Suggestions for topper to make Savvy Rest latex more comfortable

[phoenix]

Hi TossingNTurning,

Now instead, it’s catching up to us. My husband says it feels stiff on his back, and we both roll around a lot unable to get comfortable. The material may just be too dense / firm. We both often wake up with neck / back pain and can’t get to sleep.

There are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved to make any specific suggestions based on “theory at a distance” when it comes to comfort issues but there is more information in post #2 here about the most common symptoms that people will experience on a mattress that may be helpful. Having said that … your description sounds like your mattress may be too firm for you and if this is the case then some of the suggestions in post #2 here may also be helpful. If you decide to try a topper to add additional softness and pressure relief to your mattress then post #2 here and the topper guidelines that it links to can help you choose the type, thickness, and softness of a topper that would have the best chance of success and includes the better sources for latex toppers I’m aware of as well. If you are used to Savvy Rest prices you may be surprised that the cost of latex toppers may be lower than you think.

I tried unzipping the casing, which made everything a little softer because the casing wasn’t holding it in. That made it a little better at first, but then there wasn’t much support and I worried about the latex being exposed. We can’t afford to buy anything new right now in the non-toxic category, and definitely aren’t willing to buy a conventional mattress. I thought a topper of some kind could help, but I’m seeing only latex toppers for non-toxic brands. I’m worried that would just add more of the same. Any ideas on other topper options or what else we can do?

I would “delink” firmness with support because a mattress that is too firm can be just as non supportive as a mattress that is too soft. The goal of a mattress is that it provides you with good alignment and good pressure relief in all your sleeping positions and this means that you need good “primary support” under the heavier parts of your body to stop them from sinking down too far but you also need good secondary support or “contouring” support so that the more recessed parts of your body are also “filled in” and supported. There is more about primary and secondary support and their relationship to pressure relief in post #2 here.

Removing or loosening the quilted cover of your mattress can help the latex to contour more effectively to your body so it may provide “better” secondary support even though it may also allow your hips/pelvis (and your shoulders if you sleep on your side) to sink in a little more which may also improve pressure relief to some extent. If this works well for you and you are sleeping “symptom free” (which is how I would evaluate it rather than by trying to decide whether you are sinking in too much or too little) then you can also buy a stretch knit cover to replace the cover you currently have although you would lose the temperature regulating benefits of the wool quilting and as you know from your experience it would change the “feel” of your mattress as well.

Either way … it seems to me that your most likely options would be to either add a topper and/or to change your quilted cover for a stretch knit cover (if your testing on your mattress without the quilted cover on top indicates that it’s a good “match” for you without a topper). The topper guidelines I linked earlier includes a fairly extensive list of topper sources for different types and blends of latex and cover sources as well.

Phoenix