I "slept all over town." hehe I laid on every mattress in every store I could find. Naturally, the ones I liked best were the most pricey ones, which I couldn't afford. They were all foam.

So I went to a foam shop in Seattle. I laid on all sorts of combinations of layers until I found what was just right for me. They cut it for my bed and put the layers in a zippered bag made out of tee shirt material. It cost me about half what it would have cost to have a fancy name brand, and it was exactly what I wanted.

This was several years ago. My mattress hasn't changed one iota. It's exactly as it was when I bought it, no sagging anywhere. I have never had a problem with feeling like my mattress is too hot.

If I ever change my mind and want something harder or softer, I can simply switch out layers.

I'm very satisfied with what I did.

If I were going to do it over again today I'd do the same thing. But if I couldn't do that, I'd buy a regular bed that is medium priced and put whatever topper on it I liked best. Toppers can wear out and then your whole mattress has to be replaced if they're stitched together. But if the topper is separate, you can always toss it and get a new one.

I have extensive experience with this as I went through 5 beds in one year. I feel like the princess and the pea. I have had a back surgery so I am sensitive to anything to hard or too soft.
I think that the number one thing that I have learned is stay away from anything pillowtop. I had 3 of them and they all were horrible with compression holes and sag in a very short amount of time. Everything I purchased was somewhere between 2-3k so they were supposed top of the line mattresses. I finally settled on a bed that is only at city mattress which I believe is in Florida and NY. It is made by Prana sleep, its all latex and, after a year of no sleep I finally rested. It is much nicer than any of the other latex mattresses that I have tried. It works for me. If you live where there is a city mattress I would go have a visit.
Here is the website for the Prana

http://www.pranasleep.com/

You can do pretty decent research at this website
http://www.whatsthebest-mattress.com/

They have a forum and mattress reviews.

I was having neck and shoulder pain when I woke up. We got a new Bragada mattress and I've slept pain free since.
A friend had one that I was able to lay on first, otherwise there is no showroom to try out.

Website is bragada.com

We bought a Sleep Number air bed with a foam pillow top. Love it, love it, love it, love it. I do a lot of traveling for my work, and get to stay at some of the best hotels in the country, including the W Hotels. I always can't wait to get home to sleep on my Sleep Number. There's just nothing like it. We've had it for nearly 4 years now and it's still just as wonderful as it was when we first got it. Ours is an Eastern King (wider and shorter than a Cal King) and we frequently have me, DH, our 3-year-old DD, our DS and the dog all piled onto that thing. Everyone is comfortable. When our kids get past the "accidents" age, I will be getting them each their own sleep number, too. Hopefully then they'll sleep better in their beds. :-) These fit on regular bed frames, btw, and look just like standard mattresses.

Sarschlos - did you have any fear about the Sleep Number? The materials and fabrication appear very cheap and plasticky to me yet all my friends who have them love them just as much as you do. How can I get over the feeling that I would be overpaying for a gimmicky thing? Maybe I should go to the foam store too? LOL (great idea, BTW oceana)

We also had a S&F pillowtop. It was great at first, but after a few years we found ourselves tossing and turning all night. Did a lot of research, and ruled out the memory foam mattresses due to heat issues (I know many don't have a problem with this, but we read far too many reviews from those who did). Decided on the the Sealy Spring Free (latex). It's only been a couple of months, but we just love this bed. For the first time in years, I sleep straight through the night. We also moved up from a queen to a king, so I realize the additional space has also been a big help.

No fear whatsoever, whenicit. My parents purchased a Sleep Number about 25 years ago. Well, they divorced about 10 years ago, but mom still has the bed! In fact, she had them rebuild it with new bladders and new foam last year (24 year old mattress and they still rebuilt it no questions asked -- it still worked, but she wanted new foam). They upgraded the foam, gave her a new pillowtop -- her old mattress didn't have one -- and new bladders and controllers. She essentially got a brand new mattress for about $500.

There is nothing flimsy or cheap about these beds. The mattress covers are very high quality, and the beds themselves are fantastic.

Like Kalinka I've tried many brands over the past three years and we now have a Simmons Beautyrest from the Black collection........the Edaline. So far I'm having the best sleep I've had in a long time. The style we chose has a thin pillowtop made with a layer of wool, which we loved the feel of. What top you prefer depends on where your aches are! ;)

My previous bed was the Comfort Select and altho I loved it the first 9 months, my trochenteric bursitis and hips started bothering me whenever I slept on my side. I tried many settings then decided I needed more support than the CS could give.

