We recently bought a natural latex talalay mattress, but I think it’s too soft for me, even though it’s considered to be on the firm side. It’s from Scott Jordan Furniture. I’ve slept on it for 5 nights and I find it more difficult to fall asleep, and I wake up with my upper back achy. Do any of you know if there’s a way to make the mattress more firm? My husband is fine with the level of softness, but he is a side/back sleeper and I am a stomach sleeper, so maybe that’s the difference. Is there any chance I will just get used to the softness of the mattress? I’m not sure what to do, and would appreciate any advice.
Hi NYDweller,
The most effective way to make a mattress firmer is to remove the layer(s) that are too soft and replace them with a firmer layer. This could involve either replacing the deeper support layers (if you don’t have firm enough deep support) or the comfort layers (if they are too thick and soft for your body type and sleeping position and need to be either thinner or firmer). It’s much easier to make a mattress softer by adding a topper than it is to make a mattress firmer because adding a firmer layer on top of softer layers puts the softer layers deeper into the sleeping system and turns them more into support layers instead of comfort layers which can create a whole new set of alignment issues.
Sometimes adding something like a wool topper can reduce the amount you sink into the foam materials below them and to a limited degree result in a firmer comfort layer.
Are you certain that your upper back issues are because the mattress is too soft (and not for example a pillow issue, a normal part of adjusting to a new sleeping surface after only 5 days, or an issue that has other causes)?
If you are primarily a stomach sleeper then it may be worth considering a thinner pillow or adding a pillow under your pelvis to help improve alignment.
Have you talked with Scott Jordan? I don’t know the details of the mattress you have or your own “statistics” but they are very knowledgeable about their specific mattresses and some of their mattress have options to change the comfort layer or create a side to side split layering which may be helpful and they may also be familiar with how to make suitable adjustments to the mattress you have. NOTE ADDED: They are now a member of this site as well
My first suggestion would be to call Scott Jordan to see what they suggest and to try sleeping with a thinner pillow, no pillow at all, and/or putting a pillow under your pelvis.
Phoenix
Thank you, Phoenix! I am back to sleeping on the mattress tonight – was away for a bit. I already use a very thin pillow, but will try adding a pillow under my pelvis. I hadn’t thought of that, but it sounds like it would help. How many nights would you say is a reasonable number of nights to expect to get accustomed to a new sleeping surface? I feel like whenever i go to a hotel, regardless of the mattress, I sleep fine, so I never considered myself to be picky about my sleeping surface. I guess that’s why this is throwing me for a loop. Also because we really splurged on this talalay mattress and with the 30 day policy I want to be sure I can sleep comfortably on it as soon as possible. I left Scott Jordan a message today, so hopefully I’ll hear back from them.
Hi NYDweller,
This is not unusual at all and there are many people who seem to sleep well on any mattress but their own whether at a hotel or as a guest at a friend or relative’s home. This is partly a subjective and relatively short term experience often because their own mattress is so unsuitable that any other mattress seems to be an improvement and also because sometimes just a change can be beneficial for the short term because it gets your body out of habitual patterns that can cause problems. The ironic part of this is that there isn’t a “standard” hotel mattress or guest mattress and the mattresses that people seem to sleep better on may have a very wide range of designs. It’s just as common that if someone buys a hotel mattress that they slept well on that within a few weeks or months they start to experience the longer term performance of the same mattress and regret their decision because it doesn’t seem as suitable in long term regular use as it did in the “hotel experience” but each hotel is different.
Most hotel mattresses are fairly new (they don’t get used as much as consumer mattresses and are replaced more frequently) so they don’t have the same degree of sagging and foam softening issues that so many home mattresses have. They are often in a “medium firm” range (medium comfort layers and firm support layers) and then use a bedding package to provide the “cush” or “surface feel” of the mattress.
The initial break in period of the mattress and the adjustment period for the person sleeping on it can take up to 90 days (and in a few cases even longer with some types of foam that soften or break in more slowly) but in most cases it is around a month or less. In some cases or for some people it can be a few days or be something they don’t seem to notice at all. I would tend to sleep on any change for at least a week though so you have more confidence that what you experience is more predictive of your longer term experience because there are many things (sometimes not obvious) that can affect how you sleep for a day or two that may have little to do with your mattress and it can take some time for your body to “catch up” to any changes you’ve made. Long enough to eliminate the other variables that may be affecting you and that will give you confidence that you can predict your longer term experience is the idea.
Phoenix