I wanted to make this thread as useful as possible, so Iām going to add all my stats and details here.
I am a 5ā tall female and usually weigh between 115-125lbs (right now Iām pregnant, so itās obviously a bit more). Iām petite and have a somewhat curvy body type; small shoulders with bigger hips. I used to be an every way sleeper - stomach, back, and sides, but after having our first child, I canāt sleep on my stomach anymore. Mostly I go to sleep on one of sides and wake up on my back. I prefer a plush, luxe comfort feel.
My husband is 5ā10; I donāt know how much he weighs but I think itās around 150 lbs. (heās slim, does that sound right?). He has wider shoulders and narrow hips, and similar sleep positions to me. He says he prefers a more firm mattress, but Iām not sure what thatās based on besides assumption.
Our mattress story: we mostly slept on hand-me-down traditional innerspring mattresses from our parents until I got pregnant the first time. At that point, we were sleeping on a hand-me-down mattress from my mom that was ok but got increasingly more uncomfortable as I got further along in pregnancy. I decided to bite the bullet and buy the Tempurpedic I had always dreamed of (this was in 2012). I honestly donāt even remember which one we ended up with, maybe one of the Rhapsody line? All I remember was the horrible and potent yeast, mildew, and inflatable pool toy plastic smell that filled our entire house for weeks. Being pregnant, it REALLY freaked me out and I couldnāt deal with it. I also found the mattress to be not very comfortable and too firm, though husband really liked the comfort level (hated the smell too, though). In a panic, I returned the Tempurpedic and got the most comfortable pillowtop mattress at the same store, a Sealy Posturepedic. 4 years later, Iām in exactly the same situation! Incidentally, so are my in-laws; they bought the same mattress set we did a few months after us and are finding it to be super uncomfortable already, though they are much heavier than we are.
So here I am, in pain every morning again - all-over back, shoulder, and neck pain when I wake up, and persistent back and shoulder stiffness/achiness throughout the day. I wake up many times in the night from back pain, I think because my hips are being pushed too far upwards, causing my spine to be totally misaligned while I sleep. I suspect I also need new pillows; whenever I decide on a mattress, I will decide between Nestās easy breather latex pillow and a DIY shredded latex pillow kit from DIYnaturalbedding.com. My husband has been sleeping on our sofa mostly (our toddler likes to sneak into our bed at night and he wiggles a lot), but he claims our current bed, though much less comfortable than it once was, is not unbearable for him like it is for me. He thinks I am just more picky, but I think our body types are just different. When he was sleeping in our bed more regularly, he did complain of feeling tired a lot and waking up during the night. I think he just didnāt believe me that it was the mattress.
As far as mattress requirements, here are my requirements in order of importance:
Comfort - must feel luxuriously comfortable, which I interpret to mean soft/plush.
Durablity - must be comfortable for more than 4 years!
Price - Ideally less than $1500 shipped
Support - must be supportive enough that I donāt wake up in pain
Edge support - we canāt go bigger than a queen size, which means sometimes there will be more than 2 people in the bed, which means we need to be able to sleep right up to the edge without children rolling off.
Cool - canāt sleep hot
Off-gassing - must be minimal
Motion Transfer - I would love to feel my husband/children toss and turn less, but compared to the other factors, this one is towards the bottom of the importance list.
Natural materials - This is not a deal-breaker, but I would prefer all natural materials with minimal chemicals, and made in USA
So thatās all my pertinent info! Taking all that into consideration, I have thought the Nest Alexander Signature Select medium or one of the Nest Honest Beds would be our best choice, but then they released the Al. Hybrid, and I was nearly sold on it because of the pocketed coils (durable support and better air flow). Hearing that it is so soft, though, has me hesitating because of my husband. I also didnāt realize until recently that the Love Bed featured latex foam, which has me considering it as well. Ideally, I would love to test them out in person, but thatās just not an option. I think itās time for me to take Phoenixās advice and call Nest to speak to someone. Maybe I will do that today.
If anyone has any input they would like to share, Iām all ears. Thank you to everyone who has tried to help, and a BIG thank you to Phoenix for being such a wealth of information and assistance.
Melanie