I agree with the others that pillowtops will eventually compress. I prefer to just add any extra padding I may need.

Whatever you choose, buy from a store that offers a 30 day trial and also carries other brands you'd be willing to try in case you need to make an exchange.

Here is a link that might be useful: Simmons

oceanna,

What store did you buy from in Seattle?

my friend bought a sleep number bed and now she regrets it. She thought by changing the number it would make the mattress feel softer but all it does is cause the body to sink into a hole. These are her words, I don't own a SN bed. She also said that it isn't good for the person who likes to sleep in the middle of the [King] bed because of the hump you feel where the two sections of the bed meet. I gather that it is uncomfortable to roll over onto the middle of the mattress, especially if both people have set their side of the mattress to different numbers.

When I was researching mattresses I read lots of reviews about the sleep number bed and I never understood why not one mentioned this bump you feel down the center of the mattress. Do these couples all stay on their side of the bed? I don't get it, why does my friend find it very noticeable and yet no one else online talks about it. Anyway, she bought a memory foam topper for the mattress and now it feels a little softer on her body so she doesn't have to resort to changing the number and creating a cavity for her body to sink into.

Flyingflower, there are different versions of the SN bed, some with foam pillowtops. That's what we have. We have no problem with the middle. It's just a bit firmer than the setting I like for my air chamber section, but perfectly comfortable. We bought the SN because I had experienced terrible hip and knee pain from our pillow top Sealy. The SN has been a life saver. I've never slept as well as I do on that bed. I don't toss and turn anymore.

I have something similar to Oceanna's set up. I bought two sheets of firm talalay latex foam and slipped them into a futon cover. DH and I call it "the squishy bed". It's lovely.

We have it sitting on tatamis on a tatami frame (really any platform bed with tatamis would do).

We got ours mail order from Foam Order dot com.

The bed frame was about 7 or 800 dollars with the tatamis, the foam was about $200. The futon cover was nice-ish, for about $90.00.

We've stayed in some nice hotels, slept on really nice memory foam in rental cottages, etc. We always long to come back to our squishy bed.

I have a bad back, but I think it would be worse if I didn't have the foam. It certainly was worse when we had a spring-y bed.

We're thinking of getting a firm topper, just because of my bad back, but so far the squishy bed is the best thing I've encountered.

The talalay is really nice, temperature wise. It seems cool in the summer and warm enough in the winter.

My x-FIL and MIL have a very bad back and fibromyalgia respectively and have a sleep number bed and they are unhappy travelers. They love their bed. x-MIL thought it was slightly ridiculous to buy, but she's never said anything but nice things about the bed.

We had a sleep number bed, pillow top, CalKing. We finally got rid of it. Loved it for a few years, then started to really hate it. It was about 20 yrs old, so that could be why we grew unhappy.

Got a standard king, and a memory foam/microfiber topper (from Costco) and I have not been happier. Didn't realize that every time we moved on the SN bed, it made noises, and when one side was set lower than the other, the person on the lower number side ended up with more pressure if the other rolled over toward the middle. In other words, it got harder, because of the extra pressure. Not recommended if one partner is significantly heavier than the other.

No problems with the memory foam/micro fiber topper. Even with hot flashes it's not bad. And it's blissful to sleep on a bed that doesn't move or make noises when your partner rolls over.

We have had a Tempur-Pedic (the model now known as the Original, although when we got ours there was only one style!) for about 5 years. It's one of those "love it or hate it" beds, I think, but DH and I both think it's wonderful. I live with severe chronic pain (fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and a back injury) so like kalinka I am like the princess and the pea, and I am completely spoiled on memory foam. When we bought this bed we were giving up on a very expensive innerspring mattress with a thick pillowtop that I just couldn't sleep on even with the series of expensive toppers we bought. I spend more time in bed than the average bear so I had to have something that was really comfortable, and this definitely does the trick.

