we seem to end up with sealy or simmons...if you're a member of costco or sam's check them out...they both have some great prices...do realize with some pillow-tops you can only rotate not flip for even wear...

know this sounds a little strange but after you having a water bed for sometime, i'd try sleeping on a regular mattress before spending the money...do you have any pals that would help out? it was difficult adjustment to one of our pillow-tops and had to supplement with foam pad...

I just got a Tempurpedic. The first one was hard as a rock and I exchanged it just before my three months were up. It cost an extra $200 but got the Tempurpedic Cloud Supreme. I love it! However, they're very expensive. Most people that have a pillow top say they would never get another one because you cannot flip it. My son has the Sealy posturpedic and loves it. As Susan says, you can get them at Costco for a great price. Trouble is, you have to know someone with a truck so you can get it home.

I would love to have a Tempurpedic but I hear they can be hot. I can't imagine sleeping on one in an Iowa summer. I got ride of my foam mattress topper a couple of years ago because it was too hot.

gmom, If your Tempurpedic is like my Posturpedic there is a top and bottom. The side for sleeping is a softer foam than the rest of the mattress. I found out the hard way as I thought I could flip it and discovered I couldn't sleep on the bottom side. Way too hard. I actually love mine until it comes time to wash the bedskirt. It takes two men and a mule to lift it off and put it back on the bed. (It took me 1/2 a day to manhandle that thing when I flipped and rotated it and then all over again when I flipped it back) I plan on replacing the bedding with something that doesn't have to be placed under the mattress before I do THAT again.

We bought memory foam pillows and we HATE them so I know we don't want anything to do with memory foam. I also don't want anything that's hot. You know something not too hard, not too soft, not too cold, not too hot - just right. Is that too much to hope for?!! :o)

You'll probably want to test-rest a pillowtop at the store; they look irresistible, but as some others have said, they aren't good long-term. They'll flatten. But if you like the feel, remember that whatever non-pillowtop mattress you buy, you can always find a featherbed topper to give you a cushy feel.

Too bad GardenWeb's search function is so iffy.....we've had mattress discussions in the past that might be helpful. After going through four mattresses in a very short period (I was lucky to get my money refunded from the two stores), I followed the advice of numerous people on a mattress forum and avoided the "S brands" (Sealy, Stearns & Foster, Spring Air, etc.), choosing instead a relatively small, independent mattress manufacturer (Lemoyne Sleeper). Again, following forum advice, I bought an innerspring mattress with somewhat firm support, and topped it with an inch of memory foam. Then I topped that with an inch of latex. (Both toppers came from Overstock.com.) I've had this mattress for several years, and love it.

Pillowtop mattresses are best avoided because the pillowtop is attached to the mattress, and when it loses its fluffy quality and pancakes, you can't remove it.

We just replaced our bedding, it's been about 4 weeks now. We bought Kingsdown but we avoided the memory foam models. We absolutely love it!! The downside is that we now have to buy all new bedding because the mattress is so deep!

We have a Sleep Number, I think that if we didn't have three huge dogs, a cat, and sometimes a three year old in the bed I would like it. I got to sleep on it once alone and it was great! We have a pillowtop in another room, have always liked it, without a three year old:>

I bought a Simmons pillowtop about 2 years ago. It was over $1k but amazingly comfortable so I thought it was worth it. I regret it now though because, as others have mentioned, you can't flip it. I only sleep on one side so a crater has formed which is annoying. When I rotate it, the crater forms again. They'll only replace it if it is a certain number of inches deep but you can feel it long before it hits that threshold. They're actually coming next week to measure mine and see if it needs to be replaced.

We have a sleep number and it is great at our age for making the bed after washing the sheets. You can do it one handed it is so light.

A couple of years ago we decided to replace our floatation mattress due to a leak and decided to go to a "regular" mattress. Don't know what prices are like in your neck of the woods, but prices here started at $800 and skyrocketed from there. A few months before our search began, my daughter had purchased a "mattress in a box" and raved about it. I did a search and found that a queen-size was about $250. And I knew that I would have to live with a mattress for a good long while, so I should buy "quality", but we just don't have that kind of money. So we bought the $250 box mattress and can't believe how much we love it. We've slept in other beds since our purchase and still like ours the best. We are always so happy to come home from a trip and sleep in our own bed. And I'm not just talking hotel beds. Friends of ours have an expensive set in their guest room and I'm telling you, we really like ours better. Sorry to sound like a commercial, just really happy with our purchase.

