Hi, I’ve spent most of the afternoon reading the posts on this forum.
But I still have a question. I recently moved to my new place and, being unfamiliar with the area, went to IKEA and bought my furniture, including a bed and a mattress. I guess the bed is alright (Hemnes King), and I have the Lonset slats, but the mattress, which I only slept on last night, is killing my back. In fact, it’s so stiff, I feel like I’m on a table than in a bed. I bought the Myrbacka. In store, it felt nice and firm, but not painful. I realise many people sleep on those, so it’s probably loosened up. However, I called IKEA this morning to complain about the pain I’m experiencing after only one night of sleep on the mattress and they recommended I “wait a few weeks” before I decided to exchange it. Except…I’m in pain? My back hurts, my knees hurt, my shoulders hurt…this isn’t normal.
I’ve always owned spring mattresses, mostly Sealy Posturepedics. They’ve lasted well and were fairly comfortable with a mattress topper, but over time, the springs poke through in various areas and hurt. I thought to try a foam/latex mattress to avoid the spring issue altogether…but well.
I didn’t opt for foam only because I tend to be a warm sleeper, so I prefer something that keeps me cool at night. From a logical standpoint, I thought I made a good decision, but my body thinks otherwise today.
So…what are my options here? I can only exchange this mattress for another at IKEA…so which one do I choose?
I have a lower back issue, which wasn’t even an issue lately (sleeping on an air mattress until this mattress was delivered)…until now. I like something that doesn’t get too warm when sleeping. And something that keeps its shape and is comfortable for a mostly side/back sleeper.
It’s true that all new mattresses will have a break in and adjustment period where the materials will soften a little and your body will get used to a new sleeping surface that is probably different from what it’s used to (see post #3 here) so it’s usually best to wait for at least a few weeks before exchanging a mattress or making any other changes if that’s possible.
If it’s just not possible to wait for a few weeks because because you are in too much pain or discomfort then of course you would probably need to decide on what to do more quickly.
There are also two versions of the Myrbacka mattress and one is a medium firm mattress that has latex comfort layers and a polyfoam support core and the other is a firm memory foam mattress that has memory foam comfort layers and a polyfoam support core so it’s possible that you tested one but ended up either ordering or receiving the other one. You can check the materials listed on the law tag to see which one you have and compare it to the law tag on the mattress that you tested in Ikea.
The biggest reason that most people end up choosing a mattress that isn’t suitable for them to sleep on or that causes them pain or discomfort is that they only test a mattress for a few minutes in a store and then only test for “comfort” or the “showroom feel” of the mattress which often doesn’t translate very well into how they will actually sleep on the mattress in “real life”. There is more about testing a mattress for PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) in the links in step 4 of the mattress shopping tutorial.
Both of the Myrbacka mattresses are foam mattresses … they just contain different types of foam. One contains latex foam and polyfoam which would tend to sleep cooler and the other contains memory foam and polyfoam which would tend to sleep a little warmer (in very general terms memory foam sleeps warmer than latex).
It certainly sounds like the mattress you chose is too firm for you which means that you could either exchange your mattress for a softer Ikea mattress or you could add a softer topper to provide the additional softness and pressure relief that you need.
I would keep in mind that you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing or personal experience … hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
If you decide to exchange your mattress for a different Ikea mattress I would make sure that you test the other Ikea mattresses very carefully for PPP because you only have one exchange.
The other option you have for a mattress that is too firm is to add a topper to provide the additional softness and pressure relief that you would need. If you do decide to go in this direction (either with the mattress you have now or with a mattress you exchange for if it also turns out to be too firm) then post #2 here and the topper guidelines it links to can help you use your sleeping experience as a guideline and reference point to help you choose the type, thickness, and firmness for a topper that will have the least risk and the best possible chance of success.
My mattress is the latex (synthetic) Myrbacka. As I said, it felt really comfortable in the store, but it’s had 1000s of people trying it out for months and months, so it’s probably broken in. Mine, oh my goodness…the pain I woke up with this morning! I’ve never felt this uncomfortable on a mattress - it’s like sleeping on the floor!
What’s the difference between firm because it’s new and firm that’s not ever going to be comfortable enough? I thought about buying a topper, but that adds another couple of hundred dollars to the mattress price which makes it a waste of money. The alternative is to go back to the spring mattresses at IKEA. The store recommended the Sultan Holmsta…but I’ll have to go in and try a few out.
Which ones would you recommend? I don’t want a solely foam one, as I am a warm sleeper and that’ll be too stuff for me.
Speaking of warm, the current latex mattress actually doesn’t stay THAT cool, as I was told. I woke up several times last night because I was already feeling warm (even with the a/c on) and the spot where I was laying on felt like it had just be ironed - yea, THAT warm. It cooled off quickly when I’d move away from it, but the point was, I kept waking up either in pain because of how stiff this mattress is…or warm.
So what do you suggest? I have to go back to IKEA by the end of the week to pick out an alternate mattress. I knew I needed a firm mattress, but I certainly didn’t want a brick to sleep on!
Most latex mattresses will break in to some degree but there normally isn’t as much difference between a floor model and a new mattress as your experience seems to indicate. There are really only three possibilities that can account for your experience which are either that your testing didn’t do a good job of predicting how you would sleep on the mattress, the mattress you tested (including the support system you tested it on) is somehow different from the mattress and support system you are sleeping on at home, or that you haven’t slept on the mattress for long enough for your mattress to break in and for you to adjust to a sleeping system that is different from what you are used to. In some cases the break in period can take longer than 30 days but for most people it’s about a month or less.
If a topper on your mattress is a good “match” for you in terms of PPP then it would certainly be “worth it” IMO if there are no other reasonable options available to you but you still have the chance to exchange your mattress for a different one so it may be better to wait until you find out whether the mattress you exchange for would be more suitable for you before considering a topper.
As I mentioned in my last reply … you are the only one that can feel what you feel on a mattress and there are too many unknowns, variables, and personal preferences involved to use a formula or for anyone to be able to predict or make a specific suggestion or recommendation about which mattress or combination of materials and components would be the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) based on specs (either yours or a mattress) or “theory at a distance” that can possibly be more accurate than your own careful testing or personal experience … hopefully using the testing guidelines in the tutorial post (see mattress firmness/comfort levels in post #2 here).
I can certainly help you to narrow down your options, help you focus on better quality/value choices that are available to you either locally or online, help you identify any lower quality materials or weak links in a mattress you may be considering, act as a fact check, answer any questions you may have along the way that I am able to help with, and help with “how” to choose but only you can decide which specific mattress is the best match for you in terms of PPP.
A mattress that sleeps warm for some people may be well inside a comfortable temperature range for others depending on where they are in the “oven to iceberg” range and on the temperature and humidity in their bedroom and the mattress protector or any mattress pad you are using, your sheets and bedding, and your bedclothes, which can all have a significant effect on sleeping temperature regardless of your mattress and in some cases changing these may be all that is necessary to keep sleeping temperatures inside the range that you are comfortable with even if one mattress tends to sleep warmer than another but there is more about the many variables that can affect sleeping temperature in post #2 here that can help you choose a choose the combination of materials and components and the types of mattresses that will have the best chance of keeping you in a temperature range that you are comfortable with.