Value price full mattress for kids

Hi stuuke,

Unfortunately neither one of the descriptions you posted include any foam density information (see this article) so they really don’t say anything about the quality or durability of the foam layers in the mattress. I would avoid any mattress where you aren’t able to find out the information you need to make an informed choice and make meaningful comparisons to other mattresses.

I would also tend to avoid memory foam for growing children.

Phoenix

I’ll see if I can get the density. The king with the memory foam would be for us and not the bed for our daughter.

This is the response I received:

The Butterwood Plush is 1.8 lb poly foam at a 36 ILD. The Swearingen(king bed) is 7 lb beaded gel memory foam with a layer of 2 lb omalon foam at 36 ILD under the gel foam layers.

Hi stuuke,

It’s unlikely that all three polyfoam layers in the Butterwood Plush are 36 ILD (which is firm) but the ILD isn’t important to know anyway since you can feel the firmness of a mattress when you try it out and if all 3 layers are 1.8 lb density then they would meet the quality/durability guidelines here and there would be no lower quality materials or weak links in the mattress that could compromise the durability or useful life of the mattress for a child’s weight. My biggest concern given that the mattress has “plush” in the name is that it would be firm enough for a child.

Again the ILD isn’t important to know when you are testing a mattress locally but these are both high quality and durable materials so there are no weak links that would compromise the durability or useful life of this mattress.

Phoenix

Phoenix,

How do you feel about coil on coil designs? Right now we have 3 favorites in completely different types of beds. The first is a hybrid posted above, another is a latex and the third is a coil on coil design.

From their website description
Outlast performance fabric
HydroPur Silver FR barrier
1.5″ convoluted foam
1.5″ convoluted foam
comfort layers:
1.5″ convoluted foam
foam-encased 3″ Softech micro fabric encased innerspring
744 coils in a Queen
930 coils in a King
support system:
8" fabric encased Body Print Advanced innerspring unit
858 coils in a Queen
1056 coils in a King
Foam encased edge support
foundation:
8" premium wood foundation
warranty:
15-year full non-prorated warranty

Hi stuuke,

Assuming that the materials in a mattress you are considering are durable enough for your body type and meet the quality/durability guidelines here relative to your weight range … the choice between different types and combinations of materials and components or different types of mattresses are more of a preference and a budget choice than a “better/worse” choice (see this article).

Microcoils are only one of many components in a mattress but by themselves they are a durable component. There is more about microcoils that are used in comfort layers in this article and in post #8 here and post #2 here.

[quote]From their website description
Outlast performance fabric
HydroPur Silver FR barrier
1.5″ convoluted foam
1.5″ convoluted foam
comfort layers:
1.5″ convoluted foam
foam-encased 3″ Softech micro fabric encased innerspring
744 coils in a Queen
930 coils in a King
support system:
8" fabric encased Body Print Advanced innerspring unit
858 coils in a Queen
1056 coils in a King
Foam encased edge support[/quote]

While the microcoils themselves are a durable component … there is 4.5" of “unknown density” polyfoam in the top layers of this mattress so unless you can confirm that the density would meet the durability guidelines I linked in my previous reply I would avoid it because the polyfoam layers could be a weak link in the mattress that would be very likely compromise the durability and useful life of the mattress. Convoluted polyfoam will also be less durable than a solid layer of polyfoam that is the same density and firmness (see post #8 here).

Phoenix

They’ve offered either the R9 coil on coil (normally $3500 with 15 year warranty) or Swearingen hybrid (normally $3500 with lifetime warranty) with an additional less expensive queen and full mattresses for the kids for $2000 which seems like a great deal. I’m sure the R9 and Swearingen never sell for the full listed price but it still seems like a Brooklyn bedding king or Kiss king might be a better value.

Hi stuuke,

The “regular price” of a mattress isn’t a reliable way to assess the “value” of a mattress purchase or whether you are getting a “deal” because if the regular price is the MSRP (manufacturers suggested retail price) it’s generally highly inflated and has little to do with what the mattress usually sells for and is generally more about marketing than anything else. Even that is assuming that the mattress would be worth buying at any price because I would avoid any mattress that uses lower quality or “unknown” materials regardless of the price.

The information in post #15 here about price vs “value” would also be well worth reading.

I thought you were buying 2 mattresses rather than 3 but regardless of how many mattresses you are purchasing the only way to assess whether you are getting a “deal” or not would be to compare them to the other finalists you are considering based on their suitability, their durability, and on all the other parts of your personal value equation that are important to you (including the price of course).