The "hot" thing is a big YMMV. DH is very hot-natured, he'll happily sleep au naturel with no covers in January, and even he does not get particularly hot. It takes a few minutes to warm up in the winter, it's a bit firm to start (although not "rock hard") but within 5 minutes I'm very comfortable in my little nest. :-) I don't find it at all difficult to turn over like some people do. Maybe they sink down more than I do? The total lack of movement that they talk about on the infomercials is very dependent on the frame - since our frame is not rock solid :-( I get a little joggle when DH moves around but nowhere near as much as I did with the innerspring mattresses. It is no different now from the first night we slept on it - no sagging, none of what are euphemistically called "body impressions". Even after 5 years, as he lies down DH will still groan "OMG, this is a good bed!" Now if that's not a testimonial... LOL

It's a dream to make, because the mattress is flexible it's easy to bend the corners to get the fitted sheet around them without wrestling the whole mattress around. The cover on mine zips off for washing, which is very convenient.

It did smell terrible when it first came out of the box and wrapping, but we stood it up in the guest room with the window open for a few days and all odor disappeared. But then new regular mattresses smell very bad to me too. Don't get rid of your old mattress until your new one is in place and you're certain you want to keep it - it's best to shop somewhere local that has a tryout period of at least 14 days with a 100% refund, no restocking fees, instead of somewhere that ships to you. Foam beds feel a bit different from innersprings and generally take a little getting used to, it took a few days for us to get the hang of the Tempur-Pedic but once we did there was no going back! Oddly enough, we both hated the memory foam pillows...

When I was bed shopping it came down to the T-P or a natural latex mattress. I found the latex a tad too "bouncy" but had I not been able to get the memory foam I would have gotten that without a qualm.

A sleep clinic I went to last year had Dormia mattresses on their beds, and they were wonderful. It had a firmish latex foam base topped with two layers of memory foam in different densities. It was downright luscious, cushy-soft on the surface and supportive underneath - that same sinking-in feeling you get with a really good featherbed, but it didn't squoosh down like a featherbed. Our next bed may be one of those, although I don't expect that we'll be looking for one for at least 10 years given how well the T-P is holding up.

I have a tip about mattress shopping. Allow plenty of time on each one - bring a book, wear comfortable clothes and slip-on shoes, and give a bed at least 5 solid minutes lie-down time. Hopping on for 30 seconds doesn't really tell you very much, especially for memory-foam products that take a couple of minutes to really warm up and conform to your body. Most people do not test out mattresses in their normal sleeping positions, either, but rather lie stiffly on their backs like a corpse in a casket. Maybe they think it's embarrassing or something to sprawl out! The salesperson will probably grumble because they usually want to make the sale and get you out of there as quickly as possible, but that's just too bad for them. You are making a big investment that you're going to spend 1/3 of the next 10 or 15 years on, and it's just unreasonable to expect you to make a decision based on 30 seconds' experience. When I ruled it down to just a few different models, I spent 20-30 minutes (you read that right) on each one (thus the book!) to really get a sense of how it felt and how it made me feel. If you sleep in company, make sure to bring your sleeping partner along - bribe him/her if you must. :-)

Another vote for latex. After exhaustive shopping and returning one Simmons that started sagging after just 2 weeks last Fall, we ended up with a king latex mattress that flips from firm to semi-firm. (made by a regional mattress co) It's quite lovely. We'll never go back to a standard coil mattress after this.

I second what Johnmari said- just lay on any mattress you are considering for a while. Not 3 min. Make it at least 15 min or 1/2 hour. We were tempted by a few with memory foam at first but after laying on it for an extended time decided we didn't like the "sinking in sand" feeling that it gave. So it's different for everyone and the only way you can judge is to just bite the bullet and go lay on them.

When we replace DS's mattress, it will be with a latex mattress. Latex breathes and is great for people with dust allergies because dust mites can't live in it.

good luck!

I have a Tempurpedic Rhapsody bed and I love, love, love it. It did take some getting used to, as it has a totally different feel than a standard innerspring mattress. I used to really toss and turn a lot at night, but with the Tempurpedic I find that I stay comfortable in whatever position I happen to be in, so I don't need to constantly be tossing and turning to relieve pressure on my hips or shoulders. I also love the fact that if one of us gets up in the middle of the night the other one isn't awakened by a moving mattress, something that was happening frequently with our old innerspring.

The only bad thing I can say about the TP is that it is hard to get out of it in the morning, as by then I feel like I'm in a comfy little nest!