Linda...I don't find the mattress hot at all. Apparently they were at one time but supposedly they have corrected that problem.

Pris...No it was the mattress. I thought I wanted a firm one. The Cloud Supreme was recommended to me by my son's girl friend. She just had had rotator cuff surgery and was looking for a comfortable bed. Unfortunately, I didn't take her advice and bought a different model. I would wake up hurting all over. The mattress did get better after a couple of months but I was afraid to take a chance and replaced it with the Cloud Supreme. There was no breaking in period. It was wonderful from the start. You're right, though. It weighs a ton.

Redcurls....I had the same problem turning over on the first mattress. It was like climbing a mountain. It was a chore. But the second Tempurpedic is totally different. I love it.

You definitely don't want a pillow top if you don't want anything hot. We got a high-end pillow top for the country house--DD loves hers so much. BUT DD is only 30, NOT post-menopausal like mom. No matter what time of year, I get into bed there, it feels wonderful--it really is a very comfortable mattress as far as comfort and support go. I go to sleep, and in a couple of hours (no mqatter what the season, and no matter that we keep the house at 52-55 in winter) I wake up drenched in sweat and can't get back to sleep. It's the foam. If you are as heat-sensitive as I am, you'll want to check the interior construction of any mattress you buy--foam is like having a blast furnace on your bed.

Also, don't get sucked in by those cheap mattress places. Go to a good quality store, one you've dealt with, where you know the people and can trust them. Unfortunately, cheap mattresses are often remanufactured old ones. Which means you could be bringing home a lot more than you intended (bedbugs, for instance). You want to make sure you buy a pristine, brand-new mattress. And that's worth paying a few extra hundred $$$ in the longrun.

Ours is a pillow top. Its super comfortable (I go right to sleep) but after almost 10 years, there are 'crater' where each of use sleeps. Don't like the appearance, but like being nestled in my bed. Another problem with pillowtops is I have to buy 18" deep sheets. You can find them, but most deep pocket sheets are not that deep. Probably wouldn't get another one unless it felt more comfortable than all the others.

Not sure about how anyone can get a warehouse club type mattress-they re usually stacked sideways. I would never buy a mattress I didn't try. Step 1 should be to go to a Mattress Barn type place and try them all out to get a feel for what you both like.

We have bought and returned "S" mattresses twice in our married life (47 years). I don't know why I let myself get suckered in on those! We've been happiest with Verlo mattresses and box springs. We're on our fourth set. We always buy a pair of extra-long twins that we use together as a king. Much easier to flip 'em.

Verlo makes the mattress on order. They can make any size or shape you want. I think we must have been one of their earliest customers; they started here in the Chicago suburbs.

I just gave away a memory foam topper. I'd heard so much about them that when one came along for under $100 I tried it. Hot. Squishy. 'Bottom' indentations after a few days. Much prefer just the 'firm' mattress.

just wanted to add serta is being featured at sam's club and samsclub.com

Add me to those who have a pillow top and won't buy another
because you can't flip it.....

My back alwaiys hurt when I woke up starting some 20 some years ago, even after trying three regular mattresses. Finally got a sleep number mattress and I was not impressed at the beginning. Took several weeks to see a change but slowly my back started to feel better. After a few months my back never hurt in the morning. 7 years later and the mattress hasn't changed a bit and my back still feels good. I credit the way it works. It forms to my body when it deflates to my sleep number. If it feels odd, I'll inflate it and start over. easy. It's nice my dh can have his side the way he likes it.

We have the T-Pedic and love it. Recurls, if you sunk in yours, you had the wrong firmness, try another one. T-Pedic is the only matress company that warrenties their mattress WITHOUT a foundation/box spring. If you want to keep the current bed frame, that's good. Ours is in our old California King waterbed frame. We could have gone without the foundation, but did get it. It makes the bed higher.

Linda, if DH can sleep in our T-Pedic, (not a pillow top) you don't need to worry about it being too hot! After over 30 years in a foundry, his internal thermostat is royally screwed up. He sweats at 65�. We run the ceiling fans with the a/c set at 75� or higher so we don't have high electric bills. He does just fine!

We are thinking about the sleep number for the motor home. We currently have a mattress factory spring mattress in it, as neither one of us can sleep on the foam "mattresses" that come in them. We've had it about 15 years and it's killing me on our month long trips.

tami