Phoenix

We were looking at buying 2 but my oldest daughter has a horrible mattress from Mattress Firm and of course if everyone is getting a new mattress she wants one as well :slight_smile: The mattress they have available for her is similar to the full that I listed but it has edge foam on the sides of the bed.

I’ve read several of the threads and it looks like 7-10 years is a good life for a quality mattress. The king is advertised as a forever mattress and the company will adjust the mattress as needed. Do you feel that there are mattresses that would exceed the 7-10 lifespan? Joplimo appears to use quality materials and it is nice to purchase from a local store. I just wish that there was more user experience out there.

For future forum users.:

The R9 only has 1.8 lb density poly foam at 36 ILD in the quilt and only 1.5" on top of the pocketed coil system in the pillow top.

Hi stuuke,

Yes there are many people that sleep on their mattress for longer than 10 years but anything over 10 years is what I call “bonus time”.

There is also no way to specifically quantify how long any mattress will last for a specific person or predict exactly when they will decide to replace it because it is no longer suitable or comfortable for them (because this is the only real measure of durability or the useful life of a mattress that really matters) and because there are too many unknowns and variables involved that are unique to each person … if a mattress is well inside a suitable comfort/support range and isn’t close to the edge of being too soft when it is new (see post #2 here) and you have confirmed that it meets the minimum quality/durability specs that are suggested in the guidelines here then it would be reasonable to expect a useful lifetime in the range of 7 - 10 years and with higher quality and more durable materials like latex or higher density memory foam or polyfoam (in the comfort layers especially) it would likely be in the higher end of the range or even longer and the chances that you would have additional “bonus time” would be higher as well.

Phoenix

I might go check the Savvy Rest and Lebeda mattresses today for some local comparison.

I keep coming back to the Brooklyn Bedding BME. I looked through the forum but didn’t see much information on the soft version. My gut tells me to go with the Medium but it seems like most people recommend a softer mattress for kids/girls. My daughter is around 65lbs now and sleeps in just about every position. Does anyone have experience with the soft? Also my they told me that my foundation from my traditional coil mattress would work fine. I know the latex needs a more solid base with slats or a platform but does the BME? I also looked at the Dreamfoam Ultimate but some of the negative reviews on Amazon have scared me off. So right now I’m looking at the Joplimo coil mattress locally ($400), Addable budget foam option ($400) and BME latex bed in a box ($617.50 with sheets and pillow).

Hi stuuke,

A mattress with a polyfoam support core (regardless of the material in the comfort layers) will generally do best with a firm, flat, and evenly supportive support surface underneath it that has minimal to no flex under the mattress and for larger sizes with at least one center support beam that has good support to the floor to prevent any sagging in the middle of the mattress. The components (either a bedframe and foundation or a platform bed) need to be strong and durable enough to support the weight of the mattress and the people sleeping on it without some of the parts bending, sagging, shifting, or breaking with extended use. The support surface under the mattress (which may be slats or a solid surface or a steel or wire grid) should have enough surface area to prevent the mattress from sagging through any gaps or spaces in the support surface over time but still allow some airflow under the mattress. If a foundation has a slatted surface then I would suggest that the gaps between any slats are no more than about 5" (with 1 x 3 slats) although less than 4" would be better yet.

There is more information about support systems (bedframes and foundations or platform beds) that are generally suitable for different types of mattresses and some examples of each of them in post #1 here and some of the information and comments in this topic (which would apply to any foam mattress) may be helpful as well.

Phoenix

What do you think about firmness for a kid on the BME? Any thoughts on Addable? I believe you mentioned in another post that you didn’t recommend memory foam for kids.

Hi stuuke,

You can see my thoughts about memory foam and children and some general firmness guidelines for children in post #2 here and post #2 here that I linked in my earlier reply to you in post #4 in this topic.

Phoenix

I don’t know how you keep all of the links straight.

I ordered a Brooklyn BME Full in soft today and received notice that it already shipped!

Hi stuuke,

I have a list of a few hundred reference posts that I use in my replies.

Congratulations on your new mattress :).

As you can see in the posts I linked I would generally choose a medium firmness for a child to help keep their growing spines in better alignment but at least the soft isn’t “ultra soft”.

Phoenix

Mario said their mattresses are generally firmer than what most people would consider soft, medium and firm and suggested a soft so hopefully it works out.

Hi stuuke,

The top 2" layer is 19 ILD which is fairly soft (although not ultra soft) but the middle layer is 30 ILD which is more in a medium range so I agree it should be OK.

Phoenix