Hi Jill71rdh.
Based on your earlier input, I suggest that you find a local shop and give latex a try. Latex is not only the most durable foam type and good at motion isolation but it is very breathable and a great choice for temperature regulation. You can perform a forum search and you can type in the key term any city or area you would be closer to and consider driving such as Enola, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, or any other area and see what other businesses have been discussed in that region which may be helpful to you.
www.magicsleeper.net/ Pottstown (or Pottsdown), PA. Local factory direct manufacturer that makes a range of good quality and value mattresses including two-sided innerspring mattresses and a number of latex and latex hybrid options. Family owned and good people. They also make custom designs and sizes and they are also a member of this site.
You could also try gardnersmattressandmore.com/ Retail outlet in Lancaster, PA. They carry a wide range of manufacturers including Pure Talalay Bliss, Posh & Lavish, Pranasleep, Organicpedic (OMI), Naturepedic, Savvy Rest component latex mattresses as well as Vi-Spring and Hypnos which are more “ultra premium” brands. While all of these manufacturers generally use good quality materials … I would make some careful value comparisons here because some of them may be in higher budget ranges than other similar mattresses.
Other than this, we have decided to discontinue the provision of listings of potential retailers in various geographic regions (unless they are already approved site members), because of the difficulty in maintaining such lists in a retail landscape that is constantly changing, and most importantly the confusion it was creating with the consumer members who incorrectly assumed that these businesses had indeed gone through the strict qualification process and were approved as members of The Mattress Underground. Such an assumption is unfair to both the consumers seeking assistance, as well as the very businesses and manufacturers who meet the criteria to become Trusted Members of The Mattress Underground.
Whatever business you’re considering, I would always confirm that any retailer or manufacturer that you wish to visit is completely transparent (see this article) and also make sure that any mattress that you are considering meets the Post #13 quality/value guidelines here.
I am sorry to hear that you hardly get 3 hours sleep a night on your current mattress, but I am glad that you are researching rather than just rushing into making a “blind purchase” as … at this point probably just anything would feel better than your current mattress, but this would not determine how long you will sleep well on the mattress. I would add that most people who paid little attention in the past to their sleeping positions, body needs, and seeping environment would have a similar situation as you do and they would have to go through a period of relearning what “normal” is for their bodies which would involve some local testing and experimenting. You are correct that for your prone sleeping you would need firmer and thinner comfort layers to keep you in better alignment and avoid hyperextension of the lumbar area. Even though you may be tossing and turning and switching between stomach and side sleeping (because of an unsuitable mattress), you would still need to determine first what your primary sleeping position is (stomach or side) and base your options on that. To determine this you may ask yourself questions such as … When was the last time I comfortably slept on the mattress? and … What position did I use to go to sleep in ?.. and… What position did I use to wake up in? … How often did I wake up? … Although personal needs may change over time, they are usually gradual and remembering some details about when you last slept well on a mattress would be a good starting point.
Generally, I would not recommend memory foam for stomach sleepers, but if you chose to go that way keep in mind that due to its viscous nature and poor breathability the foam will trap your body heat which will cause the foam to soften overnight and create misalignment and postural issues. Latex, on the other hand, offers the same support/comfort throughout the night and although. As far as motion isolation goes, latex is very point elastic and like memory foam is a good material for restricting motion, which means that it compresses at millions of specific points across the surface to take on the shape of the body profile with much less effect on the area around the point of compression. The difference between the two is that latex is highly resilient which means it absorbs much less energy than memory foam which has little to no resilience at all … hence the dead feeling and difficulty in repositioning. As you mentioned that the sleeping temperature is an issue I highly recommend that you find a shop nearby or visit Magic Sleeper which is one of Trusted Members of this site and like all the members here I think very highly of and consider them to be among the “best of the best” in the industry.
If personal testing on similar mattresses locally isn’t possible (either because there are no reasonably similar mattresses that you can find locally or because you have difficulty finding out more detailed specs of mattresses you are testing) … then you seem to be on the right track with your initial online choices and I suggest that you have a more detailed discussion with each of them. They are much more familiar with their own mattress designs and materials than anyone else (including me) and they can use the information you provide them about your body type and sleeping positions, your preferences, your history on different mattresses, and the results of your local testing to make suggestions based on the “averages” of other customers that may be similar to you. The more accurate and detailed the information you provide them the better you will help them to help you make the best possible choices out of the options they have available. Of course the options you have available with each retailer or manufacturer (or with a particular mattress) and your ability to exchange layers or the mattress itself or use other forms of fine-tuning after your purchase or the return policy may also be an important part of your personal value equation or to offset the risk that can go with any online purchase.
Phoenix