Nwesterner, here's a link for you. It's on Roosevelt.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Friendly Foam Shop

Pesky -- I think the problem you describe has to do with the age/style of the SN bed you had. They have made many improvements since the early models came out. Your experience was similar to the bed my mom had until she had it rebuilt last year. Our SN bed, which is 4 years old, has always been significantly more comfortable than mom's old SN bed. We have never had any problems with noise, or shifting pressure -- even when I was 200 lbs and 9 months pregnant. I think it's reasonable to expect to need a new mattress of any kind after 20-30 years.

Thanks, Oceanna!

I am all done with Mattress Testing today.
It's all about testing as many mattresses as you can, and suffice to say, all this running around today did not get me to all the models in theory I expected.

All of the 5 models of Temperpudic I was not liking at all.
One was way to stiff and just getting on it was like working with hard sand. The S&F model at Bloomingdales was much more comfortable.

And yes, I am familiar that alot of models are the same across different chains, but they have different model brands/model names. But I SWEAR, the S&F latex I slept on at Bloomies yesterday was the most comfortablest of all the latexs I tried out today.

Planning to try to the airbead - select comfort this weekend and make a trip to at least try the hastens to see what a uber box spring bed feels like.

I did not see any of the Simmons Black Line that felt comfortable to me.

And the Kings Down, Natures Rest, etc.

I was hoping like other things that I would just sleep on a mattress and knew it was *the one*. I have yet to make my way to the DWR Sonno as well.

If you're looking for a super comfy bed, you should also consider the Heavenly Bed used by Westin's 5 star hotels, like the W. VERY nice and cozy, and they sell it (not too expensive, either).

Here is a link that might be useful: Heavenly Bed

We have a spring free Sealy Posturpedic. I don't know what the model name/number was but it was the most expensive one the furniture store had by several hundred dollars. (We did the "lets pick out our favorite before looking at the prices thing." I guess it didn't work in our favor though I was hoping it would!) We were sort of limited because we had to buy from a company that would do a custom size...married twenty-two years and still sleep in a double sized bed. It is an antique though and is a foot longer than usual.

We like the mattress a great deal. We've had it about 8 months and it is still sleeping great, much better than the 20 year old one we had. The only problem we have noticed is that it does sag in the middle. Maybe this is because it is a double width which really isn't recommended for two adults especially not two that sleep smack dab in the middle piled on top of each other more or less or perhaps it is because it is built up on the sides so that it doesn't start to sag on the edges from people sitting on it, etc. (Sitting on it is really not an issue for us since it is about 4 feet off the ground!)

We purchased a Serta Celebration Firm for our daughter's old room where we were going to sleep during a remodel. Bought it because we could get it that day and it was a good deal. I had been suffering from sciatica for 8 months so a good night's sleep was just a "dream".:) After a week on that bed my sciatica was gone! Needless to say, once the remodel was done and we could move back into our master bedroom we purchased another Serta Celebration Firm. Not such a good deal moneywise this time, but as the commercial says, from a pain viewpoint- priceless.We are still loving it. It does require extra deep pocket bedding though as it is one ginormous mattress.

I have been shopping for months and gave up several times as afraid to get it wrong again. After reading reviews and trying to find the recommendations in local stores to test, the winner is a Sealy Posturepedic Cushion Firm called Pine Grove. It is a level 7 with good support and not too cushy top such as a pillowtop or Eurotop which I did not want.

This mattress is called Pearl at Sears, and also Blueberry Cove, Sweet Maple, Cottage Revival, Parsonage Lane and a few others. I find a cross reference sheet online which was very helpful.

A good sign was that I picked the same mattress in two different stores with two different names and when checking the list it was the same. Took DH to try it out and he liked it so finally a winner!!

I did read that Sealy has redesigned the entire line and they will hit the stores this month, but sticking with my decision as they have history and reviews. The new ones will be hard to get any opinions on for a while.

Hope it sleeps as well as it did in the store.

Tinker, the cross reference sheet you found online sounds very useful. Could you post a link, please?

Here's one site that cross references Simmons. Not sure if it has other manufactures set up like Simmons. I did notice you could input a mattress name and it tells you there model name.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mattress Hotline

This is the link for the Sealy names. Really helps when shopping and comparing.

They sure don't make it easy on us!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sealy mattress names

Stearns & Foster. :)

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

I highly recommend the "what's the best mattress" site mentioned above. I spent many months there while researching my new bed. I personally wouldn't buy a bed without checking there first. There is so much to learn about the bed industry, mattresses, etc.

