, is there any health “danger” to all the numbness? I ask because it’s not terrible, and a minute after I wake up, it’s gone… and at the moment, I’m actually enjoying a good night’s sleep with a morning minute of numbness more than I was enjoying my older mattress without the numbness. So maybe it’s not a terrible trade-off, as I’m sleeping well. Or maybe it’s really important to not wake with that discomfort, and I should definitely look to address it?

I’m not a health professional B) , so I can’t comment specifically upon your “numbness” or the reason for it or if you should have it investigated or if there is a “danger” to it.

But generally, if pressure on the surface capillaries in the pressure points are reduced to below about 32 mmhg (a unit of pressure) for most people, then the capillaries won’t collapse with the pressure and the blood flow will be maintained. When this is achieved, the body doesn’t feel “pressure” or the urge to move and restore blood flow. Once you have reduced the pressure on the pressure points to the maximum possible, then there is no further benefit to sinking in any more. If the heavier parts keep on sinking because the comfort layers are softer and thicker than you need to achieve maximum pressure relief, then all that happens is that you lose alignment with no more benefit of more pressure relief.

Some people need more pressure relief than others because they are either more sensitive, have less muscle tone, sleep in more pressure prone positions, or because their capillaries “collapse” more easily for various reasons. These people will generally do best with the maximum possible depth of cradle that is beneficial but more than this introduces new risks for alignment that have no pressure relieving benefit.

In some cases, some people just prefer to sink in more deeply into the comfort layers and as long as this is done evenly without one part sinking in too much relative to the rest, then this is a matter of preference.

Sometimes some people aren’t as sensitive to sleeping in a position where spinal or joint misalignment causes issues (they may be more flexible for example) so for these people it’s easier to just add more softness for extra pressure relief with less thought of the alignment issues that can go with it. For these people, a little too much softness and thickness in the comfort layers isn’t as likely to cause back pain or joint pain that can come from a misaligned spine or joints.

In other cases, people just feel better with a nice fluffy layer on top of the mattress in addition to comfort layers that improve pressure relief just because it “feels” soft even though it doesn’t necessarily improve pressure relief and in some cases can even reduce it.

Also, in your situation, the mattress is only 18 days old and it will still have a bit more “breaking-in” where it may lose some more of its initial “false firmness” and it could become a bit more comfortable to you, and you may also still have a bit of “learned alignment” from your old mattress which should dissipate over time. Additionally, sleeping with your arms under you pillow does tend to place a stress on that axillary nerve/vascular bundle, and well as the tendons of your rotator cuff area, so that particular sleeping posture tends to cause pressure points in people regardless of mattress choice. You’ll also want to make sure that your pillow is an appropriate height for your new mattress to help keep your neck properly aligned and also assist with some of the stress in your shoulder area. As for your hips, this could simply be an issue of overall plushness preference for that area of the body. And one last thought – sometimes people sleep much better on a new mattress and reposition less, so this can result in feeling more pressure in certain areas, as you’ve been sleeping in that particular position without moving as much as you were used to moving on your old mattress.

So the answer to your question is that there is no one particular answer, and different people need a different depth of cradle to achieve what for them is “enough” pressure relief.

she finds the top a little too plush for her tastes, she’d rather not be sinking in so far before she hits the firmness, she thinks the soft top should be half the thickness. The point is, anything I do to make my side better would almost certainly make her side worse, so we indeed might have the best compromise out of the 3 Brooklyn firmness options.

Yes, between plushness and alignment (deeper support), I’ll advise to defer first toward alignment and avoid the temptation to stack too many soft layers above your deeper support layers and create a “comfort cradle” that allows for sinking in too deeply and negatively impacting alignment.

that’s my story. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Overall you seem to “mostly” like your current mattress, and you’ve have it less than three weeks, so I would ultimately advise you to keep it a bit longer, as you do have a good 120 night trial period. I’d try to give yourself and your mattress a bit more time to “adjust” to each other and see how that goes.

Phoenix

[anotherscott]

Thanks for the input.

@Phoenix

(Brooklyn Bedding mentions that their smell dissipates in a well-ventilated room within a few hours, but if you are more sensitive it definitely may take a few days or slightly longer).

Yes, I had seen the FAQ, and on the first night, I had all the windows open and the ceiling fan going. I have never considered myself to be particularly sensitive to smells, which is why I was surprised when that did not seem to be nearly sufficient.

But yes, there’s a lot I like about the BB. I just didn’t want to consider keeping it if the feedback was, “if you’re getting numb spots after more than two weeks, this isn’t the mattress for you.” But it’s good to know it’s worth giving it more time. Thanks again.

[phoenix]

Hi anotherscott,

Yes, I had seen the FAQ, and on the first night, I had all the windows open and the ceiling fan going. I have never considered myself to be particularly sensitive to smells, which is why I was surprised when that did not seem to be nearly sufficient.

With odors, you really couldn’t be expected to know if it would be objectionable until you received the product, so I’m glad things are better for you now.

But yes, there’s a lot I like about the BB. I just didn’t want to consider keeping it if the feedback was, “if you’re getting numb spots after more than two weeks, this isn’t the mattress for you.” But it’s good to know it’s worth giving it more time. Thanks again.

You’re welcome. I’ll be interested in learning what you eventually decide to do.

Phoenix