Do you mean fill it with air, not water? It may work for a while, but I wouldn't make it permanent. They are built to be filled with water, it would be like laying on a balloon, you wouldn't get the support needed. There are air mattresses out there, Aerobed is one, that is meant for air. I would look into those.

I doubt something like Aerobed air mattresses would stand up to daily use. Sleep Number beds and Nautilus and others are air bladders. Are they like sleeping on balloons? I just can't spend the $$ for Sleep Number etc., and if spending, like $400-$500 one just gets "ouchy" springs and the price dictates how much they bother to pad the springs.

Thanks.

I love my bed... I have a custom made mattress with individually wrapped inner coils and extra foam padding. It takes deep pocket sheets, and cost a bit more than your average mattress... I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Both my husband and myself suffer with chronic back pain, and I also suffer with Lupus. My husband is disabled, and I'm partially disabled. I wake up every morning feeling as decent as can be expected, and I go to sleep at night feeling very comfortable.

A dear friend of ours owns a mattress factory, and after learning the inside scoop on beds, I'm happy to have the bed I chose! The reality of mattresses are that 1. pillowtops are useless 2. there is no such thing as no-flip technology 3. cheap beds are usually refurbished, and you don't want to know how they're refurbished, trust me!

I can't tell you what type of mattress you should buy... individual tastes differ... but I can tell you that doing a bit of research and paying a little bit more for a well-made bed is worth it!

My bed cost roughly 2 grand, but it has a 15 year warranty and it's incredibly comfortable to sleep on. I flip the mattress about once every month.

We just bought a new bed on Monday, and are waiting for it to arrive. The last bed we bought was around $900 -- a coil mattress with a pillowtop, which really only lasted about 5 years (despite the supposed 10 year warranty)...we've been sleeping on it for 6 years, and this last year has been rough. We can feel the coils underneath the pillowtop, and they're starting to dig into our hips and shoulders.

This new bed that we got, which we spent a little more on (about $1600 due to the Labor Day sale) is a foam mattress. We decided that we just didn't want to have to worry about the coils underneath, and them digging into us over time; my one concern with foam is that over time it seems like it will probably start to sag. But the thing I've resigned myself to is probably buying a new bed every five years or so, just to guarantee that we're getting the most comfortable sleep we can get.

Rivkadr, you are so right, pillow tops are CRAP. We learned the hard way too. After about two years the pillow top breaks down, leaving indentations where you sleep. When we shopped for this new bed every single sales person said the same thing. If we knew then what we know now!

We replaced our pillow top with a Stearns and Foster Plaza model, it is wonderful. It is a box top which is similar in comfort to a new pillow top. We spent WAY more than we wanted to on it, but it has been worth it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stearns & Foster

If people could only see a cut-away section of the mattresses they're looking at buying, they'd never even consider spending the money! A well-made mattress is everything when it comes to good sleep!

You can get decent life from your bed by flipping the mattress more often than recommended by the manufacturer. I learned this through my friend... his life is beds, owning the mattress factory, as he does. Foam breaks down over time... there's nothing you can do about it... it's inevitable. But by taking good care of your mattress, you can get a longer life from it.

I've tried those solid latex foam mattresses... I could never sleep on something that held my body heat or didn't have the "give" that an inner coil mattress has. They're not bad if you can get used to them, but I just can't.

Bottom line... research. And be prepared to spend a bit of money if you truly want a good night's sleep with healthy support for your body.

We love our Sleep Number bed...it was worth every penny! :-) :-)

My neighbor trashed their pillow-top mattress after 8 years ... and got a Sleep Number. I'm happy with my Serta memory foam, but it's really hot in the summer. I have it for 9 years.

I had the same experience with a Tempurpedic years ago....I literally died during the summer. You sink in and there's no air flow. Now they have that cooling gel so I definitely think they're trying to fix that issue! I do LOVE my Sleep Number though!