I have debilitating back pain, and while my new mattress (all latex) didn't cure me, it really helped the nighttime pain and morning stiffness.

We went the build-a-bed route: ordered all the layers (6 in all for a king bed) plus a cover to zip them in. Wonderfully latex, with the ability to switch the layers around for a different feel (they are different firmnesses). All for less than 2k if I remember correctly.

Bayareafrancy, I did the exact same thing you did. Only I did it at a foam shop. It was quite a number of years beack and we paid about $750 at a time when the other foam mattresses were about $2K. The mattress shows no wear in all these years. It's still great support. I've never even flipped or rotated anything. Like you, it didn't cure my back pain but it sure lessened it.

We bought a Prana mattress a little over year ago. The first six months or so were wonderful! We felt like we were sleeping on soft, fluffy clouds. My husband and I slept like babies on our new mattress. We were so excited about finally being able to sleep comfortably.

Then, about 7 or 8 months ago, we noticed big craters forming where we lay. We are both of average height and weight (both under 5'7" and under 160 pounds), so we knew it wasn't because we were too heavy. These round-crater type impressions seemed permanent, and this is when our back problems started. We now wake up almost daily complaining about back aches and pains.

The $2500 we spent on the mattress was certainly wasted. If you're thinking about buying a Prana--think again. Definitely not worth the money. We've had cheaper mattresses over the years that were more comfortable.

Now, just a year later, we are thinking of buying another cheaper mattress to escape our Prana nightmare. My husband says he is afraid to go to sleep. If you want to spend $2500+ on a mattress, do more research and talk to people who've had a particular brand of mattress for years. Don't rely on just a 5-minute "test" at the store and the sales rep's pitch. We did, and now we're stuck with a horribly uncomfortable and expensive mattress.

I have a King's Down pillowtop at our second home and I absolutely hate it. I haven't had one decent night's sleep on it. I always felt like I was on the verge of rolling out of the bed.

In our primary home I have a Tempurpedic Cloud Luxe and it is wonderful. I sleep the entire night and fall asleep so easily. It is softer than the original but the support is amazing. I have had it for over a year and a half and I can honestly say I have not had a restless night's sleep since I got it. Since going through menopause I am always hot but I don't feel that this mattress retains heat like people say it does. I didn't want to spend that much on a mattress but now that I have it I would say it was worth twice what I paid for it. Love, love, love it!

My recommendation (which is probably the cheapest choice) is to get a medium firm good quality traditional mattress (individually wrapped coils, no pillowtop). Then get a 2-4" memory foam topper (Amazon, Overstock, wherever) to lay on top.

You'll get the best of both worlds - a firm, non-sagging, non-bunching base, with a soft, easy on the joints top layer.

Put a good quality cotton mattress pad (you'd have to get one deep enough to go over the mattress/memory foam) over it all and you shouldn't be bothered by the heat from the memory foam. It definitely does hold heat more than a regular mattress, but you get used to it and it's actually nice in the colder weather.

Nothing worse than paying an arm and a leg for a mattress that you end up hating. If you don't like the above combo, you haven't spent a lot of money and you could put it in your guest room.

Tempurpedic! I used to toss and turn, wake up with numb arm or hip, and basically feel like the princess and the pea. When I did manage to get comfortable, DH would turn over and bounce me all over, waking me up again. The Tempurpedic for me is bed nirvana!

We have the one with air channels, we first bought the classic without air channels and it did sleep a bit too hot (we don't have A/C) but we exchanged it for this this one, which is perfect. I think it's called Signature or something.

We are about to go mattress shopping...my question is: do any of you think stomach-sleepers need a different mattress than people who sleep or their side or back? My husband & I both sleep on our stomachs.

I have read that stomach sleepers should sleep on a firm mattress. Otherwise, your back would be over arched during sleep.

Here is a site where I bought a real latex topper. Very nice. Not cheap! Some people claim that a latex bed is the only way to go. I have no idea except that I would not recommend the air type beds. Said from experience.

Here is a link that might be useful: Latex Mattresses online

In the 70's I slept on a Stearns and Foster and thought it was wonderful and I never forgot , but they were always too expensive for us in the raising the kids years. So, last year we needed a new mattress and I didn't look at anything else now that we could afford it. Well, it is just OK...not the dream mattress I had hoped for, but that may be because in general I just don't sleep as well. We will keep this for now, but next time I will definitely take a look at TP, etc.